I Hate It When My Worship Leader…

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I Hate It When My Worship Leader…

Posted on 14. Jul, 2008 by loswhit in Worship Leading

When does a worship leader really botch it for you?
What is the biggest gripe you have about something a Sunday worship leader does?
All is fair game.
Bring it.
Los

5541CommentsI+Hate+It+When+My+Worship+Leader...2008-07-15+06%3A34%3A29loswhit to “I Hate It When My Worship Leader…”

Harry

14. Jul, 2008

Talks between every song.
steph

14. Jul, 2008

Two things:

1) Going into an impromptu sermon in between songs or mid-song. A few words of encouragement, challenge or reflection is cool but the if it goes longer than your song..overkill.

2) Repeating the same line in a song 3.6 million times. there’s the Spirit’s leading and then there’s just plain losing people.
Tyler

14. Jul, 2008

i think what steph said will be a common theme throughout.
Loran

14. Jul, 2008

allows uncomfortable dead time between songs…(no transition)
amoslanka

14. Jul, 2008

MAKES IT ABOUT HIMSELF.
Amy Storms

14. Jul, 2008

1. Doesn’t know the lyrics.
2. Typos on the screen.
3. Makes us shake hands with the people around us. LEAST FAVORITE PART OF CHURCH.
4. Talks like they’re at a high school pep rally. “Let me hear ya!”
5. Looks or sounds seductive.
6. Inauthentic prayer–too scripted or so random that it doesn’t make sense, or rushed/dragged out to make the prayer fit the interlude.

(I’m a tad opinionated. Sorry.)
Toby

14. Jul, 2008

When he’s obviously “unGodly” during practice and throughout life, but turns into a saint on Sunday morning….and then thinks people don’t notice or don’t care.
Michael

15. Jul, 2008

To be honest, I hate it when worship leaders script the worship too much by telling people what to do. For example: “Everyone raise your hands.”

All to often, I think this is simply so they can see everyone raising their hands and feel good that they got everyone involved instead of letting people worship God the way He is calling them to worship. I’ve had worship leaders completely distract me from God when they start telling me what to do.

Don’t get me wrong, having everyone stand at the beginning of the set to get people to wake up is fine. But if its in the middle of a song or the middle of the set, I don’t want to be told how to worship.
jason

15. Jul, 2008

When worship leaders run words together…

“I’ll never know how much it cost…” becomes

“I’ll never know how mu..SH@T cost…”

Now that I think about it…that’s kinda funny…
Tally Wilgis

15. Jul, 2008

1. I hate it when we call that person the “worship leader” or “worship pastor” because we’re typically just talking about music and music is only one small aspect of worship.

2. As a Pastor I hate it when the music guy/gal is lazy apart from their 30 minute set on Sundays.

3. I hate it when the music guy/gal asks the crowd to praise God but soaks it up like they are Bono and the crowd is really praising them.
sunny

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when the theme for the sunday is slow songs and slower. mix it up a bit Or when a slow song is made even slower than it’s normally sung. YAWN.

What I do like is when we’re given the option to stand or sit or kneel - whatever it takes for us to worship…so then the focus is not on us watching the band or merely singing along.

I also like how worship leaders/team make mistakes when between songs or even during songs..and they can smile about it and move on smoothly - because they’re not perfect!
Ron

15. Jul, 2008

When, after a protracted welcome by the person doing the welcoming, the worship leader welcomes everyone AGAIN ‘on behalf of the band’.

Do the stewards who hand around the buckets also get to welcome people on behalf of the stewards?

(Maybe that only bugs me because he says the same thing EVERY time he leads).

Actually maybe that is it maybe it is just the use of canned phrases.
Brody

15. Jul, 2008

Prays the words of the songs.
not in the choir

15. Jul, 2008

we had an worship leader that made us sing warm ups
seriously?
yeah he said it was to warm not only our voices but our our hearts cheesy i say

and he would drag out the last line of the song forever then leave out the first few words and repeat it then the rest and repeat it a few more times so finally we are just holding out the last note forever

annoying I started coming late to avoid choir practice
Anon-

15. Jul, 2008

when…

-they say,”everyone raise your hands”
-prays the words of the songs (above)
-after worship tells me to greet 5 or 6 people I didn’t come with. (happens every time) Come on, are you kidding me???
-starts service late
-transitions between songs take long time
-doesn’t know the words of the song
Anon-

15. Jul, 2008

-they tell you what line is next even though its already on the screen
sebren

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when the worship leader at the church I am on staff at calls “time out” - he uses hand signals and everything making his hands in the form of a T . . . this happens about once a month when he is not prepared or when he forgets to enter in the proper verses into media shout. I HATE IT!
Dan

15. Jul, 2008

When they put their own little spin on simple, common words. “There is no one like you” becomes “Zare is…zare’s no one like you.” Crowder does that a lot.
Richard

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when we sing How Great is our God.

Am I the only person in the world who hates this song?
w

15. Jul, 2008

to reiterate what’s been said,
-mini sermons (sometimes not so mini) between songs
-assumes you’re only worshipping if you’re raising your hands and such - that’s not how everyone is wired
-can’t sing very well
-asks how everyone is doing. we’re not at a concert, so we’re not going to scream…
Toby

15. Jul, 2008

Ok, so I subscribed to these comments to get a feel for what people dislike as I have led worship twice, but only because “our guy” was on vacation. I am blown away though by all the gripes. It’s church man! I mean, I joined in the griping up above, but after some thought, the only real gripe I have is when people worship the worship. Behind and above all of the music is GOD. I couldn’t care less what the guy with the microphone has to say. He can sing 100 year old hymns for all I care, so long as we’re singing to Christ, our Savior. Sorry for the rant, it just struck a chord, so to speak :-).
One more thing….Those of you who dislike being asked to shake hands with others around you, please explain this to me. It’s one of my favorite parts of every Sunday, hoping I’ll shake the hand of someone there for the first time, to make them feel at home and want to come back.
Heidi Reed

15. Jul, 2008

I don’t hate any part of worship. It’s for God. Not for me or for the band. I don’t mind greeting people, but that’s my personality. I’m super outgoing. I can’t sing. I try though. I raise my hands when the Spirit leads, not when I’m told to. I don’t know, man, I think a lot of people might be just singing and judging rather than worshiping God. Am I wrong? Sure I get distracted, but I try to keep my mind on God the whole time. That’s what worship is all about. Worship = for God. Right?
Heidi Reed

15. Jul, 2008

@Toby — we’re on the same page man. We posted at the same time I think. I agree 100% with you.
Karen

15. Jul, 2008

One of our young worship leaders had a really big hicky on his neck a couple of weeks ago.
Mandy

15. Jul, 2008

Our old church’s leader would sing so high that no one could sing along. She provided no harmony for us to pick up. It was to showcase her own voice.
dorothy (vicar of vibe)

15. Jul, 2008

One of my pet peeve (as described by one of my bbf’s)

Worship interruptus…
Worship is really good, like a warm shower…you are all lathered up and enjoying the warm water…then POW!
Someone flushes the toilet and you get hit with COLD water…

Worship leaders stop talking so much…
Every now and again when truly lead by the spirit, but every other song, every week…

I chose to share the shower analogy - but there is also a “sex” analogy…
Karen

15. Jul, 2008

Can I win?
b/

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when worship leaders/pastors play to people who think the worship somehow revolves around what they like and what makes them feel good when it has absolutely nothing to do with our preferences or likes.
Kate

15. Jul, 2008

When the singing comes to a close & they say “that’s the end of our worship time.” Okay, it’s the end of our worship in SONG, but aren’t we supposed to worship Him in *everything* we do?
Ben

15. Jul, 2008

I, being a worship leader, was once told “Preachers Preach, Band leaders Sing” It has stuck with me, and I am distracted when worship leaders start talking about anything that is not directions on what we are about to do.

As far as the rest of these comments… did someone actually say they HATE the song “How Great is Our God?” yeah, that may be an indication of your heart’s condition. I obviously must just need clarification on that one, as I can’t see any reason to hate a song extolling God’s greatness.

And regarding shaking people’s hands at church… that is a part of the worship service to remind us that we are corporately worshiping, and not just by ourselves. In western culture, where individualism reigns, it’s no wonder we dislike that part so much. And I am with you… i dislike it as well. But I use that discomfort to remind me that community is not easy or fun all the time, and that I need others with me to encourage me to worship.
Marcelo

15. Jul, 2008

Tells you what to do and how to worship… to the point where it makes you fill guilty if you don’t conform yourself to her/his understanding of what worship is.

In other words… I hate the “raise your hands”… “now, turn to your friend and say this”. If at least they threw a couple of “now turn to your right and give your neighbor a french kiss… now to the the one on your left” huahuauhauha
AuntieB

15. Jul, 2008

1. When the choir talks over top of the person leading service. (like they’re 13 yrs old or something)

2. When you can hear the “blue hairs” griping in the back of the sanctuary about what so-and-so is wearing and how it’s not appropriate and how “someone should talk to that little girl”.

3. After the first couple of songs that everyone sings together (with 4 part harmony) then, the next song that is picked is something that’s supposed to be done by a quartet (all 4 parts sing different melodies during the chorus). It all just falls apart.

4. Those little “blue hairs” and the candy wrappers. Crinkle, crinkle, crinkle, crinkle……….
Just get the stupid piece of candy out, cram it in your face and put the stupid wrapper away!!!!

Sorry. I know this is long, but I’ve been in church all my life. This is just the stuff that’s happened in the last 10 years. =)
Marcelo

15. Jul, 2008

Errata: “feel guilty”, “French” and disregard the double “the”. :0)
steven h

15. Jul, 2008

Talks to the praise band while leading worship instead of using hand signals to tell them what to do.
Marcelo

15. Jul, 2008

When the production team on stage are laughing, joking, and gesturing behind the worship leader to the soundboard guys in the transition between worship and the message. Now that’s annoying!
Jeff Thompson

15. Jul, 2008

You can tell a mile away when a worship leader is “sharing” because he feels obligated to. It’s always a cheesy or over emotional blurb. When God’s really laid something on a worship leader’s heart, it’s cool. But even then, say it in less than 45 seconds! Don’t meander on for 3 minutes.

I also think there should be no more than one interruption per worship set and by that, I’m referring to “sharing”. I recently attended a VERY large church and hated their worship flow:

Song 1
(Pastor greeting)
Song 2
(Worship pastor greeting)
Song 3
(Worship pastor sharing)
Song 4
(Closing prayer)

Do anyone even know what “flow” is???
Kevin

15. Jul, 2008

when the leader and/or band member turns away from the people to mess with their gear…

when they can’t talk or pray appropriately between songs, connecting the songs to the sermon or theme of the day…

when they perform rather than worship themselves - authentic worship of God from the leader will overcome most all other faults or messups…
silentfool

15. Jul, 2008

Hot topic! I could write a book about this one, but I’ll try to limit it to 3 or so.

1. Mini Sermons between songs- many have mentioned this, but it drives me nuts and it is a big momentum killer. It goes from focusing on God to focusing on the leader, no matter what they say.

2. Using the song name as an introduction/transition - “You know I was thinking about how much God has done for me…it really is ‘Amazing Grace’ isn’t it?”

