Worship Leading
Foreward	"He must increase, I must decrease," said John the Baptist. That is the key verse for checking our motivation as worship leaders. There is much material in Christian worship leader circles that deal more with Moses' Tabernacle and David's Tabernacle - both of which contain prophetic types (i.e. forecasts, shadows of things to come) which paint an incredible backdrop across time from the fall of Man, God's redemption of Man through the Lamb slain on the Cross, to Him bringing us home to Him in His everlasting mercy, glory and embrace. This page here deals more with the mechanics of worship-leading, e.g. what chord progressions to use during extempraneous praise, the do's and don't's of selecting your song list, worship team coordination, etc. Whether you are a worship leader for a small Bible study group, or whether you lead worship for a large church, we hope that this study will help enhance your worship-leading experience and help you become a humble instrument through which God uses to manifest His presence even more!
Index	Praise vs. Worship The Song List Preparing Sunday's Song List Tricks for Attention Pitfalls and Traps At the Mixing Board The Sound Balance Conclusion
Praise vs. Worship	These two words, "Praise" and "Worship" are used interchangeably and synonymously. However, they are often used to denote certain "settings" or "modes" of worship. Praise - generally describes a more energetic, exhuberant, and fast-paced style of singing, clapping, shouting and even dancing before the Lord. Praise can also be an act of spiritual warfare. The themes can consist of God's victory, God's magnificent character, and even the great things He has done, etc. Worship - often has to do with a more intimate setting. Here is where God brings tears of healing, tears of joy, times of refreshing, a prophetic rhema word. It is where the Church receives and hears back from the Lord. Let's use an analogy to explain the difference between praise and worship. A husband and wife have a loud fun time at a carnaval ("praise") and in the evening, they spend a very romantic candle-lit dinner and even a more - ahem - intimate bedroom setting ("worship"). So basically, praise is like the loud and fun time, while worship is like the slow intimate time in the evening. Incidentally, the Word says, "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Psalms 141:2). From praise to worship, we see see a progression, similar to how the priests in Moses' tabernacle in the wilderness went from the Outer Courts of the Tabernacle into the Inner Court, and finally to a special room called the Holy of Holies. Here in this special room was the Ark of Covenant. And here, God promised to meet the High Priest (which, at that time was Aaron) between the wings of the cherubim (angels) that were fixtures on the Ark (Exodus 25:22). And thus, God would have intimiate communion and communication with Man.
The Song List	Worship is a journey, from point "A" - which is us down here - to point "Z" - which is the presence of God. Notice that the last section of the Psalms were known as the "Songs of Ascent." These were songs that were sung during ancient times when people ascended Mount Zion to worship the Lord. When you read it, you'll notice that the whole progression from "A" to "Z" shows an increase in joy and spirits - from defeat and despair to joy and exultation. This path is not horizontal nor downhill, but uphill and sometimes hyperbolic! (Hyperbolic is when you almost shoot straight up at a 90-degree angle!) Our song lists, ideally, should be patterend in this fashion. Praise would go first with its upbeat energy. This helps wake people up and keep their minds off the Sunday football game and off the turkey in the oven. When people's hearts are softened and are in tune with God, then we enter into God's presence with a royal and majestic style of worship. An example list would be as follows: Hosanna Blessed Be the Name of the Lord There's Gonna Be a Revival in the Land My Life is In You Lord I Sing Praises to Your Name Give Thanks As the Deer Commune with Me As you can see, we went from fast to slow, in terms of tempo. Also, we went from Body-of-Christ centric to Christ-centric, and by that I mean that much praise might be focussed on "us" as if the songs contents were such that we were singing to one another. However, the latter songs are more directed to "Him and "You" - i.e. the Lord. Why is the order of the songs different? If you reversed the song list from beginning to end, you would have a very strange worship that would feel like you're sliding backwards down Mount Zion, away from the presence of the Lord!
