Latest / The Daily Writer / Whatever Happened to Singing in Church? Part 4: Leadership Factors

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Whatever Happened to Singing in Church? Part 4: Leadership Factors · The Daily Writer

• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everybody to the Born to Create Podcast.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Kent Sanders, and I'm your host.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an author, musician, and teacher, but most importantly, I'm a husband and a dad.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Here on the show we talk about practices, habits, and strategies that help us live out our creative calling.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: This is episode twenty-six, and today's topic is whatever happened to singing in church, part four, leadership factors.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: You can find the post that accompanies this episode, as well as all the links at Kit Sanders.net slash singing dash leadership dash factors.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is the fourth episode in a five-part series examining the important but rarely discussed question of why people don't sing as much in church anymore.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: In the first three episodes, I shared reasons why singing is an important part of our faith, as well as several cultural and environmental factors that have impacted singing today.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, we're going to be looking at factors in worship leadership that can work against participation and engagement.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll also share my thoughts on how to address these issues.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive right in.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is the role of the worship leader has changed.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Some people will perceive that what I'm about to say is critical or negative, and that is absolutely not my intent, I can promise you.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm simply telling you what I have seen and observed with the intention of helping others understand why many people don't sing in church.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: So over the last ten or fifteen years, I've seen a subtle yet profound shift in the role of the worship leader in many growing churches.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: It has gradually shifted from facilitating and leading congregational singing to performing and producing a worship experience.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is a really critical distinction.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: As I understand it, as I look at the Bible and church history, the main purpose of the worship leader is to help the congregation to sing, to express their worship to God.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: You can produce a great event, you can organize media, you can perform well and do all that stuff, but if all those things aren't done in service to the number one goal of helping the church express its worship through song, then something has been lost.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Today the function of worship leading has shifted toward production and performance.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't because pastors and worship leaders suddenly decided to focus on performance and quote unquote put on a show.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, I don't think anyone sets out with the intention of quote unquote putting on a show.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Moreover, this has been a gradual shift over the last ten to fifteen or twenty years as megachurches have drastically increased their production values and incorporated much more technology and media into services.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Keep in mind that this discussion about entertainment and spectacle and worship has been going on a very, very long time.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: We're not the first generation to grapple with these kinds of issues.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's really been going on in one form or another since Constantine's conversion in the fourth century, so that's a really long time ago.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Christianity became legal and the church began to transition from an intimate community to more of a theater where people watched rather than engaged.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, we continue to wrestle with this issue today.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And in some sense, the church will probably always wrestle with this issue.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Here today in our modern context, you can't really help but focus on production because of the complexity of a basic worship service.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: In a growing church that wants to use media and be relevant on some level, at least technologically, it takes a small army of people on stage and behind the scenes to bring a modern worship service to life.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of larger churches have begun to see the wisdom of having more than one staff member in the area of worship.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: My church has done this for years and years, and I applaud them for having the wisdom and the vision to hire enough people so the worship leader can truly focus on facilitating worship.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I love worship leaders and artists in the church.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I truly do.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I got my started ministry, and that's what I've taught for many years on the college level.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: I empathize with worship leaders greatly because they're pulled in a million different directions in their jobs.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them are working with senior pastors and church boards who are putting unrealistic expectations on them to produce a service that rivals the one at the church down the street.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, many worship leaders are struggling with burnouts, depression, and feeling like a hamster caught on a wheel that never ever stops.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Church ministry, especially for worship leaders or people in production or the arts, can be a real grind that keeps moving week after week.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: He would be really hard pressed to find a worship leader who has never struggled with these feelings.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Most worship leaders didn't get involved in ministry so they could be an event manager or a media producer.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: They got involved in worship ministry because they loved helping people worship.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: So what am I saying?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Am I implying that all the media, production, and other stuff that happens in a modern worship service is bad?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: No, not at all.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm implying.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're simply using the tools that we have at our disposal today.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just observing that many worship leaders feel a tension between their deep desire to help people worship and the real world demands of juggling all the complex elements of a worship service.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: So what can you do about it?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, I want to say a word to worship leaders.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Worship leaders, remember that your main role is to help people engage and participate in worship.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think this requires any sort of radical shift to what you're already doing.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: But young leaders especially need to be assertive and continually remind people that God loves their worship.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: God desires their worship.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: People will follow a leader who loves them and is there to serve and to help them.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I would also encourage you to do two other things.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, delegate the elements of your job that you don't enjoy as much as possible.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: For instance, if you're not the best administrator, find somebody in the congregation who can help or ask the church to hire somebody to help.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: That'll free you up to focus on what you do best.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Second, be honest with your leadership about any unrealistic demands that you might feel.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Don't suffer in silence and continue operating in areas where you're not passionate or gifted for long periods of time.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's a surefire way to burn yourself out.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mentioned earlier that some churches hire multiple staff so the worship leader can focus on what they do best.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: But what if you're part of a small church?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there's always ways to get help, even if it's from volunteers.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: A few years after I started in worship ministry, I realized that I was doing too much on Sunday mornings.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: I was trying to lead worship and also manage the worship service.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: I wisely recruited two ladies to act as producers who ran the service.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: That was a brilliant move because they had an opportunity to use their administrative gifts and it freed me up to focus on leading worship, which is what I did best.