3. Giving the congregation too much instruction, especially if it’s personally driven. I want you to do this…I want you to do that. It’s not about what YOU want!

4. Showing 0 (zero) emotion, standing still, focusing too much on perfection. We have a few that are like statues, they talk and sing about their love for Christ, but you could never see it in their body language!
Zack

15. Jul, 2008

Toby, Heidi, Amen!

I spent a year in a third-world country where *I* was the worship leader for our whole ministry. I have no voice, so-so guitar skills… oh, and we sang in four languages between us.

If you had been there, you would never, ever criticize any other ‘worship leader’ or ‘lead worshiper’ again!

:0)
ally

15. Jul, 2008

Toby & Heidi–you said exactly what I was wondering as I read these comments. With how many churches work today, someone could come to church alone and literally never connect with anyone–never even be spoken to. We’re a church family; greeting each other shouldn’t be such a burden, should it?
Andrea

15. Jul, 2008

I visited a church last Sunday and their leader asked everyone to give God a “hand praise”…I had never heard of this, but learned quickly when everyone started clapping.
BB

15. Jul, 2008

This reminds me of something a much older and wiser worship leader shared with me: “Leading worship is the art of removing distractions”.
Vikki

15. Jul, 2008

Sing with their eyes closed and put too many tags on the song. Sometimes the song just needs to end.
jen

15. Jul, 2008

it bugs me when they lead into a song using the lyrics like their talking to you. It just seems scripted and not real or spirit-led. For example “I think about how great our God is this morning …” followed by singing How Great is our God, sing with me… (followed by me cringing)
Richard

15. Jul, 2008

Hi Ben
Just to clarify that I do not hate the sentiment of the song, merely the melody -> my tongue was firmly in my cheek.

Have a good day
craig

15. Jul, 2008

i think we’ve unfortunately “elevated” the worship leader to a position of dj…we rely on him/her to spin the right tunes, share with brevity and eloquence, and then shut up and play my favorite songs. and since we’ve chosen the community in which we sing corporately, unfortunately we can’t change the station, unless we jump ship (which i think would be a lifelong carousel)…

i was little uncomfortable with the topic at first. we all have things that tick us off to various degrees (and i tend to share some of the above), but ultimately, we are responsible for our own worship (through song, word, thought, service, deed, etc.)…
Mark Rampulla

15. Jul, 2008

I agree with the Zacks, Tobys and Heidis of this reply. Worship is never about what I want, it’s about honoring Him. Most of the time, our preferences take a backseat to truly honoring God in our worship time. It’s not about our favorite song, our favorite style or how well a person sings or speaks, it’s about looking past that and seeing the One that deserves all of the worship and giving Him the glory regardless.

Go easy on those worship leaders…most of them are trying their best and learning what worship is, and how to worship, as they lead. Learning to truly worship God is an ongoing life lesson (see King David). Most of it is “on the job training”.
Jam

15. Jul, 2008

I echo what many others have said. I don’t mind an aside when a leader shares an experience of God working in their life, or what’s on his/her heart. That is fine. I do mind when they go off some tangent and it takes him/her forever to make their point. Brevity people, brevity.
Dean

15. Jul, 2008

. . . let’s the sound guy take all the credit for his blunders . . .
nate davis

15. Jul, 2008

I’m a worship pastor so I’m loving this, definitely taking notes, thx Los for asking the question!

I’d say my personal hang up is when worship leaders or worship pastors forget about the latter part of their title
Steve

15. Jul, 2008

- When they pre-preach the sermon

- When they repeat the same catch-phrases EVERY WEEK

- When they pray essentially the same prayer as a transition moment.
Patrick Sievert

15. Jul, 2008

…talks when he’s not prepared.

For instance:

A couple of weeks ago, at the church service I attended, the sermon was about the different ways that people come to know Jesus (through logic, through crisis,and something else).

Well, after the preacher preached, the worship leader got back up, sang a song, and then went into this little soliloquy:

“It’s amazing the way that Jesus leads people to himself. I know for me it was crisis. Well, crisis and some other things, but I can’t remember what those were.”

WHAT? You tell the whole congregation that there were “other things” that led you to accept Christ, but you can’t remember what they were? (I actually laughed out loud when he said that. I almost felt bad.)

Geez, stick to singing bad music.
Jake

15. Jul, 2008

I think I am supposed to believe the best of everyone. A worship leader is there to help LEAD worship, and hopefully that’s their heart.

Sometimes things will try and bother me, and it’s at that point I can let it bother me, or believe the best of them. It helps me to tell myself, “I am going to believe they are being led by the Spirit to encourage the congregation to raise their hands, and sing, or that that “mini sermon” was a prompting of the Spirit.”

Let’s think about it. If we begin to get distracted or offended by something the worship leader does, or anything else in church for that matter, is the enemy getting what he wants? You bet. You’re being distracted from worship God Almighty. You’re being distracted from getting into better relationship with God.

And getting bugged or distracted is a choice.
I think these ‘pet peeves’ are optional. You can let them bug ya, or choose not to. A leader cannot please everyone. If they do stuff for their own edification or glorification, then shame on them.
craig

15. Jul, 2008

@ Toby - great point. i don’t care what leadership position you hold. show us the same person on stage as back stage please and don’t try to pretend to be super spiritual - we can see through it, especially those who work closely with you…

@ amoslanka - i heartily agree with you! “more stage lights stage front and center, please. turn up my guitar and voice in the house! the rest can bask in the reflection of light off me - like the moon reflecting the glorious light of the sun.”

this is when the “leader” has elevated himself/herself into a place they have no right to be in, yeah?
Chad Maag

15. Jul, 2008

When the worship leader, or anyone on their team that uses a mic, refuses to educate themselves on or practice the basics of microphone dynamics. I’m a sound guy, and when one of our leaders gets excited and starts basically yelling in to the mic, or starts to really belt out a portion of a song, and they haven’t changed their mouth position relative to the mic….. pure garbage.
John Smith

15. Jul, 2008

When they don’t stay in the service for the sermon.
Stacy

15. Jul, 2008

As the wife of a Music Minister I just wanted to say something from the other side. There are some things that my husband does that annoy me, sure. Like I can’t stand when he has a new idea or new thing he is going to do and he has to explain, down to every tiny detail to the choir what he is going to do. Or like in choir practice he will pick out some new music and then say to the choir, “do yall like this?” I know you have to be here to be annoyed by it but I live with him…lol.

But something that really bothers me is that church members don’t think that he really does anything all week when he is sitting in his office. I can only speak for my husband, not for others, but he puts his heart and soul into planning the music week in and week out. From picking the songs to be sung each week by the choir, to also deciding what the congregation will sing. And church members get in the way of God with their own personal agendas. At the moment my husband can only pick songs from the hymnal because some in our church don’t like to sing anything unless it is in the hymnal.

So while it is valid for the worship leader to ask for feedback from people, what we all need to realize is that the person called to lead worship at our church is just that, CALLED by GOD, just like the Pastor.
Marcus

15. Jul, 2008

Amen Toby…maybe Los can ask the question, “What the most helpful thing the worship leaders can do to help you in your connection with and/or experience of God?”
Brittany

15. Jul, 2008

The thing about worship leaders is they never pick worship songs. Most of the time, the song is a song of asking something from God. I very rarely hear songs that don’t involve the words “i” “me” “we”. Worship is a time to praise God, not ask requests. I can see starting off the worship as a time of asking God, give me a heart that wants to praise you, but when more people get excited by a song that sings “give me clean hands… pure heart” or that instead of “God you do such amazing things” it makes me think man, we are even selfish in worship! Worship is not about us and so many times worship leaders make it about us. I’d love to go to a church where the people aren’t talked about. Where it is just God…
ash

15. Jul, 2008

I hate to see a person who is suppose to be leading worship acting like a jerk before service and then getting up on stage acting like nothing ever happened. Also, when singers act like they are really bored up there and just didn’t feel like coming that morning.

Thanks for this post. I just wrote one on worship. It’s called ‘when God takes over the service.’

Oh and i hate it when you have a decent sounding worship team only because you have one amazing instrumentalist. Than there’s a 5.53 minute solo for that one person in every song. seriously, it’s not about that.

–ash
portorikan

15. Jul, 2008

Sermonettes are annoying if too long or common and cheer-leading is as well.
Jason Hicks

15. Jul, 2008

When they start the service with no energy. Don’t they realize they set the mood for the entire service…
Biscuet

15. Jul, 2008

These comments break my heart. Oh, how we long to be consumers of worship rather than be consumed by the King. I tear up at the thought of 8 followers sitting in our tiny living room in China, singing with no guitar, no music, and sometimes no idea of the lyrics. Just a few of us, longing to know God, quietly and humbly, and worshiping Him in spirit and in truth. I can’t wait to get back there next month and escape this consumer culture.
Jason Cole

15. Jul, 2008

PLEASE STOP closing your eyes when you are leading. Even MORE important if you are on camera. Part of the leading is keeping your eyes open. I’ve seen some guys over the years who sing the first word of the first song and thats the last time you see their eyes till they walk off the stage.
Kelly

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when a worship leader tells you to lift up your hands. It now takes a meaningful personal action and turns it into a obligatory command.
Anne Marie

15. Jul, 2008

two things for me:
talk-singing is awkward. worship leaders will be telling a story, sharing from the heart, and then the second half of their sentence just happens to be a line in the song and then… whoosh! we’re singing.

the second thing i dislike, though incredibly funny, is when they sound seductive. “mmm… Jesus…” they say it like it’s marvin gaye playing in the background, instead of the worship band.
Rob

15. Jul, 2008

I am going to have to agree with Toby and Heidi. I am an aspiring worship pastor and though I could probably make a long list of things I don’t necessarily like about the worship at my church, I won’t. I won’t because I have learned if I want to one day be a worship leader or worship pastor, I need to learn that it’s not about me. I assume that most if not all of the readers here are church attendees or are involved in some sort of ministry at their church. Sure there might be things we don’t like or agree with but who cares. We are not here for us. We are here for the lost, the hurting and the broken. Some of you don’t like “the handshake” that so many of us do but that handshake could be just what the lonely guy sitting in the back needed. My worship pastor has really instilled this “it’s not about me” mentality in our worship team and it is taking us far.

As far as the whole “This is not a concert” comment. You are right. Sunday morning worship is not a concert, it is even better. At concerts we cheer and jump and raise our hands for mere humans and songs that we like. At church we jump, cheer and raise our hands (if you’re into that kinda stuff) for the king of kings, the God who created us and the one who gave his life for us! To say that a worship leader shouldn’t say things like “how you guys feelin today?” to engage the crowd is just preposterous!
Leftysings429

15. Jul, 2008

What an interesting conversation. As a worship leader I am enjoying following this. To me anything that takes away from the vertical focus of our worship to God and our relationship with him is a problem - this can be a break in the flow by the leader, an announcement, even the pastor coming up after a quiet reflective time or a prayer and starting his sermon with a joke.

Brittney brings up an interesting point about the I\we focus. As a worship leader it is very challenging to find songs that DON’T do this. While I don’t think it is a bad thing from time to time too much may pull us in the wrong direction that you mention. Of course, it’s not just the current “contemporary” songs that do this. Many of the most popular hymns do this as well: Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like ME; When I survey the wondrous cross; On Christ the solid rock I stand; The verses of How Great Thou Art, and on and on.