Preparing Sunday's Song List	I've seen people do it in various ways. But when you get locked into a method, the life of the worship might be somewhat hindered. Here are a few interesting but unfortunate scenarios you might consider: One way I've seen - which is generally the poorest way of doing it - is this: the worship leader arrives that Sunday - late - to the hour-long practice with the team just before they go to the stage. So now an hour has become 15 minutes. They run through the songs quickly with the singers. Then the conclude by praying extremely extremely fervently that the Lord bless the song list. It's interesting how this happens more with Charismatics than non-Charismatics! Now, God is a God of grace, and often blesses it anyway! The key is to deliver the songs in a singable key. I once knew an incredibly exhuberant worship leader with a very high voice. He was one of the most anointed worship leaders I knew. However, when going through Integrity Hosanna song sheets, he would have the pianist play it as much as three or four steps higher. This does have a tendency to put a strain on a person's vocal chords, be they your praise team singers or the congegation! Another way is to "receive" the song list from the Lord. Some claim that God gave them the song list earlier on in the week. However, at music practice, the singers notice that in giving the song list to the worship-leader, God somehow must have "forgotten" to take into account what key each song is in to create a song-to-song flow, hence it becomes the job of the pianist to "fix" God's mistake! Some worship leaders create a list out of their own worship time with the Lord. (However, they might be father along - advanced, perhaps? - in their worship-relationship with God, and thus might end up leaving the congregation behind in the ascent to Mount Zion!) Then we have the Mr. NewSong Syndrome. This is a worship leader who feels God has put many songs on his/her heart that week. I caught a worship leader trying to introduce five new songs in his seven-song list. I can barely sing along to one new song, let alone five! I told him that he was going to lose everyone, so he plea-bargained with me down to two, but finally grunted at me and used only one. That one song ultimately became the theme of the convention we were serving at! K.I.S.S. - "Keep It Simple, Saint!" Why have some Vineyard songs been more catchy than other praise and worship songs in the market? It's because the Vineyard songs in these instances have been ever so simple, and thus easy to sing along to. Notice that a large number of Vineyard music seem very guitar-friendly, most likely because they were written on a guitar. Guitars are far more portable to the mission field than a keyboard synthesizer or piano! I've seen some worship albumns where the song is incredibly wordy and is a piece of art. But you will lose your congregation if the apex of your worship service is based on this complex piece of music. (If you feel the Lord wants you to teach it to the congregation, try a music special. Or, in a worship service, "demote" the song to occur earlier on so that proven songs can succeed in bringing them to the apex of the worship service!) Ultimately, worship is for God, but the song list must be tailored to the people. The bottom line is that if the people are not worshiping, then you're not going to get much of God's manifest presence! If people are trying hard to learn a new song, the focus is on the song and not the Lord. Do consider these following guidelines! Use Songs They Know - I can't stress this point more! A worship leader leads people into God's presence. Make worshiping the Lord the primary priority, and learning new songs, or sharing a testimony, etc. secondary. Using New Songs - Nelson Rivera, a worship pastor in Southern California, shared once that he rarely used more than one new song per month. He often used older songs. When I contested with him that they were dull and boring, he replied, "Yeah, but the people know them!" Good point! If you want to use more than one, it is generally best to do it during the praise segment, and not the worship segment - thus, intimacy with God is not sacrificed. Sometimes I like "echo" songs where the worship leader sings one line, then points the microphone out to the congregation and lets them echo the line back. This creates interactivity and good stage-to-congregation communication, which further makes people more invited to join in on the service! Using Old Songs with a New Style - One worship leader started off with the old, traditional song: Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise Him all creatures here below Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost... Amen. Nice, traditional, and boring. But suddenly, the drummer did a very modern beat. The up-beat surprise got the congregation surprised. The worship-leader strummed a chord and they sang this old, traditional song in a very modern way. And everyone was already familiar with the lyrics. The people exploded into worship! Cultural Diversity - going back and forth between English and Spanish for one song might not only enhance that praise song, but create a deeper sense of unity with the Spanish-speaking group in your mutli-ethnic church! What about using various ethnic styles such as Latin, Black Gospel, Jazz, Classical, etc.? Go for it! But be balanced! It can be a turn-off if you overboard with a certain style. I remember when Ron Kenoly's vibrant Carribean-Gospel-Jazz style impacted Christiandom, and album after album became a Dove award winner. But eventually, some grew tired of worship-leaders over-using Kenoly material in their services. Be diverse! While some Asians might not like, say, Gospel, those who do might not be able to sing to it. Also, be careful to preserve the integrity of each style. Some praise-team singers and musicians who were raised singing or playing Gospel may have a tendency to use the same style of chords and harmonies in other styles of music, hence "Gospelizing" the whole song selection. At one church I know, people left because they complained there was too much "Black Gospel" when in reality only 50% were Gospel. But the 50% became the 100% in the ears of the people because Black Gospel chords were being played and sung instead of the proper standard chords on the song sheets! Use Your Creative Talent! - when the Lord puts a song in your heart - either for you, or for both you and the congregation, then write it down. If it flows well in continuity with another song, jot that down too. This is good practice, especially if you are a guitar, keyboard or piano player. Practicing making up song lists is a good hobby, because it makes you more musically sensitive to the things that make a song list flow. For Christians, it is important that songs flow topically as well as musically, for a break in either can throw the congregation back "down hill"!