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now let me say a word to church leaders and pastors.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Those of you in these roles, in a pastoral role like senior pastor or preacher, you might say, or an elder, or some other type of church leader, please make sure that your worship leaders and your worship staff have the rest and the resources they need to do a good job.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Most worship leaders need more breaks than they're getting.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: I would really encourage you to pay for them to attend a conference.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Give them some kind of sabbatical or an extra week or two of vacation.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Get them some administrative help.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Worship leading has become a lot more complicated and demanding than when I started out in ministry over 20 years ago, and I hope that every church leader reading this will take the time to ask their worship leaders and production staff if they truly have the resources and the breaks they need to do ministry for the long haul.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, the worship leader might not take a pastoral approach to their ministry.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: The first issue that I mentioned is more of a generalization of how worship ministry has changed over the last decade or two and how it's impacted people's participation.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: However, the issue I want to highlight now is more acute and specific, and I honestly don't think it happens very often, but it's worth mentioning because it does happen from time to time in churches.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: I've known a lot of worship leaders over the years, and the vast majority of them have been generous, gifted, humble, and committed to serving God's people in ministry.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: But just like it can happen in any field, there are people who sometimes do it for the wrong reasons.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: A friend of mine, who's a pastor, once told me about a part-time worship leader that he hired at his church.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: This guy was musically gifted, and the church needed somebody in that role, so my friend was kind of inclined to hire him because he seemed ideal for the position.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: The worship leader had his own band in that town, and after a while it became apparent to my friend that the worship leader was only interested in using his new role to showcase his music skills.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I mean by somebody not taking a pastoral approach to their ministry.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: In a worship leading context, it means using music and the arts to make disciples and to further the mission of the local church.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: A pastoral worship leader cares as much about the people as they do about the production.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, how would this affect singing and participation?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, people can tell if a pastor truly loves them and is there to serve and lead them.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: It may not be apparent immediately, but over time the congregation will see the leader's true colors.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if those colors are pride, arrogance, or showmanship, the people will not want to follow them.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that translates into participation and engagement in a worship service.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes a worship leader will lack a pastoral perspective because they're a musician who's been put in the wrong role.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I know it's really tempting for churches to hire a worship leader with a heavy performance background and assume this person will be a great worship leader pastorally.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's not always the case.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: There is a huge difference between being a great performer and being an effective worship leader.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now it both involve musical skills, of course, and to be sure, there is an element of performance involved in leading worship.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's rehearsal, there's practice, there's stage presence and all that stuff.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the difference between those two things, and this is a major.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: A performer draws attention to themselves, but a worship leader draws attention to God.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: So let me give you an analogy.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: You wouldn't take a professional speaker and have them start preaching every week at your church just because they know how to deliver a talk.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: But churches will sometimes take a good musician and have them lead worship just because they know how to sing and play.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: When we take that approach, we shouldn't be surprised that the person leading worship doesn't approach it in a pastoral way.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't been equipped to approach it in the right way.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: And we've put them in an unfair position where they cannot possibly meet people's expectations.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: As I said, the vast majority of the time, I don't think engagement issues are due to character or attitude issues within the worship leader, but it does happen occasionally out there.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: And truthfully, we're all prone to attitude and character issues if we don't keep a close watch over our lives.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: So this is certainly not unique to people who are doing worship ministry.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: So what can you do about this issue?
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Worship leaders, we have to guard our hearts closely.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: In the realm of music and the arts, pride can easily take root and wrap its tentacles around our souls.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to be a part of some type of accountability arrangement or a small group that holds your feet to the fire and keeps you grounded.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's also really important for you to submit to regular evaluations from your church leadership.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: One really easy test of your character is how quickly you submit to correction and evaluation.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Developing your skills is important, but developing your character is way more important.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, a word to church leaders and pastors.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: I know you're sometimes put in a difficult spot.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: You have worship leader A, who has a great heart and attitude, but only moderate skills.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Then you have worship leader B, who's a gifted musician with great stage presence, but doesn't really have a pastoral mindset.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you might think there's an easy answer for this dilemma, but usually there's not an easy answer because every situation is unique.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Just remember that you can teach someone musical and technical skills if they have a certain capacity and a willingness to learn and to change.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: However, it's way, way harder to teach someone to have the right attitude or to develop a pastoral approach if they're not leaning that direction to begin with.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Even if they're a great musician, it's going to be really hard to change their character and their attitude.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: I know this has been a really long episode, and if you've made it this far, you deserve some kind of a medal or award, or at least a trip through a crispy cream drive-thru.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: These are just a few very simple fixes that you can make that'll have a big impact on your worship engagement.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: In the next episode, we'll look at several musical factors that can impact singing and participation in worship.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: So what do you think?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think the role of the worship leader has changed over the last decade or two?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear your thoughts.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: You can join the conversation and find the post and the links that accompany this episode at KentSanders.net slash singing dash leadership dash factors.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: When you visit my site, you'll find all kinds of great resources to inspire your creativity.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'd also love to share a gift with you when you subscribe to my newsletter.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can check it out and learn more about my books, writing, and services at KentSanders.net.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to connect and you can tweet me at Kent Sanders or find me on Facebook and Instagram as Kent Sanders.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: I also hope that you'll check out our Born to Create Facebook group by visiting KentSanders.net slash Facebook group.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create a design to make a difference.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: What will you do with the time you have left?