We have to remember that we have been given the beauty of a personal relationship with God by the sacrifice that was made on our behalf through Jesus Christ. Because of that sacrifice we can thank him for what he has done done in OUR lives. The key is that we also ensure that we also take the time to ensure that we do extol and praise God for who he is and for what he’s done.

Carlos, thanks for starting this - I agree with the others who have said I would love to see a follow-up that talks about what people LIKE that the worship leader does.
Malachi

15. Jul, 2008

I would have to agree with the “mini-sermons” gripe. What also bugs is when the pastor tells stories about his kids and how they remind him of some spiritual principle. C’mon, are you serious!? I don’t care about your kid’s swimming lessons, I just want to worship my Savior.

And from a worship team musician’s standpoint: When the pastor/leader improvises some song that he made up on the spot or a song that no one knows and he doesn’t share it with the team ahead of time. Gah!!
Rachel

15. Jul, 2008

I guess you could say I’ve been on both sides of the fence…seeing things that distract and divide our attention from God as well as seeing petty Christians who take their freedom to openly worship God for granted.
I went to a Christian university and the new worship director during the middle of a song randomly asked that everyone get down on their knees. Two things you must understand:
1)This venue had theater-like seats and concrete floors so if you did kneel, you were crushed against a seat;
2)I was sitting with a professor who I loved (she was like my mom away from home) who was recovering from chemo and she could barely stand.
Needless to say we stood…we were the only ones and that worship leader made us feel like we were “ungodly” because she physically couldn’t kneel.
On the other hand, I saw a professor who brought in a fabulous woodwind ensemble to lead worship only to see half the audience leave in a huff saying, “Well, this is dumb. It’s so boring,” as if the service was designed to praise them! Grrrr!!!
nooc

15. Jul, 2008

Hard to complain after that awesomely sobering perspective by Biscuet.

Hate is too strong a word for what I feel but in terms of wishing that things were different sometimes:

- When they hold back because they are obviously conscious of what the congregation and/or pastor will think.

- When they give a rip about the congregation period. I know there will always be that tension between bringing the congregation along and genuinely worshipping themselves… but for those rare moments when the leader has entered into His Presence and all else (including the rest of us) has fallen away… don’t you worry about me… I’ll be hot on your heels into the throne room. I think there is an underlying dynamic that is sometimes counter-intuitive to some worship leaders… we’ll go if YOU go… but if all you do is LEAD then by definition we’ll always be behind you instead of with you. So forget about us… that’s what will truly give us a sense of release, freedom, permission even. And most won’t go any deeper into His Presence than how far they intuitively feel the leader has given them permission.

- Also typos on the powerpoint (though at our church that’s not the worship leader’s fault). Once it said Calgary instead of Calvary… which is really funny if you’re Canadian.
anon2

15. Jul, 2008

Biscuet - Yes, thank you for saying that. I had a lot of mixed feelings reading through all of these.

I’ve been on both sides of the stage and have backed down recently significantly from any position in leading worship at church. It started to break my heart in how far we’ve come from what it truly is… and what we’ve made it to be.

I’ve personally experienced worship more out of the four walls of a church then in them. And I’d rather assess where we are and how to better the worship within the four walls then criticize - because you’ll always, always find something you don’t like wherever you are.

Yeah, I don’t like most of the “worship music” that I hear - and how in the world did it become its own genre? There seems to be one consistent sound produced, and I miss the excellence in music that we should be worshipping God with.

…and I will agree with some of you - the entire service on a Sunday morning is ALL worship. I talked to a young girl recently who asked me, literally, what “praise and worship” was. Music is only one part of worship. And worship doesn’t end when the service ends, either, it’s way of life. It’s continual. It’s about community (common unity?).

I’m ready to see the body alive to its fullest again - living, breathing, bleeding, active. I miss it.

I guess this long comment really didn’t answer the question? : )
Scot Longyear

15. Jul, 2008

Doesn’t shut up.
Rich Emery

15. Jul, 2008

When the leader changes the key of the song and does not tell the rest of the team
Kenia

15. Jul, 2008

I am member of a church in Nyc, where 99.9999 of members are Dominican .
For those of you that have never met a dominican person before we are known to learn how to dance merengue before we learn how to walk.

What does this mean that our worship leaders assume that everybody wants to dance everytime when there is a song playing , they dont ask you to dance its like they demand it.

Just like Amy Storms , they can seem to think that everybody is in highschool and are begging to hear you scream/ yell / shout louder.

All this and the mini 4 mins sermons after everyother song . ughhhhhh

I actually heard a worship leader say once in Costa Rica,”if you dont dance for God your not going to heaven ”
Seriously
James

15. Jul, 2008

When he/she tries to “rally the crowd” like we’re at a rock concert and he/she is the rock star..

Or when he/she doesn’t get that just because a person isn’t raising their hands or dancing or singing or clapping or “pumping their fists” doesn’t mean that they are not worshiping and doesn’t mean that God isn’t working on them.
Justin

15. Jul, 2008

forgets the words to the song or mixes them up!
Rick

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when my worship leader…
-has to remind Christians that corporate worship is a mandate from God.

-has to risk being a cheerleader because the people that claim to love God exhibit no sense of joy when singing about Him.

-has to burn the first song because 75% of the congregation is late, talking in the lobby, perfecting their coffee, or sleep walking instead of enthusiastically taking advantage of celebrating our Savior with like-hearted people.

-has to endure darts of personal preference from hundreds of individuals who have lost sight of what Sunday worship time is prescribed by God to be.

-is treated as a thoughtless hire rather than a divinely appointed servant.

-is expected to never get nervous but be humble,
execute notes and lyrics without flaw while avoiding performance and being vulnerable,
make no effort to teach or guide but don’t be a juke box, and stay traditional and contemporary,
all while burying, birthing and resurrecting songs appropriately.

I’m sure that’s easy to do!
nate davis

15. Jul, 2008

yay rick
Reese

15. Jul, 2008

Sometimes you can tell they’re being fake and/or showy.
Nick

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when worship leaders:
-sing theologically incorrect lyrics
-talk in a creepy, soft voice
-make facial gestures that look like they are… well, you know
-use wireless, headset mics (ala Britney)
-don’t play an instrument
-call what they are doing “worship”
-act like rock stars
-name drop
-ruin perfectly good songs
-preach that “worship isn’t JUST music ya know” but then act like it with everything else they do
-have a blog (just kidding)
Jan Owen

15. Jul, 2008

Hi all. I’ve been involved in worship ministry for 22+ years (before there was a worship music genre really) and have been a worship minister for 14. While I know the question was “What bugs you?” I would offer these observations. I know I’m probably older than many of you (42) but having done this for years I will share that I (and my team) bring my heart and soul to lead worship on Sundays. It’s so important to me that my church family meet with God and worship Him. I work all week to help enable that. It’s terrifying to face a congregation who probably has not thought much about worship yet and know it’s your job to help them experience God. I am humbled every single week. If I could, I would lead worship laying on my face because I am so amazed that for some reason I am leading the church to worship Almighty God. That is holy ground to me. Worship leaders have everything they do become for public consumption and comparison and that is so very hard - and many times heartbreaking. (If I had read most of these comments as a younger worship leader I would have been tempted to quit - I could never ever live up to your expectations of me) The bottom line for me is that I want to worship together. I will make mistakes. I will pick songs that annoy you. I will talk too long sometime (did you listen? perhaps God was speaking to you?). I will not look cool and yes, over and over again no matter how hard I try, I will forget the words. I’ll be leading the band, paying attention to sound, seeing people in the congregation reading their bulletins and making faces, try to stay worshipful, remember the words, and I will lose my train of thought. I will desperately want you to worship with me, not judge me or even “conmsume” in the worship service, not just watch. Whether we sing a hymn, or the newest worship song, I will want us to encounter God together.

When we come to worship we all share in a mutual responsibility. Do you know what I’ve observed after standing on the stage leading others for more than 22 years? We have the best worship when the church worships. Period. PErfection, new songs, great worship leader - all of these are extras. When we are focused passionately on God, we have great worship. One guitar or a full band, this is the recipe.

I know there are skills needed to lead more effectively. I work on that continually. PRAY for your worship leader!
Jan Owen

15. Jul, 2008

@Nick - I don’t lead from an instrument. Why should anyone care?
Nick

15. Jul, 2008

@Jan - its a matter of preference, its nothing personal
PatrckB

15. Jul, 2008

… forget that the audience of worship is God and start making it a performance for those sitting in front of them.

Also, an open mike doesn’t give license (or credentials) to preach. Mini-sermons take the focus off of God on puts it on us.

I want to be LED in a worship of the Almighty. There are many gifted musicians whom I wouldn’t follow to the church kitchen. But the musician who has a deep spiritual walk I’ll follow anywhere. His walk always shows through and with him we sing glorious praises to THE KING.
Some guy

15. Jul, 2008

Wow……..look at all the WL criticism

I hope I dont lead (do what God has called me to do) around some of you. Were being honest right?

Its pretty hard already having the responsibility to lead unimpressed people in worship.
dewde

15. Jul, 2008

@Mark, @Zack, @Toby, @Heidi and everyone else with similar opinions:

Pleaser re-read the blog post title and content. Carlos didn’t ask us to criticize /worship/. He specifically asked what we hate our worship leaders doing. If we presume that all of us love to worship God through song and other avenues, then the things we don’t like our worship leaders doing are probably things that are barriers to us connecting with God through worship while under their leadership.

This isn’t about criticizing our worship leaders for the sake of criticism. It’s about constructive feedback for the sake of better leadership.

I haven’t actually seen a single commenter attack worship itself.

I am not a worship leader, but if I was I would love this blog post because I would want to do my best to remove myself as a barrier between the worshiper and the worshipped. And this would give me valuable insight that most people would probably never tell me to my face.

peace|dewde
http://dewde.com
dewde

15. Jul, 2008

Oh yeah, forgot to answer the question.. I agree with Anon above.

Anon- Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 3:58 am
-they tell you what line is next even though its already on the screen

This is my biggest pet peeve. when they mumble out at lightning fast pace the whole next line right before they sing those same exact words. Not sure how this trend got started but it really interrupts and distracts me as I am worshipping God.

My mind is fragile. I know this.

peace|dewde
http://dewde.com
Nick

15. Jul, 2008

well said Dewde!
P-Melt

15. Jul, 2008

@Rick and Jan - Amen to that.
JudiFree.com

15. Jul, 2008

Los - we get cinical comments from certain congregation members every week: it was too loud, I didn’t like that song, I don’t like so many guitars on stage, I didn’t like what so and so wore on Sunday..etc…

You know what our pastor says “Well, we aren’t worshipping you…we are worshipping God”. AND GUESS WHAT!?!? We are having revival in our worship. True revival with people running to the front of the altar with tears streaming down their faces.

Man, we shouldn’t be hating on our worship leaders…worship leaders hear this criticism in their own churches week in and week out - I guarantee you. They hear the “constuctive criticism”. People criticizing worship and worship leaders has become a plague.

