This is the second installment in the Guide to Worship Leading. You can read Part 1 here.

When I begin mentoring Worship Leaders I always begin with a conversation about three things. The first is Worship Leading. To read more about that check out Part 1.

The second element of Worship Leading is Music – honing your craft, or growing your musicianship. This could be singing, or playing an instrument or both. Each person I mentor has been selected as a worship leader for a reason. Often it is because they are good at singing or playing. As I mentioned last time, that is not the only thing, but it is an important thing. We are called as Worship Leaders to pursue excellence! ‘Live a life worthy of the calling you have received’ (Ephesians 4:1) Sometimes this means giving a Worship Leader in training singing lessons or guitar lessons or encouraging them to go to school for music, etc. We must pursue excellence in our craft, not for the sake of excellence, as we see too often in the ‘ego’ side of life, but we pursue excellence because God is worthy of our best!

If you are a Worship Leader, young or old, experienced or just starting out, you should ask yourself the question, ‘How am I growing?’ I know I ask myself that question all the time! If you are a guitar player, how much are you practicing? If you are a piano player, what styles do you know? If you are a vocalist, how are you managing your voice? This is a whole topic unto itself! Sometimes as singers we forget that our voice is a muscle and just like going to the gym and getting exercise for our body, we need to exercise our voices to maintain them and grow them toward health and effectiveness. How many of you sing multiple services each week? With a rehearsal added, that can lead up to several hours of singing each week. Now how many of you warm up your vocal chords before singing…?

So whatever your instrument, spend time this week dedicating it to God and work toward improving. You don’t need to be the greatest guitar player or piano player or even singer, but I believe there is always room to get better at what you do. As with so much in life it comes down to intentionality. We can reach a level where we coast by, or we can intentionally push into growth. That is what we are here to do! That is the essence of Growing Worship!

God Bless you and your ministry this week!

-Matt

ps – stay tuned for Part 3 of A Guide to Worship Leading