How to Grow As A Worship Leader.
http://www.called2music.com/articles/954/1/How-to-Grow-As-A-Worship-Leader/Page1.html
Junjie Huang
What do you get when you put together the mind of a philosophy major, the heart of a Bible teacher, the hands of a musician and more than 14 years in the worship ministry?You get the kind of person who teaches what others don’t.
Junjie Huang is a graduate from National University of Singapore, (B.A.), a multi-instrument musician and, in his own words, a “die-hard nonconformist”. He has served and ministered in a wide range of settings, from small groups to prayer meetings to church services both in small churches and mega-churches. He also enjoys imparting his understanding and skills in worship to those who have the desire to serve God in the worship ministry.
He has both a love for the Scriptures and a penchant for asking uncomfortable questions and can frequently be found pondering Bible questions that other people don’t really think much about.
In his free time (“free time? What’s that? Sounds like an interesting concept…”) Junjie enjoys learning new things, training in ancient methods of Japanese conflict resolution and imparting his wisdom and insights to his two sons, Jessiah and Jacques.
To learn more about the craft of leading worship and other aspects of worship ministry, go to http://www.
By Junjie Huang
Published on 09/6/2008
If you lead worship for your church, small group or prayer meeting, one challenge you will have is keeping yourself from stagnating. It's too easy to let yourself stop growing if you feel that you are doing an adequate job and everything is fine. Sometimes it's a question of time: we do not have enough time to do everything we want to do. And ministry can take a backseat after the other responsibilities of life.
If you lead worship for your church, small group or prayer meeting, one challenge you will have is keeping yourself from stagnating. It's too easy to let yourself stop growing if you feel that you are doing an adequate job and everything is fine. Sometimes it's a question of time: we do not have enough time to do everything we want to do. And ministry can take a backseat after the other responsibilities of life.
So if you want to keep growing in effectiveness as a worship leader but don't have that much time to invest in this ministry, here are the three things that will give you the best investment of your time.
1) Seek out new songs to use
If you are a worship leader, worship songs are the arrows in your quiver. The more good songs you can use effectively, the stronger you are in this ministry.
You can find new songs from songwriters who have written good worship songs before. Paul Baloche and Chris Tomlin immediately come to mind. You can also look for old songs that have not been used for a long time. The number of new songs released on 'worship' albums grows exponentially every year, but most of those are not very usable in your local church, prayer meeting or small group. If your church or group has a significant number of younger believers, good songs written ten years ago will be fresh and new to them.
Or if you don't have that much time to sift through the songs to seek new gems that you can use, here's a short-cut: fellowship with other worship leaders and ask them what are the worship songs that they've found to work really well.
2) Spend time reading the Bible aloud
When you spend time reading the Bible aloud, it ministers to you on many levels and in many ways. But something I would like to point out here is this: God's Word has substance and solidity in it. Jesus said "The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life..." (John 6:63)
So when we allocate time to speaking God's word, the Spirit and life of God's word rubs off on us. You'll find that there is a weightiness and power on your singing and worship leading when you do that. Just remember to give time for the fruit to begin to show.
3) Test and track
That is what direct marketers do when they are serious about knowing what works. If you are as serious about worship ministry as they are about marketing, you have to take this seriously too.
Record yourself leading worship. Get at least the singing, and if you can get it video taped, that's even better. And objectively listen to not only your leading, but also to the response of the people.
If it's a song that the people aren't familiar with they may not respond to it immediately. But if it's the 3rd time in 3 weeks you've used the song and the people still aren't singing, then something is not right, either with your choice of song or the your worship leading methods and techniques.
Conclusion: These steps are simple. They take effort, yes, but you will discover that they yield you the most results for your time. So get out there, implement these tips into your worship ministry lifestyle, and get ready to grow in your effectiveness for the Lord!
So if you want to keep growing in effectiveness as a worship leader but don't have that much time to invest in this ministry, here are the three things that will give you the best investment of your time.
1) Seek out new songs to use
If you are a worship leader, worship songs are the arrows in your quiver. The more good songs you can use effectively, the stronger you are in this ministry.
You can find new songs from songwriters who have written good worship songs before. Paul Baloche and Chris Tomlin immediately come to mind. You can also look for old songs that have not been used for a long time. The number of new songs released on 'worship' albums grows exponentially every year, but most of those are not very usable in your local church, prayer meeting or small group. If your church or group has a significant number of younger believers, good songs written ten years ago will be fresh and new to them.
Or if you don't have that much time to sift through the songs to seek new gems that you can use, here's a short-cut: fellowship with other worship leaders and ask them what are the worship songs that they've found to work really well.
2) Spend time reading the Bible aloud
When you spend time reading the Bible aloud, it ministers to you on many levels and in many ways. But something I would like to point out here is this: God's Word has substance and solidity in it. Jesus said "The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life..." (John 6:63)
So when we allocate time to speaking God's word, the Spirit and life of God's word rubs off on us. You'll find that there is a weightiness and power on your singing and worship leading when you do that. Just remember to give time for the fruit to begin to show.
3) Test and track
That is what direct marketers do when they are serious about knowing what works. If you are as serious about worship ministry as they are about marketing, you have to take this seriously too.
Record yourself leading worship. Get at least the singing, and if you can get it video taped, that's even better. And objectively listen to not only your leading, but also to the response of the people.
If it's a song that the people aren't familiar with they may not respond to it immediately. But if it's the 3rd time in 3 weeks you've used the song and the people still aren't singing, then something is not right, either with your choice of song or the your worship leading methods and techniques.
Conclusion: These steps are simple. They take effort, yes, but you will discover that they yield you the most results for your time. So get out there, implement these tips into your worship ministry lifestyle, and get ready to grow in your effectiveness for the Lord!