A worship pastor telling the people to lift their hands or shout out is biblical and just what the church needs…the congregation needs to shout at the same time so the walls will come down - a congregation unified in worship is so POWERFUL. Worship leaders are there to SHOW you how to worship..that’s their job. Hopefully our churches are filled with first timers that don’t know how to worship or what to do.
Albee

15. Jul, 2008

…moves to Atlanta for a “better job”

…whatever
Pat Callahan

15. Jul, 2008

Here’s my $0.02.

Like Jan, I’ve been around for a while (I’m also 42). I think that Los’ question comes from a good place. Essentially, he is asking what roadblocks to worship leaders put between you and God (without knowing it).

I also get that Los’ wording invites the kinds of comments that I’ve just got done reading through.

Based on the some of comments, it seems to me that worship consumerism is alive and well for those commenters. Worship for YOU is about making YOU feel good and about giving YOU a good experience and what needs YOU are getting met (or not getting met).

Unfortunately, that’s not what CORPORATE worship is about. Simply put, it ain’t about you.

I appreciate what Rick said: “has to endure darts of personal preference from hundreds of individuals who have lost sight of what Sunday worship time is prescribed by God to be.”

Also what Some Guy said: “Its pretty hard already having the responsibility to lead unimpressed people in worship.”

It’s true, your worship leader isn’t perfect. And they should constantly be working on their craft. And they need to be lovingly told if there are things that they do that are a distraction for the entire congregation.

So be an agent of change. Pray for them. Pray for yourself. Ask God to help you get over it or show you if your issue is something that you should address with the worship leader or not. If so, do it in love. If not, God may be using them to help you grow.

I guess that was a little more than $0.02.
Jeff

15. Jul, 2008

A worship leader blows it for me when…

-He doesn’t read charts…real charts
-Forgets to move his capo thus making the band look band
-Can’t get enough of his guitar in the monitor
-Is late

As far as “How Great Is Our God” goes: it needs to be shelved with the other overplayed songs in the past. Do something unique and don’t do that song as the “go to” or “closer” for every service.

Just a thought
chris

15. Jul, 2008

and all God’s people said - Amen.
dewde

15. Jul, 2008

@Nick:

Thx man.

@JudiFree:

Please consider that the commenters on this blog are very likely not those same people whom you are talking about. First of all the Internet provides a blanket of anonymity so that the quiet or shy types can have a voice. Also, the demographic of this blog probably favors worship leaders since Carlos is one. So if anything, based on demographics, we could be reading a watered down version of what congregations *really* think.

peace|dewde
http://dewde.com
Jamie

15. Jul, 2008

The sermon before the sermon. It is as if he thinks he can preach better than the pastor.

Lead. Explain the songs. Pray. Whatever. But don’t preach, and keep the monologue short. People lose interest quicker than you think when they are standing up.
justin aka j rocka

15. Jul, 2008

when they wear bicycle shorts on stage. that is unnecessary dude.
Crystal Renaud

15. Jul, 2008

wow… i’d like to hear what your worship leader has to say about you all. lol.
Christian

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when he grabs my ass as we’re walking off the stage. Does he really think no one sees him do this? Oh wait…I’m the worship leader.
rob

15. Jul, 2008

Amen, Judifree! This thread is just downright depressing…
Chris

15. Jul, 2008

Wow, there are a lot of experts on worship here.
Chris

15. Jul, 2008

Isn’t worship who we ARE, not what we DO? Why so much focus on execution? Put the right person, who feverishly chasing Christ in his/her life on stage, and chances are…worship will happen.

Start there. Forget the rules.
Josiah

15. Jul, 2008

When they stop playing to lift their hands. It kills the plateau, anointing, spirit or whatever you want to call it. I just think that the music part of the service needs to be a time where us on stage need to lead the people not use it as our own personal worship time.
Derek

15. Jul, 2008

I have to agree with Jan. No matter how prepared I am or how not prepared I am, It is God’s spirit who moves me and our Church to worship in spirit and truth. Sometimes it seems the less prepared I am the better it is…sometimes.

As far as the question goes,
Have no flow
pick some song that is so wordy that I don’t even get the meaning
definitley say the words right before they sing them. We can read.
Derek

15. Jul, 2008

And by the way, whoever said
close there eyes, there is a line to be drawn, but if you really expect the worship leader to worship, while he is leading everyone else in worship(if that makes sense), and that is how he does it, then let him do it.
Sean Pritzkau

15. Jul, 2008

Im with Toby.

but it does kinda bug me when people pray the words of the songs too. thats so cheating
Brian Wurzell

15. Jul, 2008

it is interesting when we try to become someone we’re not on the stage. like maybe we’ve watched to many Hillsong United videos and suddenly I’ve got Joel Houston’s accent and start saying the same things that he says or jumping the same height as he does on the Live DVD at the same break in the song. HAHAHA. i say ‘i’, because, if you’re a worship leader on this forum YOU KNOW you do sooooo many of the things that are listed above. We are the people that annoy each other!

i actually think it’s all kind of funny and it makes us real people. truth be told we all need to be thinking about some of these things so that we can be more aware of who we are when we’re leading.

my aim, as much as possible, is to strive to lead in my worship on stage the same way i’d lead my ‘life’ of worship off stage. but, i’m the first guy to take some tips from peeps that are doing it well and put on my matt redman ‘arrr’ vs. ‘awe’ in ‘Let My Words Be Few’ - HAHAH!

maybe more of my issue with Worship Leaders is when we all become so cynical that we forget to see ourselves in ‘all of the above’ (no pun intended - circa United 2007) and this is true especially as it relates to us being people that respond with the same passion when our Worship Leader hat is off and we just get to be in the crowd, as a normal person, engaging. there’s NOTHING more annoying to me than a charismatic Worship Leader on stage and seeing them in a gathering when they’re stage hat is off and they’re the most cynical, unresponsive, un-leader like worshipper in the crowd.

DO YA FEEL ME ON THiS STUFF?!?!

brianwurzell.wordpress.com
ryan guard

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when my worship leader isn’t as good as Brian Wurzell.
jason

15. Jul, 2008

I was ready to list some pet peeves until i realized what a jerk i am.

as long as they keep it about Jesus and not themselves- why should i gripe?
Toby

15. Jul, 2008

I feel ya Brian!! It’s good to see some of this taken light-heartedly. Where ya leadin Brian…I wanna come watch. I have a feelin that would be a great learning experience.
Brian Wurzell

15. Jul, 2008

I’m at Cornerstone in Chandler, AZ. - http://www.cornerstonechandler.com

we’re having a great time. we’re a team of Worship Leaders that are growing and always talking. i hope to getting connected here to the blog world a bit more…i’ve not been a blogger until this past weekend. i’ll try and get some video up on my blog of what we’re doing here in AZ very soon.

my goal is to ‘outblog’ carlos. hahahah. a wishful thought, but, you know how the North Point Church crew is they’re into a little competition, they know they’re the deal. hahaha! ONLY KIDDING for those of you who are taking me seriously -i’m not really going to compete with CARLOS. CARLOS: me/you a praise-filled (east to west) boxing match. come on now!
transitionpete

15. Jul, 2008

’tis a good conversation… lots of comments about presentation and flow, as well as comments about what worship is about.

the comment by BB, “Leading worship is the art of removing distractions” kinda sticks out as what I think a worship leader ought to strive for — it’s a *HARD* balance between presenting perfection for the congregation and being honest with your offering through singing to God.
Sam

15. Jul, 2008

So these have probably both already been stated but:

1) Telling us the first few lines of the next verse een though they are on the screen every time

2) Fist pumping (or anything that has him/her stop playing the guitar). If the rest of the band can keep their hands on whatever they are playing, you don’t get a pass to stop playing for 30 seconds while you randomly pump your fist in the air.
Dave ©

15. Jul, 2008

I used to “hate it” when the song leader told us to raise our hands. I didn’t know exactly why I hated it so much but I did. Through lots of prayer and self-examination, I believe the Holy Spirit gave me the answer; I have issues with authority.

I now view these types of prompts from song leaders as opportunities to obey the authorities that God has put in place over my life, in this case…my song leader at my local church.
Carrie

15. Jul, 2008

My words would have been Rick’s words.
Brad

15. Jul, 2008

The thing I hate the most is when a worship leader let’s congregational demands trump the leading of the Holy Spirit. You know, when they try to flex their “I Tithe therefore I Get” card and pressure is put on the worship leader to do a certain song, or certain kind of song.
Emily

15. Jul, 2008

When he keeps my husband up late playing video games haha

I really think worship is not for our own entertainment. Worship leaders/directors/pastors get a bad rap. People need to stop scrutinizing them so much. It’s sometimes the same people over and over again who complain. It’s almost as though they look for something wrong every week instead of actually worshiping God.

Now I’m not saying that if there is a legitimate concern you shouldn’t voice it. Absolutely you should, but you should really look at where your heart is before you say something. Please remember that your worship pastor is human and not perfect.
Jonathan Hoover

15. Jul, 2008

interesting post, funny how when you get to talk about something negative you get all kinds of comments and people chiming in to add their two cents. I love my church’s worship, i have heard all kinds good untalented weird and more. One thing that is good about all of them is that we are worshiping God not the singer, well some might be i am not. Worship is incrediably personal, you have to let someone distract you.
Jan Owen

15. Jul, 2008

some of ya’lls answers are making me laugh and i will NEVER again subscribe to comments on this blog cause my inbox is full!

I guess I’ll add something on why worship leaders might talk - maybe it will help you understand from at least one worship leaders perspective. For me, I am considered the Worship Pastor at my church. It is my role and job to teach, lead, instruct not just the band but the congregation. I have a congregation full of people who had never been taught to worship. never. they had no idea what we were doing. I personally just am not interested in having people do a sing a long. I am NOT a song director. That is not what God called me to do. I want to see people worship God! Well, they must be taught. So worship is a lab, a learning experience if you will. In that time I not only at times direct, but I must teach. Why do we raise our hands, why would we bow, what is confession, what is praise or worship for that matter. All that and more are my responsibility to teach my church. In 10 years we’ve done one series on worship. We are in an interim time now, but my pastor did not teach on worship, nor did he really model it. But every week I have 25 minutes to teach my congregation to worship. And no matter what we might think, worship is not the flu, we don’t just catch it. Having said all that, I do not say anything unless I have something REAL to say. That’s the advice I give all worship leaders I am working with. So I don’t do it each week. But if I do, there’s a reason why.

BTW, I don’t particularly care to be told what to do in worship either. But, many times God has spoken to me when I have done something I really was resistant to. When I let go of my pride, God moved. Just sayin…..
karen

15. Jul, 2008

not to keen on

worship leaders who seem really wrapped up in being “cool”

worship that seems like a performance
Brandon

15. Jul, 2008

I hate it when…

posts like this elicit nearly 120 comments in a little over 12 hours. One of the things that seriously concerns me about my generation (20-30) is how quickly we can voice our displeasure over something. But if you ask us to voice something positive, the thoughts don’t flow quite as fast.

I bet if Los started a thread entitled “I Love it when my Worship Leader…” it wouldn’t get 120 comments in the same amount of time. It might not get that many period!