Tricks for Attention	Many come to church with a whirlwind of thoughts, cares, concerns and problems on the minds. While some Christians know the discipline of leaving them at the door of the church just prior to entering the sanctuary, there will be some who are either too anxious to do so, or they are not aware they can do that! These "tricks" are not necessarily slick techniques but are more musical artistry in its truest sense. The goal is to "synch" everyone up to focus in on God as early on in the worship service as possible. Some churches fall prey to the reliance of prophecy - or the prophetic utterance - for the people to become "aligned" into the "flow". For example, the worship leader has already gone through the first five or so songs on his song list, and the people are unmoved. Then comes someone with a prophetic gift and relays what he feels God is saying. Now, this can be both good and bad. Let's just suppose the Word was an accurate one - one truly from the Lord. (Especially unfortunate are those who depart the "prophetic" and move in the "pathetic" and end up occupying a large amount of time, giving a very unanointed testimony of their unresolved problems!) By the time the utterance is over, the song service is just about over! Oh no! The pastor's giving you the cut-the-throat signal! Thus, we do not want to wait until the worship segment to get people's attention, or else God will miss out on the enjoyment due His name! Here are some musical "tricks" I use to get people to focus in on the worship services. Keep in mind that in all things we must be led by the Spirit and not our ingenuity. We're not here to manipulate people or push buttons. We are here to glorify Christ! In the Beginning - Some worship leaders understand the art of creating anticipation. It's worth developing the skill of not only delivering but holding back until anticipation builds enthusiastically! Let's say the first song starts in the key of "G". I might start with holding down a "G" chord on the keyboard - perhaps an ethereal texture with some strings just so that it doesn't sound too New Age. Leave it at that long enough for the people to build a sense of wanting more. Another way is to create strong anticipation and excitement in the congregation is with the intro of a song. If they recognize the intro, all the better. This has to be artfully done, or it won't work, and people will start tapping their feet! You'll have to be creative with this one and see what works. One worship leader does this with a particular song, and the intro ends in a minor key, which is the starting chord of the song. Each time she thundered on that note, she paused on it, and the atmosphere was thick with anticipation! One popular way is to start with a drumbeat and no music. A better way is probably to find two drummers to play the exact same beat the exact same way. The result is powerful. Integrity Hosanna's album, God is Able (led by Ron Kenoly) did this: two drummers heralded the song "The Battle is the Lord's" with a perfectly synched drum beat, and then the brass section later on punched in! Wow! In the Middle - While you're going, you'll probably be cognizant fo the fact that you're repeating one song three times, then moving onto the next three times. It's getting predictable, and the congregation is usually more keen on it than the worship leader! So suddenly stop the music - except for the drums. Lead people to sing acapella and to the 4-beat of the drums. The people are greatly encouraged by hearing their own singing and the harmony of those all about. It is like the sound of many waters! If you do use this technique, do not overuse it or else it will lose its effect! Omit the music for no more than a full measure or for the chorus. Then punch the music back in as the measure is concluding, increasing the volume and the "kick"! Echoing Verses - During the praise segement, interaction is a good tool. I like using songs where you sing a line, and the congregation sings a line. I'd sing, "Hail Jesus, You're my King!" and quickly point the microphone to the congregation to repeat-sing what I sang. This is a healthy way of "jump-starting" a congregation. The Shout - Use in moderation. Carman described it in his song as, "The high praises of God released by a shout". Is it Biblical? Sure! Psalms 47:1 says, "O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph." But that's Old Testament, you may say. Keep in mind, beloved, that it is the Law that Christ fulfilled that we no longer have to fulfill. But praise and worship - dancing, clapping hands, shouting, etc. - was never a "Law" per se. It was, and should be, a free-will offering for what He has done! This is especially good at the conclusion of a victory song! Prompt the congregation. "His name is - ?" or "On the count of three... one... two!!!" But don't use this if people are more asleep than awake - at which point it might be good for your pastor to encourage them not to stay up so late on Saturday night! The Worship Solo - Sometimes during the more intimiate worship section of the worship service, it might be good for either an intro or event the middle of the song to be turned over to an instrumentalist who would play a solo instrument. An anointed solo can be beautiful, healing, prophetic. It also encourages the instrumentalist to develop his/her prophetic anointing so that God can play through that person! This has to be God-led too, though the musician can put some of her own creativity into it. However, this will bomb if the musician is drawing too much attention to himself/herself and feels "led" to exceed the number of musical bars and suddenly take the reigns