BTW: I think this is a great conversation to have. It just bothers me how quickly we can point out what we don’t like in others.
pinkcamojeep

15. Jul, 2008

Been said before, but I get frustrated when we sing the same verse/chorus over and over…. trying to “sing in the Spirit.”
As much as I love the music, I really don’t like the concert feel at our church sometimes, when the music and band are so loud that you can’t hear those around you singing. I think the band, worship leaders and congregation should be singing together…… instead of the congregation being drowned out by the band/musicians/singers. Worship should be corporate….. for it’s “worship” not a concert.
pinkcamojeep

15. Jul, 2008

Los,
Is Brandon right? Is that a challenge? I think the word “hate” ellicits passion and that’s why there has been a big response. Would you go on to balance this out and ask “I LOVE it when my Worship Leader…..”?
pinkcamojeep

15. Jul, 2008

oops… sorry….. “elicits”
transitionpete

15. Jul, 2008

and “love” doesn’t elicit passion?
Renee Garcia

15. Jul, 2008

Thinks that he’s putting on a personal concert instead of leading worship. There are some songs that are hard for a congregation to follow along to and sometimes I think they just sing it to say, “Look at me and what a great voice I have!” ***disclaimer*** I am not talking about the worship leaders at my church right now (or any from California haha). My current pastor reads your blog so I just wanted to add that in here!

PS. I totally agree with the typos on the screen too AND when they don’t capitalize “He” or “Him” when talking about God.
Renee Garcia

15. Jul, 2008

Oh and if you post the “I love” one I’ll answer there too!
LeAnn

15. Jul, 2008

As the wife of a worship leader, I have my own pet peeves about worship leaders and what they do and don’t do. We have conversations every Sunday after our two services about how worship went that day, what we each noticed (from the stage for him and looking at the stage for me). And I agree with many of the comments here about telling us to raise our hands or lack of transitions, mini-sermons, etc. But, I also have to say that allo worship leaders are human and will make mistakes like messing up words to the song. My husband is also a volunteer at our church along with another guy and spends an extraordinary amount of time scheduling the instrumentalists and vocalists to try to match them with songs that they either play or sing well. He also spends time working with the notes from the pastor or whomever is speaking that week to make sure the songs and “theme” of the singing time works with the “theme” of the speaking time. And after all of this time, sometimes he will get an e-mail or phone call telling him that the message has changed or that the pastor wants a specific song when the people playing or singing that Sunday may not be the best people to sing/play it, etc. I’m just saying…

And the thing about shaking hands with others…I don’t know about any other church, but at our church, that is one of the only ways that new people can get connected to established people. We don’t have Sunday School for adults and we have very few life groups (or whatever you call them) for people to get involved in…so how exactly are new people supposed to become part of the community without that?
Tstaires

15. Jul, 2008

There’s a whole lot of haten going on here. But, as a worship pastor it’s good to hear what people off stage are thinking and too afraid to lovingly say to their pastor. Thanks to all of you off stage worshippers for not throwing tomatoes on Sunday morning.
Brooke

15. Jul, 2008

Wow…so much to read and take in! The music/worship time is my favorite part of church, and it’s very interesting to hear what others like/dislike about worship services. My dislikes:
- singing off key…if you can’t sing, it’s a distraction and you’re in the wrong occupation.
- being able to go with the flow, but knowing when to stop and move on. thats the leader part of it!
Nick

15. Jul, 2008

@brianwurzell - I also hate it when my worship leader’s beard is so huge a nappy that it literally swallows the mic during the set… that is totally distracting for me personally.
Rhys

15. Jul, 2008

This might mean nothing but I think as a congregation member, youth pastor and drummer on any given Sunday, it’s important to remember here that we’re all human and none of us are ever going to lead worship as well as the Angels.

Secondly, it’s the easiest thing in the world to be one of those bitter, complaining types that sit and point fingers but never give God what he deserves because they’re too wrapped up in their frustration that they can’t get beyond it to the real reason we worship - GOD!

Finally, I think besides all that, this is good. Worship leaders need challenging sometimes - but not abuse… and congregational members sometimes need challenging too to get past their ‘my worship leader isn’t “King of Worship” David and actually realise how well they connect with God is mostly on their shoulders.

Worship leaders lead your desire to connect and worship God - if you’ve got no desire then they can’t lead you.
Phil H

15. Jul, 2008

Some people are bandying the word ‘Hate’ around a little lightly.

Do we really count these annoyances in the same catagory as people trafficking or rape? Really?

As a member of a church, a worship leader, a drummer and several other things, I dislike it when people harbour such annoyances without either giving them up and and getting a life, or dealing with them (like grownups do.)

I have no problem with sung worship and praise, but I’m a bigger fan of living worship in the rest of my life.
sam

15. Jul, 2008

When the worship leader thinks he can mix from the stage, better yet when his boss tries to from 2 rows back stage left and sends a text message to my TD to give me the message
Andrew

15. Jul, 2008

goes out of order or adds another song in the middle of the set
John Melton

15. Jul, 2008

Whether you are a worship leader or a worshiper I am reminded of Psalm 108:1 “My heart is steadfast, oh God;
I will sing with all my soul!” If we can all come to church and sing with all our soul everything else will fall into place. And what a great worship experience that would be.
Jason

15. Jul, 2008

this started out as a fun question and turned into a chance for christians to show each other what absolute spoiled children we really are. what bugs or doesn’t bug people in the congregation is totally subjective… one person might like the lights and special songs while the other likes hymns. we are on a journey together, and your leaders are not a cup of coffee… and what i mean is with coffee, you choose what you want and where you want to get it from. and if the incompetent barista makes it wrong, you take it back and get a new one. but, our leaders are people with real relationships with Jesus who are working out their salvation too.

i am a worship leader. if i heard christians at my church having this conversation, i would tell them to go to a different church and leave seats for people who actually want to sing a song to God with me. or even better, for people who don’t yet know Jesus. i would also ask them to leave for the bad example they are to the people just learning about God.

i do what i do because i feel called to do it, not to get famous or get rich or be in the lime light… and i will whole heartedly agree that sometimes it’s hard to come up with an authentic prayer 5 services in a row weekend after weekend and i have sometimes used words from the song or whatever… i’ve also forgotten words, made mistakes, adjusted my equipment… i’ve done it all. i’m not saying it’s right, but what i am saying is that this conversation does nothing but destroy the community that is our church. and as for the mistakes i make, i watch back each service i lead to eliminate these things as much as possible, as they do serve to distract people from what we’re really there for.

to the people here who’ve portrayed nothing but a consumeristic, judgmental attitude; you are the Christians that the rest of the world hates! why don’t you take that negative energy and use it to encourage people around you to strive and grow and serve and worship. we are all worship leaders. instead of criticizing your leaders on some blog, you should encourage them with constructive comments.
Joni

15. Jul, 2008

Late to the party as usual…When the worship leader gets visibly and verbally frustrated with the congregation that they’re not”with him” or cajoles them into clapping louder(3 & 4 times). Just let it go. Lead how you lead and let the Holy Spirit nudge. Too much talking too although as Jan said(and I have also experienced) in a church where worship has not been taught, or you’re introducing a new format or song you might have to do a little more of that. Also when the worship leader treats some of the team like friends, and some of the team like employees.(Not OVCC)
Alison

15. Jul, 2008

I think whoever said that worship leaders should just let go and worship along with the congregation (which I know is difficult with everything going on up there at any given time) had a really great point. I really do think there’s something to be said for leading by example, and maybe to note that there is a difference between leading and “forcing”. I find your worship “contagious”, though

Also, as far as typos go, yes they are annoying, but I think they go in the “everyone is human” category. We lackeys charged with input usually check and double check that stuff and it still gets through only to be noticed while its up there Sunday morning. Talk about sweaty palms. Do you know who that person is at your church? I can almost guarantee they would appreciate a hug and a “thank you”.

As far as the “handshake” portion of the worship goes, I don’t think anyone is against people being warmly greeted by someone during church. But the 30 seconds of “quick, shake as many hands as you can!” doesn’t ever really feel authentic or warm (to me, at least).
casey.

15. Jul, 2008

I’m throwing out an amen to the comment “Prays the words to the Songs”. It bothers me…quite a bit.
Brian Howe

15. Jul, 2008

Im a hater of breathy speaking between songs and breathy prayers…
Andy McMahon

15. Jul, 2008

When the musician tells me what sounds best, and how much FX to put in his voice, and tells me to pull the highs down and the lows up. I KNOW. I DO THIS EVERY WEEK.

Also, after all of the EQ, they grab a different mic.

Also, Ancient of Days. I’m sorry. That song should forever be retired.
cmhl

15. Jul, 2008

when he sings directly in the mike, so that you can always, always hear his voice over the voice of the congregation.
Rebecca Moon

15. Jul, 2008

i like what @ash and @Chris had to say…consistency. authenticity. servant-leadership. the way you worship Jesus with actions and the way you love others speaks volumes over musical ability…not that excellence isn’t important, but when people get to know you better they should want to follow Jesus more.
Bernard Shuford

15. Jul, 2008

Wheee. This is “good” feedback, but seriously, between the bunch of you, there’s not much you want your WL to do but sing. I’m not sure you get it.
Jeff M. Miller

15. Jul, 2008

Boy am I glad a never do any of those annoying things when I lead musical worship.
Avril

15. Jul, 2008

I don’t mind so much when WL tell the congregation to lift their hands and things like that. I used to be a worship leader so I know it’s only coming from a place of trying to get the congregation to join together in worshipping God. But as an audience member, I just feel like if I don’t feel like putting my hands in the air or if the Spirit doesn’t lead me to do that, I just don’t do it. I’m not there for them, I’m there for God. Not trying to be disobedient or anything but I also don’t want to give God any fake praise.

But what I do hate is when the WL BADGERS the congregation by making them feel guilty when they’re not as enthusiastic as they’d want them to be. My old church was good for this. They’d just scream at the top of their lungs: “COME ON!!! YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT! DON’T JUST STAND THERE AND GIVE GOD A PITTY PAT PRAISE! HE’S BEEN TOO GOOD TO YOU!!” and all that. It feels kind of abusive sometimes. Give it a rest. Just go ahead and worship God. Passion is contagious. They’ll catch on.
Michiel

15. Jul, 2008

Well, maybe all worship leaders should resign and let this congregation of ragamuffins lead worship. That would be interesting.

Oh man, we are so far away from what worship really is. I’d go with what biscuet says.

And for us worship leaders - it is not and will never be about us! So let’s stop drawing attention to ourselves!

On the other hand there’s nothing more frustrating as worship leader than trying in all you do to paint a bigger God and no-one in the congregation responds.
Todd

15. Jul, 2008

Satan has been pleased. For we have surely taken the focus off of our Lord.

This is all great discussion. But if we do not ask God to heal us of our greed and discontent, Satan will be pleased again. So, talk with your LEADERS, in love and mercy. Discuss and pray with them. Then, if you are not already doing it, pray that God will remove the consumer-selfish logs from our hearts before we enter the Sanctuary. For that matter, before we get out of bed each morning. For I am sure if we are so discontent with all of the above, that there are many other judgmental parts of our lives.

By all means, I have been in the same place as most of you. This is as much for me as the rest. This is not to judge, just hoping we can continue to use every breath God gives us, to glorify Him.

Thanks Los for the stirring!
Jamie

16. Jul, 2008

Whoa…way late to the conversation! But I can’t believe this one hasn’t been thrown in there- not taking the time to research and introduce NEW worship songs. There IS a point when “Shout to the Lord” becomes overplayed.

Stir it up…keep it fresh.
Change up the arrangements once in a while.
CASEY DARNELL

16. Jul, 2008

This strengthens my resolve…that what i do…the role i play via the gifts i’ve been given as a WORSHIP LEADER is more important then EVER.

all of the above…in one place of my heart would make me fearful and self conscious…especially since i just lead worhsip this past sunday - thanks Carlos

But the other part of me…the “in my weakness He is strong” part stirrs in me a deeper passion to continue leading ever more realizing how important it is that people connect with Jesus…not me…though i am the messenger…

obviously some get it and some wont…Not going to allow the “wonts” to play the Holy Spirit’s role in my life and be the voices i hear when I’m leading…

But still…my resolve…we have to connect people to Jesus - wherever it is we’re at in the “growing” curve as a worship leader…as a FAN of God, singing, messing up, doing great, struggling, forgettin words, talking to much, saying to little, to tired, to excited…ALL in an effort to make HIM famous…trusting that without HIS SPIRIT….doesnt matter anyways.

what we get to do is AWESOME and humbling and when God is moving…it’s the greatest seat in the house - be it a difficult one at times or effortless at others….and sure its easy to judge when your not doing it…but man….i’m excited to lead worship again this sunday!

1. Be encouraged worship leaders - keep connecting with God FIRST - dont spend more time reading this blog and let these comments speak louder to you then the words of God! ( i know its tempting) Lead this coming sunday with a fresh heart and desire to live those lyrics out…Sing with passion and excellence, keep taking voice lessons, write songs, learn how to dance a little maybe…go home and be the same person…love your families and TRUST that HIS SPIRIT will allow you to be effective and will do what you could Never do on your own or be good enough to accomplish -no matter how much you tried. He will use you in an INCREDIBLE way that you may Never hear about!!!

2. Be encouraged church attender…You matter to us…we are crazy excited you came..be it first time or last time…and we are trusting that “Greater is He that is in us…then He that is in the world”…”His glory goes beyond all fame”…and if the message we send is REAL…were praying you’ll connect with Jesus inspite of us…
Pursue Jesus…connect with Him no matter where your WL is at in the process. You will stand before GOD one day…not your worship leader…so be ready to give an account of your LIFE’S worship that doesnt involve your particular worship leader…and we are excited about that!

CASE
Josh

16. Jul, 2008

Incredibly interesting conversation going on here, especially reading it as one who tries his best to lead the congregation in worship.

Therein lies the rub for me. Your worship leaders are humans…fallen…far from perfect. They want to lead the church in worship but have the various stressors of time, style, the pastor, congregation (and the list could go on) all to think about and around within the short timeframe of 15 minutes…or so.

If you’re a worship leader who’s just experienced and learned from those things that are ‘gripes’ for other people, then this is a great learning post for you, and it is for me as well. If you’re one posting, especially the frustrations (and there are going to be some with EVERYONE who’s on a platform, whether worship leader or pastor), consider the humanity behind the person we’re critiquing.

For those who don’t understand musicians, we have something we deal with called perfectionism…we want things to be the best they could be. It’s a blessing and a curse. It drives us to be better, but sometimes it goes over the top. The thing about it all is that we take things very personally as well. The songs you sing for 15 minutes we pour over for hours both in prayer and preparation. Just some thoughts for your consideration.

Thanks to all the posts though. They’ve been helpful and good reminders (most of them anyway
CASEY DARNELL

16. Jul, 2008

PS:
No more defensive postures Worship Leaders…whoever you are…
keep your head up….
when you read this eventually and you will….be cool…just breath!
Mark

16. Jul, 2008

Wow. Lotta unhappy worshippers out there tonight.

C’mon people. Love Jesus and be happy.
BlueDevilDad

16. Jul, 2008

-tells the crowd to sing it b/c he can’t remember the words
-wears crotch hugging jeans
rIC

16. Jul, 2008

I don’t like when the worship leader looks back at the drummer as if to say, “that’s too loud.” Puhleez! Too, loud (snort)
bp

16. Jul, 2008

when the worship leader thinks he’s “leading” or “putting on a show” for people to “enjoy.” When the stage, the craft, the presentation, the gig become bigger than the One the worship leader is called to lead others too. When the WL has a presence of his own, when the WL is using the stage to promote his own life, his own CD’s, his own talent, his own band.

seems to me a lot of so-called worship leaders are just discontented American Idol wannabees who aren’t good enough to sell their records in the mainstream so have to settle for a built in audience every week in their own little arena.

in the word’s of Rick Warren, “it’s not about you.”
Art

16. Jul, 2008

When we rehearse a song one way then during the services the leader plays it a different way. Like changing the number of measures in an intro, interlude, out-lude, or on-the-fly changes the Verse-Chorus arrangements. Why practice?

Providing song list at last minute and expecting to be able to master songs (often a few new ones) in a day or two. If you’re full time this could be done but when you have a job too … it’s tuff!!
kurtis

16. Jul, 2008

wow. there are a lot of things that bother us! as someone said, music is only a small part of the big picture of what it means to worship. how can we let so many things bother us when its not even about “us” anyways? why are we so scared of leaving our comfort zones to the point where we dont even want to shake the peoples hands around us? its all about community. i guess its ok to have your personal preferences and stuff… but dang!

maybe i dont know what im talking about. still learning. ha
Fred McKinnon

16. Jul, 2008

man, thanks for this … what a creative topic, every WL should take notes.
Sam L

16. Jul, 2008

As a worship leader and target of at least 1 gripe on here, I have to say “Wow!” I guess the reason I close my eyes when I worship is that before I ever had a platform in ministry, I worshiped with my eyes closed. Should I become something different because you don’t like it? Do you want authentic or do you want the guy/gal who tries to figure out what everybody likes and tries to conform?

Los, when do worship leaders get to comment on “I hate when the congregation gripes about…”?
Jason

16. Jul, 2008

thank you sam!!!
Brian Foster Kane

16. Jul, 2008

Wow. There are not enough hours in the day to describe how utterly DISGUSTED I am with this blog topic, and with most of the garrulous, stupid, ignorant trash being spewed onto these pages.

Worship leaders are just musicians on a stage. If they “botch” it for you, then you aren’t worshipping.

What a SAD, SAD, SAD state the church is in when we have blogs up about “I hate it when my worship leader”.

You know what? I HATE it when people die without Jesus, people at my work, people at starbucks, and even people at my church.

How’s about we fulfill the great commission and stop bitching about petty stuff on a pointless blog.

Go read your Bibles and find out what worship means, because it has nothing to do with music.
Brian Foster Kane

16. Jul, 2008

P.S.

Sam L leads worship with his eyes closed because if he doesn’t, he will see me holding up signs in the audience that say “Show me your boobs”
Dave

16. Jul, 2008

Wow, lots of comments.

I’m not going to talk about styles, different styles work for different congregations.

I don’t mind some talking between songs, as long as it is tasteful and well placed. I’ve seen it go too far the other way, no talking at all; this wasn’t a good balance either.

I don’t like when the worship leader surprises the band with a new song (or several) on Sunday. This lack of preparation tears down the band, and isn’t healthy. God is in the planning.

I don’t like when so many rules and restrictions are placed on the worship leader. “only sing hymns”, “only sing chorus’s”, etc. All the restrictions make for a very forced, and unfree worship time.

I don’t like when worship is interrupted for announcements, or other similar things. You lose all the momentum

I’m not a fan of when the prayer telegraphs the theme of the next song…

“God you are amazing” - begin singing “amazed”.

I’m not a worship leader (I work in production) and WL’s have a tough job. They deserve our support.

Lastly, as many others here have stated, worship is not about us.
SNOB

16. Jul, 2008

The short guy that lives in a northern ‘burb of Metro Atlanta and knows only 4 chords and thinks way to highly of himself. ….i’m sorry that was wrong of me.

and Brian Foster Kane - go sit in the teen section and you’ll see all the boobs you want. come on parents - cover up those boobs on yer kids.
SNOB

16. Jul, 2008

I know it was a joke - i’m still laughing.
BFK

16. Jul, 2008

Daughtry…I mean…Carlos,

To answer your questions:

I am here because a “Worship Leader” friend of mine asked me to check out this belligerent discussion on a pointless and fruitless topic about something a worship leader does that “ruins it for you”. I never claimed to have it all figured out…I just know that if Jesus were wanting Christians to create blogs, it would not be for the purposes of soliciting complaints about people that God has called to bring music and anointing into His house.

If this blog were a table…it is my opinion that Jesus would have turned it upside down.

“Go hang out with all the other ones who have it figured out”??? What does that even mean? I hang out with people that DON’T have it figured out, because the ones who claim to have it all figured out are usually the ones who make blog postings like this.

Unfortunately, some of my “worship leader” friends read some of the comments on here and were weighed down and made insecure by the forthright knowledge of the critical spectators that make up your church-going audience.

It’s websites like this and responses like yours that make countless amounts of people I know want to stay as far away from Christianity as they can because “all Christians do is eat their young and wounded”.

I’m sorry if I wasted precious space on this site, but I am just so tired of people picking apart other people that lead worship or minister. If the worship leader bothers you and doesn’t fulfill the “entertainment” needs that you have…then go watch 27 Dresses in IMAX if you want to be entertained in a matter that is perfect. (Kathryn being perfect…mind you).

If you are a normal “reader” of this blog…I plead with you to not post any more comments about your dissatisfaction with your “worship leader”, they do what they can and they are not perfect…but bitching about them will only discourage them and not cause them to turn into the princes you desire them to be.
MG

16. Jul, 2008

I’m not sure I agree with you there BFK…honest feedback is the way we grow in anything we do, as a worship leader I find this discussion a great resource and a reality check..not only are we servants of the Most High God, we are there to serve the congregation, and if we’re more of a hinderance than a help, then we need to know about it. We live in a world full of sinners…us included…this discussion isn’t perfect, but I believe Los’ motives are in exactly the right place, and where’ God’s concerned that’s all that matters.
michael

17. Jul, 2008

BFK,

Although this post and thought provoking question may at first come across as demeaning and destructive, did you ever think that the motive behind it was for reasons completely different. If you read up a little bit, it seems that Toby, after reading all of the negative responses, has had a change of heart. He realized that worship is worship and it’s not for us, but God. Maybe this post is for people to turn around and realize that they’ve turned worship into a prodcution. A production that they are the director of, and if they’re not happy then things go terribly wrong.

I may be the only one to see it like this, but just a thought.
BFK

17. Jul, 2008

Michael,

Thanks for your response. Although you may disagree with me, I appreciate the way you have gone about it. I did think about the motives being completely different, and I didn’t have enough time to read all of the comments on this page, but I did read a majority of them. I am pleased to hear that Toby has had a change of heart, however, I still feel that beginning a discussion on the internet about this topic is more harmful than it is good. For every Toby there is that has a change of heart from this, there are a lot more people offended by this.

It is my opinion that the most adult, Godly thing we could do in this type of a situation is to go to that Worship Leader directly and share your thoughts and feelings with them personally. I know from being a former Worship Leader myself, that would have been a discussion I would have liked to have, but reading stuff like this online would have only caused division.