of the worship service. In other words, some people singing the "Song of the Lord" (i.e. an extemporaneous song) tend to go on for very long, or they might change the tempo, beat - and worse of all - the thematic style of the moment, causing transition into your next song to become very difficult, as now the flow has been altered. In terms of drawing too much attention: one worship leader I had seen often liked interjecting his saxaphone solo, to the point that the worship was centered on him, and the people merely swayed side to side while he played. The sense of the anointing was sadly lost! Anointed Reading/Utterance - Sometimes the Lord may begin to speak through a person. Of course, do so in order and under the authority of the leadership of your church! If the prophetic "utterer" doesn't draw attention to himself/herself and is truly bearing a rhema Word from the Lord, then play softly and let the person speak. Sometimes it is like God speaking beautifuly to His Bride: the Church, like a husband speaking to his wife. Worship leader LaMar Boschman (Integrity Hosanna) - one of my favorites - sometimes turns to the book of Revelation as the Holy Spirit directs, and reads a passage anointedly. The effect is that it brings people a sense of Heaven, standing before God like the people with harps of God upon a sea of glass that is mingled with holy fire! There is nothing that can parallel that sense of eternity! After all, why tire of eternity? Worship leader Steve Fry (Integrity Hosanna) once said, "Angels have worshiped God for millions of years and have never tired of it!" Simplicity in Silence - There may be a point where either the music drops to a slow pace, or a low volume, or may cut out at all. Do this only as the Holy Spirit leads, because in that silence He may want to touch His people. One of my favorite worship leaders is Don Moen of Integrity Hosanna. On the album, Bless the Lord, he starts off a very intimate worship song, "I Just Want to be Where You Are" by playing softly on the piano, and singing solo. By the second verse, the worship team begins to softly join in, and finally the congregation picks up. The focus is tremendously clearly on the Lord. I want to be where You are, Lord. So, not only be creative, but be sensitive. We are not supposed to be "slick" but real. Real people are vulnerable and have nothing to hide. Our goal is to be transparent before the people. Interestingly, David was accused by his wife, Michal, as being vulgar as he danced before the servant girls in his worship of the Lord. David had taken off his clothes and put on an ephod which is the garment of a priest - a worshiper. The ephod is somewhat transparent. Michal saw it as ugliness. God saw it as beauty.
Pitfalls and Traps	Generally, there isn't much on the technical side that can go wrong with a worship service, save for equipment failure, bad sound mixing (which I will address in the next section) or someone who was demon-filled and suddenly began screaming. Much of the things that derail a worship time's focus on the Lord is during the time that people give "prophetic" utterances. Any prophetic gift must come under submission to the church leadership whom God has ordained over you. After all, God wants us all to be a prophetic people - not a pathetic people! Off Key - Ouch. Sometimes people sing the prophetic song (or "new song") off key. This is even worse than a person with a poor singing voice, because the deliverer has just derailed the flow of the worship by forcing the team to play in a different key. Worse, some singers don't know how to adjust to the musicians, while the musicians struggle to adjust to the deliverer. Even worse than that is the singer fluctuating in tone and pitch, making it nearly impossible for the musicians to follow. Yea, the Spirit is quenched! Me, Myself, and I - The ideal prophetic song is God singing over His Church, His Bride. Occasionally, there may be some validity to a song that is sung in first-person (gramatically), e.g. "When darkness comes, I lift up my eyes to You, and You shall overshadow all my fears." And yet, this example is still God-centric. However, some songs are overkill with the word "I" Do we have eye-trouble with I-trouble? Story Telling - Some people are in the habit of giving a personal testimony. Personal testimonies - unless sanctioned by the pastor - generally bring the focus away from God and upon them instead. Especially damaging to a worship atmosphere is the "woe is me" testimony - those who innocently feel "led" to give a "prophetic" word but it turns out that it's not truly inspired by the Holy Spirit, and so their testimony draws focus to themselves, and the joy level suddenly drops like a rock! Work in conjunction with the leadership of the church to provide generous love and care and counsel to such a person, lest the Body become defiled. Fast Forward - Also be sensitive not to let people delivering the prophetic message/song abruptly change the mood or style of the service thus far. If the worship service has come to a point of, say, intimate repentance, and the deliverer suddenly changes key and does an up-beat Gospel number, the Spirit is quenched and the musicians are aggrevated. One worship leader had shared with me that he knew a certain woman had a tendency to bend the service like that, and he simply wouldn't give her the microphone. However, he was the worship pastor and was operating under the jurisdiction of the church's senior pastor, despite complaints! Make sure you have the pastor's permission to "override" unless he decides that the prophetic utterance is necessary. Work out some eye-communication with your pastor!
At the Mixing Board	Though the worship be perfect with every nuance of musical expression, the one thing that can kill the worship experience is a poor sound system, a poor sound balance, or even a sound engineer with poor skill, and, worse, a sound engineer with a bad attitude. Normally when there is feedback between the loudspeaker and the microphone, when the house system goes, WoooooooooOOOOOoo! most heads turn back towards the fellow in the sound booth, working feverishly away on the mixing board to locate the offending sound slider. Sound engineers need to be up to date with their training as well as their musical style preferences. The sound engineer and the worship leader need to create a synergistic relationship where both mutually encourage and benefit one another. A bad sound mix can kill a service, especially the feedback factor! The sound engineer must be trained to be versatile with a variety of styles so as to create an acoustic balance. There is no room for playing "favorites" here. One engineer I know tends to turn up a particular praise team singer (but her harmony is sometimes inappropriate) and this overpowers not only the other singers but the worship leader too! If the sound engineer has a "bad spirit" then you' re in trouble. He shouldn't be back there. If there is a prophetic song through a musician, the sound engineer might not turn it up, and thus the worship leader might not hear it to give the musician the open space to express this prophetic song. Also, encourage your sound person as often as you think of it. He gets all the slack and the pressure is on him! He is just as much a part of your worship team!
The Sound Balance	The funny thing about musicians: Everyone wants to be heard. Strife and competition flare up when one is louder than the other. When one musician is too loud, it causes everyone else to play louder, thus you no longer have a symphony of music, but a cacophony of noise that hurteth the ears! I was invited by one pastor to assess the sound balance of his church. His worship leader played lead guitar, and is one of the most gifted recording artists I've met. But he played loud. He played lower range, mid range, upper range. The keyboardist played mostly highs, which isn't bad - only she was playing the lead line all the time. But the drummer was very loud in keeping up with the base, mid and trebble three-in-one player that the worship leader was. The pastor's daughter kept frowning on the piano. She couldn't hear past the loud drums at the worship leader on the wild guitar! "Hey pastor!" I called out. I quickly pointed out that the spirits of the team began to decline. The pianist began to get frustrated because she couldn't hear herself on the piano. The worship leader was in a world of his own. The young drummer was eager to make a dreadful noise unto the Lord. And the keyboardist had her eyes on the music sheets and didn't know how to follow - she was also confused. So, the bottom line was that the pianist couldn't hear the worship leader's guitar. Okay. He walked up to the mixing board and turned the guitar volume up. Ouch. He thus turned it down, now having his eyes opened to the fact that an increase in volume is not proportionate to an increase in satisfaction! The moral of the story is this: start small, volume-wise. Define the musical ranges that each instrument plays. Observe the accoustical properties of your sanctuary, and see which frequences (highs, mids and lows) tend to sound good, and which tend to sound "muddy" and which tend to reverberate and never seem to go away!
In Conclusion	As the worship leader of your group, team, or church, you are instrumental in ushering in God's presence. That means that the Devil is going to hate you all the more. Be prepared for spiritual attack. If you fall, remember that God died on the cross for you and shed His blood so that you are completely clean of the sin, as though you had never even committed it in the first place. But walk in grace and not in a loose freedom whereby you would sin whenever it pleased you! Keep humble. Remember that pride cometh before the fall. Satan exhalted himself above God and thus got the boot from heaven. Also, remember that while this article has covered many techniques, the worship leader must never be a performer, but a worshiper. He or she must never seek his/her own recognition. It's not about techniques or performance, but about loving the Lord and serving Him. I've seen great and mighty Christians perform with absolutely zero anointing, but their performance was as slick as Vegas. I hope I've addressed enough contingencies to get you going. If there is anything you need, feel free to contact me, and I'll add it right here!