To quote an email I got from a friend last night (regarding this topic on this blog), “Dude, I am paranoid to get up on Sunday after reading all of this stuff. What if some of those people go to my church? I know people can be judgemental, but this is flat out picky. No can do it right and we try the hardest we can, but again the church tells us it’s not good enough. This is why worship leaders last an average of 2 years at a church.”

I am all about starting discussions, but not providing an open forum simply for people to complain. How sad is it that the “I hate it” post has over 100 more comments than the “I love it” post.
Toby

17. Jul, 2008

DING DING We have a winner in Michael
There is always a reason behind the reason…maybe just to show us He is in control and not me, Los or any of the rest of us.
Jake

17. Jul, 2008

Los, I think it’s time you speak up on your behalf, instead of others trying to speak on your behalf.

Give us your authentic view please.
Los

17. Jul, 2008

Yup. Micheal is the winner.
This post has been more real than most are comfortable with.
It sucks to know what people are really thinking.
So I am all for these kind of posts.
And when people start calling other people names…
Well that discredits them right away.
Thanks Michael.
Truth will set you free.
BFK

17. Jul, 2008

So that I am no longer harrassed by emails and threats, I will make this my final post on this here webspew.

Bottom line, Los, and everyone else….if a non-believer were to stumble across this website and read this list of complaints….what do you think they would say?

“All Christians do is bitch and moan about each other”? I think so.

But I guess the Bible was right when it says “they will know we are Christians by the way we constantly spew petty bullshit at each other and point out flaws.”

Blessings!

-BFK

P.S. Los, sorry about the Daughtry comment, it was more of a compliment than it was “name calling”.
Michael

17. Jul, 2008

Just remembering why I’m not a worship leader anymore. Music degree=worthless.

Can we pick on something else now, like sermons?
David

18. Jul, 2008

My pet peeve… Constantly being reminded how worship isn’t about me.
The Epic Beat

20. Jul, 2008

I’ve read about 80% of these…

It reminds me of the suggestion wall at Whole Foods Market. There is a wall…you write on a piece of paper and instead of putting it in a box, you post it to the board. Now, for a business this seems very savvy…it says the to consumer, “Let us hear your petty likes and dislikes, we are here for you.”

I’m not bashing Los for asking the question, but I am taken aback at the sheer consumerism that is dripping from these responses. They are laundry lists of likes and dislikes. This is fine for a store, where you become a patron and shop because of the experience or value it contains, but for a service of believers coming together to corporately tell our Savior how we love and adore Him, praising Him, thanking Him for who He is and swearing to lift Him up in good times and bad, it makes me ill.

Are we so focused on our own wants…our own perceived needs? Now, I agree that there are certain things leaders to that can be annoying…and the stories are funny, but I don’t understand some of the folks saying things like,

-we hate greeting people (seriously? Why are you even here?)
-we hate slow/fast/new/old/dense/lite songs (Do you remember the songs last week? Is your guy/gal changing it up)
-we hate mini-sermons (well yeah…who doesn’t)

I know I’m late to the discussion…been on vacation with no *Dun Dun Duhhh* internet access.
Simone Widney

20. Jul, 2008

I’m catching up on your blogs, Los, so sorry for the delay in responding.

The music minister at our former church is immature, unprepared, lazy, unfocused, and incompetent at her job. But she is a very sweet, likable person.

Elizabeth’s voice is high and rather shrill. All of the songs she choses are in her key, which is higher than most people’s. She was asked to lower the key of the selections and to take voice lessons. She went to a couple lessons but stopped. Didn’t lower the key either.

Her clothing choices were so bad, a board member’s wife took her shopping. And, she got a great stylist to do her hair. She looked great for a couple of months. Elizabeth started showing up in mix-matched rumpled clothing and her hair looked like she just rolled out of bed. When asked about it, she said she just couldn’t be bothered putting that much time into her appearance.

Elizabeth was sent to an intensive - and expensive - music conference halfway across the world. When she came back and was asked how it was, she said, “It was okay.”

People were dropping like flies from the choir and the band, under Elizabeth’s leadership. The pastor gave her several leadership books to read. A few months later, she was asked about the books. Elizabeth told her boss she never read them.

For 3 years, for Christmas/Easter productions, other people came up with the idea for the production, wrote, executed and produced them. Elizabeth, as worship director, got the credit. Last year, her best friend did the production. It was all over their MySpace pages.

Elizabeth was not fired. She was promoted.
Joshua

21. Jul, 2008

I think worship pastors should be able to go to people’s place of employment or follow them along as they do what they are gifted at and complain and mock everything they do… Fair?
MoPar

22. Jul, 2008

What I hate…

When people make worship all about them and not about God.
Sam Middlebrook

22. Jul, 2008

I hate it when worship leaders become more like cheerleaders.
Tiffany Sellers

25. Jul, 2008

I don’t like it when prayer is “used” as a transition–you know when the band just played a really fast song and then they want to do a slow one so they stick a prayer in there to bring the mood down.

And on the note of prayer transitions–I hate it when whoever does the prayer “sets up” the next song by using the title in the prayer (i.e. “Thank you God for being Mighty to Save…”) even when it has nothing to do with anything else they’ve prayed…
alex mclean

25. Jul, 2008

I hate it when worship leaders don’t lead people.
Greg

31. Jul, 2008

As a worship leader, I love when I get before the congregation, and they look bored to tears. I just get this thrill that I”m doing God’s work right, especially when the teenagers are texting during the songs. I also get a strong dose of the Holy spririt when I look around and can tell from the stressed look on everyone elses face that they are terrified of what the person sitting next to them may think if that sing the words at an audible volume. Can I get an AMEN?
Seriously, I’m not jumpin down anyones throat, I’m just curious as to what everyone here who threw in their 2 cents about their worship leader would do different if they had to lead peaple. Can we make that the blog topic and have the people who so graciousely chastized their worship leader through this forum come up with the perfect way to lead worship? Just a thought.
Kristen

13. Aug, 2008

Wow, reading all of these comments make me absolutely terrified to step foot on a stage and lead anyone in anything ever again. I guess it’s a good thing I’m only playing for an audience of One huh?
Shayne

13. Aug, 2008

Wow. I’m not a worship leader per se, I sing on the praise team at my church. And I find most of these comments heartbreaking.

I was privileged once to be under the leadership of a guy whose heart was to see congregational led worship. He wanted to get rid of the stage, and let the people go to God themselves. Because that’s how it will be in Heaven. No worship leaders or praise teams. Just a vast sea of grateful souls lifting up their voices in praise to Jesus.

So I think, since there is such unhappiness with the worship leaders, that maybe we should just do away with stages and music and praise teams. That way, there won’t be ANY distractions and people can just worship God. Because I know that’s what everyone is after right? No one on this forum is looking to be catered to or entertained right???
Sam L

13. Aug, 2008

Shut up and sing!
Naomi

18. Aug, 2008

I couldn’t have possibly read all the comments but I’d like to say what I think. I think the worst thing that can happen in any worship setting is distraction. The point is to worship God and fellowship with Him, be focused on Him, so when, for example the worship leader interrupts a song or the worshipful setting with something like a sermon or telling people to stand in the middle of the song, I just think this is uneccessary. But the distraction that bothers me the most is when you’re trying to follow the lead of the worship leader and they break off, mid-verse, into some ‘unique’ way of singing that song or even just one word of that song that NO ONE can follow! People can’t follow along with that and it just ends up being a show he’s/she’s putting on AND a distraction from being with God. I guess I just think it’s rude. It would be one thing if someone in the audience were to sing in such a way but the job (and a special job it is) of the worship leader is to help people to be in the presence of God by their (the audience’s) honest worship of Him. The worship leader needs to keep it simple.
Naomi

18. Aug, 2008

Also, in response to The Epic Beat (commenter): Why don’t we all discuss what exactly is worship? What does the Bible say worship is? Forget what the world says-what does God say?
lee

20. Aug, 2008

being a worship leader myself I can appreciate some of the comments given; but I am reminded of an interview I heard of a well known Christian artist recording his latest cd He prayed givemesongs thatwill touch thehearts of people.a reasonable request I said, but then came Gods reply.” I don’t want you to write songs that will touch people’s hearts. i want you to write songs that will touch my heart” I tell you that it hit me where it hurts. how powerful and how true. Let me tell you it gave me an entirely new perspective on song selection and everything else that goes with it. I may not be the best worship leader but I am encoursged to know that there are people praying for me. perhaps this is something we should all do.
Chris

21. Aug, 2008

I’ve read each and every comment and there are many things to think about and some to learn from, but the biggest discouragement for me is that worship in many churches seems to be about catering to certain people…like the squeaky wheels, big givers, certain staff members, specific age groups,or even your boss’s personal tastes.

When did worship become about us? When did it become about our preferences and consumer wants? It just seems so self-serving. We cater to the audience’s wants and if we satisfy them well enough then they will stay in our church, maybe bring friends, and “pay” us for our service via the tithe (you know what I mean).

I see so many people in churches trying to manipulate things towards their own preferences (I guess that is called, “influence” in most churches). Wink, wink. They don’t do it for evil intent, it just happens. Then, we worship leaders get very frustrated about one thing…are we spending our time learning how to worship God better and be a better worship leader, or are we learning how to please our “base” more and satisfy our customers?

It has frustrated me to the point of considering leaving the ministry. Your thoughts?
Carol

22. Aug, 2008

I would guess that I am older than most here. There has been a lot of use of the word “I”, The funny thing is, most what I see are complaints about preference. He/she to talks too much?don’t want to be told what to do (i.e. raise our hands)-then don’t, if you don’t feel led by the Spirit/don’t like candy wrappers/don’t like to shake the hands of those around us (have YOU ever been new, and felt lonely? I have.

I see a couple of valid Scriptural things here. One of them to be sure, is their walk not matching their talk. I think I would need to perhaps talk to the Pastor about this, and/or find a new church. The other might have to do with not being able to end a song, and I say that because it “could” be that person wants to stay up front longer, and cannot let go of the spot light.

Something that concerns me in the singing portion of the worship service, is that we don’t know how to be quiet anymore. The music has to be at deafening decibel levels, and I am sorry, but I cannot hear the “still small voice of God” in all of that. Has anyone ever thought what a worship service would have been like in the first century, or what they are like in underground churches? I am convinced they are passionate in their worship, but they (the underground church) cannot afford to be loud. What would we do if we couldn’t have all of our noise? Please do NOT misunderstand me, I LOVE music, and have been on a worship team in the past. I have just been wondering, with all of the distractions outside of the church, has our worship music become one of them? Not the leader, but the music. I have heard people say they cannot worship w/out music.
I am sorry, I will stop here. I know I have gone on too long already.
Becky

27. Aug, 2008

I lead worship for years and have played keys since I was 7. We recently moved and have been visiting churches looking for a church to settle into. We settled at one church for a short while but the pastor asked me to do a song, and after I did the worship leader made several comments about “going through him” to do a special, and even made comments (on several occasions) to my husband that HE was the leader and they didn’t need anyone else to help with worship. Yikes. I hadn’t even asked to help. I just did the song that the pastor asked me to. So after praying about it, we thought it would be best to try another church.

Now we’ve found another church that we dearly love. The worship leader is quite young and she has just started to learn to play. The pastor invited us to worship practice as they are a small church and are in need of help and, once again, the worship leader treated me very cold, to the point of pretty much ignoring that I was there (there were 4 people total…).

I’m not trying to take anyone’s position. I’ve prayed and asked God for the right spirit, because I don’t ever want a contentious spirit in my heart. As a leader and a musician at Vineyard churches, I learned to be open and enjoy the gifts God has given us. Unfortunately, the nearest Vineyard is many miles from here.

Our hearts are also in other worship (kindness ministries, nursing home ministries–there are many ways to worship God). So we are planning to do those things to help out the church we are attending.

I guess my pet peeve about worship leaders (I’ve just recently found this out) would be insecurity. Open your heart and let others help; it’s not about us, anyway, it’s about HIM! When we work together, abilities multiply and He is glorified!
Joni

27. Aug, 2008

Becky, in those instances, it sounds less like the insecurity of the worship leader as it does a lack of leadership and communication between the pastor and the worship leader. For a pastor to involve a new artist without including the worship leader in the process is a little undermining I think. Sadly, the worship leader needs to not take it out on you but address the leadership issues between he/she & the pastor. I’ve been in the situation where church leadership did not trust the worship leader and it just ruined the team. Hang in there.
Becky

27. Aug, 2008

In the first church all I did was sing a song, not become part of the team. In this particular church I know the pastor did let the worship leader and her husband know that we were going to be there beforehand.

When I was a worship leader I was under the authority of the pastor, and to my knowledge, that’s the way it is supposed to be. Yes, I had a certain amount of freedom, but I did not have the freedom (or the want to) to make someone feel unwelcome.

But for now I will be happy doing other ministries…and those wonderful older folks in the nursing home will be more than happy to join in on some songs…
scott

29. Aug, 2008

We need a worship leader, male or female, who can front our band at The River Church in Canton, GA. If interested in filling in and trying out, go to http://www.riveratlanta.org and email us. We prefer someone who plays guitar. I’ll take anyone who loves Jesus and senses God’s strong leading to be with us. I’ll even take someone who violates some of the above gripes…

Let us hear from you, and give us some info about yourself or attach a resume’.
leigh 77

12. Sep, 2008

Most worship leaders today are interested in building a cult around themselves. See for example: Chris Tomlin. The guys you see in front of churches are usually wearing the faux mohawk haircut, worn jeans, and are just cookie cutter in appearance. They are mostly interested in promoting themselves - trust me. I am an older guy, playing for multiple years in a worship setting. I have led worship in churches other than where I worship today, but the worship pastor does not have me in that role. As an example of the mentality of the young leaders I come into contact with, one evening at rehearsal, the worship pastor had selected this younger guy to lead worship. He knew I was available but did not select me. He came in late to practice, said he was sorry but he had just gotten the word that he was needed to lead. I quote: “I just got the call from XXX that I needed to be here cause there wasn’t anyone else around to lead”. I looked at him and said, ” RXXXXXX, you should be careful to remember that this is a privilege and not a right. There are a lot of folks who have the ability and calling to do what you have been asked to do, but haven’t been selected. Don’t disrespect your brothers by thinking this is something only you can do.” This is a guy who walks around asking, “Do I look hot?” He is trying to act like it’s a joke but he loves the attention he gets from all the women on the WT.

And this is typical of the guys I have met. They think they are God’s gift, rather than realizing that all their gifts come from God and He can take them away and all the opportunity in an instant.
Joni

12. Sep, 2008

Ugh. I can’t say that most worship leaders are interested in building a cult but it does seem to happen around them. Fortunately the people we serve with now are pretty humble but we’ve seen what you’re talking about too. Kind of sad. I take comfort in knowing that God is truly in charge and has it all in His sight.
Becky

12. Sep, 2008

Update: We visited a small church last Sunday night and they immediately asked if I could lead worship for them. A friend of mine had told them that I lead and what we had encountered while living here. They said that they had been praying for God to send a worship leader and are so excited about it! I’m praying about it but so far feel led that I should help out.

Leigh, I feel so badly about what is happening to you. I do not fit the stereotypical “young guy in t-shirt and jeans” either. Even though I play a contemporary style, my looks are deceiving (46 year old mom who is known to wear skirts to church). And even though the contemporary stuff is great, it’s good to throw some of the hymns and older stuff in there now and then for the sake of the people who have been around a while.

They don’t know what they are missing out on by selecting someone with maturity to fill in and maybe mix things up a bit! I’m not sure of your situation, but you know there are a lot of churches who really need good worship leaders, and age does not matter to them.

Also, I’m finding that the church is not the only place to play gospel music. There are coffee houses, fairs, etc. that would probably appreciate your talent, too!!!

Blessings to you and to your desire to continue to use your talent for HIM!
Brad

14. Sep, 2008

Growing up in the church of Christ, we had “songleaders,” and everyone sang (in four-part harmony, mind you) with the songleader. There was no stage, often no multi-watt sound system and no instruments…just Christians engaged in communal worship - when it was done right, that is. Often, the music became a chore for most people, and “going through the motions” during worship was the norm. Now that I worship in a non-denominational church (instrumental), I am often distracted by many of the things that have been mentioned here: commands from the worship leader (raise your hands, etc.), talking during the music, sloppy musicianship and lack of planning…the list goes on. However, the one thing that irks me the most is when the worship leader does not sing the melody of the song being sung by the congregation. It causes me to hearken back to my days in the C of C when I was directing music. Yes, we used hymnals, and one of the songleader’s primary responsibilities (due to the lack of instruments) was to pitch the song and actually “lead” the congregation by singing the melody. In many churches today, it is impossible to follow a worship leader because he/she does not sing even familiar songs in a recognizable fashion. A music teacher told me many years ago, “The song has already been composed - just do your job and play the notes.” Don’t get me wrong, being led by the spirit surely has its place in worship. However, when you are responsible for leading hundreds, sometimes thousands of people in song, it helps to actually sing the composed melody of a song, especially with songs the congregation already knows.

Brad
Luke

15. Nov, 2008

I think that most people above are being too picky. No worship leader is perfect, you are there to worship God. My worship leader is great, there are things that annoys me but I ignore them and concentrate on God instead. No worship leader is perfect, so cut them some slack!
Luke

15. Nov, 2008

I think that most people above are being too picky. No worship leader is perfect, you are there to worship God. My worship leader is great, there are things that annoys me but I ignore them and concentrate on God instead. No worship leader is perfect, so cut them some slack!
dave

16. Dec, 2008

i think you should be ashamed of yourself man… quite worship leading if you're that insecure… why dont you ask your pastor that question…. then talk to God about it… who do you think you are?? get over yourself then maybe you'll be an effective “worship leader”… jackass.
Amanda_Sims

27. Dec, 2008

I know this is a little silly, but I cannot stand the song "I'll Fly Away", and even in "contemporary" worship here it sometimes pops up here in Mississippi. I'm not kidding.
human3rror

27. Dec, 2008

when they obviously are drunk and hungover.
JLA

31. Dec, 2008

I'm right there with you Richard. I can not stand that song…it drones on and on and on!
Jla

31. Dec, 2008

um, just because you don't like a song, doesn't mean there's a problem with your heart condition. that song has fabulous words but yup, I still hate it.
caleb

25. Jan, 2009

i completely understand that this topic is meant to be funny and helpful, but i actually feel like it's become really unhealthy. in fact, i feel like it's one of the most consumeristic conversations i have ever seen. topics like this feed into our unhealthy need to have church OUR WAY. much of what has been said may be true, but i think we must frame it differently, and acknowledge that people are not perfect, and jesus is worthy of our worship no matter how we feel. sorry for the rant.
Julie

28. Jan, 2009

I am sitting here completely stunned and grieved. WOW. Worship isn't about us anyway. It's about HIM. So many people with so many complaints and it's all focused on people, what they like, what they don't like, and the music minister. I used to not like some of the same things, but when I quit making it about me and made it about HIm, all of the rest become insignificant.
ralph fowler

07. Feb, 2009

The Bible clearly says to play skillfully if that doesn't happen even a great Chorus like How Great Is Our God can be botched. It can also be a real easy filler song that everyone knows and is overused. Sometimes because the pastor insists. How many of you have ever led worship rehearsed a band played instruments put up with everyones opinions??
Milt

20. Feb, 2009

I frequently sing only the chorus(es) of that song for similar reasons…or, here's a thought, maybe we could sing it at tempo it was recorded at instead of trying to make it more "spiritual" by singing it half-tempo. Just a thought:-)
Amber

24. Feb, 2009

I just found this site and I do have to say that his is an eye opener. I am appalled at some of the comments that were written. As a worship leader, you are given responsibilities that go over and beyond what the congregation wants or thinks that they should be doing. Talking in between the songs could be a way to remind the other singers of what songs are next (yes, they do forget even when they come to rehearsal). If we close our eyes, we're being accused of performing or losing focus…Maybe we got caught up in the moment and decided to worship the Lord using our gifts. Worship leaders have to stand in front of the same people Sunday after Sunday and bring the hearts and minds of hundreds of people (who have their own baggage and issues that they brought with them) back around and focus on God. That one sentence that got on your nerves could have touched the person on their way out of the door. That same song they did last week could be the song that you hate, but it could be just the encouragement someone else needed in order to make it through the day. Yes, worship leaders can let ego lead them, but how is that any different from a pastor, a deacon or anyone else inside or outside of the church. We should pray for strength for these leaders as well as wisdom. If you think you could do it better, I recommend speaking with your pastor, and then executing all of your suggestions. We are supposed to encourage each other. This site and the comments on it are only leading to division within the body of Christ. Something that we don't need right now.
john

24. Feb, 2009

skillfully is their skill to their fullness. If they're doing their best than God's pleased, and that's who it's for correct. And also how many of you with negative responsed have visited with your worship leader about this, because if he's doing something against you, it's a sin not to address it. If he hasn't sinned against you and you're just talking bad on him and havn't addressed it, that's gossip..either way..
Isaú Orellana

21. Apr, 2009

Buen tema. Lo recomiendo que lo analicen.
Bob

26. Jun, 2009

OMG… preach it man!!
Donald

26. Jun, 2009

It hate it when our worship leader chews out the AV team for missing a slide becasuse it makes his Lazy ARSE look bad beacase he was to lazy to memorize the song ….. BBBAAAAHHHHHHH.
Steveo

26. Jun, 2009

TD?
elizagar

28. Jun, 2009

YES you probably are the only one who hates this song–your congregation, worship team or musicians are probably doing a lousy job of it.

The Deets

:: This whole Ragamuffin thing is simple. I'm just a screwed up man, in need of adoption, trying to be real. I was poured into, mentored, taught, and sometimes beat into authenticity by my family at Sandals Church. They created this beautiful mess of me and I'm forever grateful.
:: Now in the ATL with my hot wife and kids, I get to create relevant & engaging worship experiences every week. I am being shaped by Jeff Henderson and Andy Stanley at Buckhead Church. From creative sermon planning, to off the hook music experiences. This place is stretching me to my limits and I love it.
:: My life goal is to inspire a movement of authenticity among all generations of Christians that morphs the face of the evangelical church into a place of being real with yourself, others, and God.