Qualities of a GREAT Worship Leader

“Hey Perry, we are starting a church and were wondering where we could find a good worship leader…”

If I had a dime for every call I have received like that I believe I could pay off the national debt!

I will be honest—great worship leaders are HARD to find. Don’t get me wrong—there are lots and lots of talented people in the world who can play a guitar and sing…but to LEAD worship, that is something totally different.

We are blessed here at NewSpring to have Lee as our worship leader. I hired him right out of college and he and I have been neck deep in this thing ever since. It’s amazing what I have learned about leading worship just through observing him…and so the following insights I want to share are things he has taught me.

(By the way…when we hired Lee I was actually the one leading worship—he was gracious to me for a few weeks…but then he fired me!!! He told me the band could not go where it needed to go with me in it…I’m not bitter—really, I’m not…I mean…if that’s what he wanted…if he…oops, sorry!)

#1 - A Great Worship Leader Is A Deflector!

A friend of mine came to NewSpring for the first time a few weeks ago and so I picked his brain as to what he thought about our service. He told me, “I was amazed at your worship leader—he refuses to touch God’s glory, he literally takes all of the attention that would come to him and lets it deflect off of him and on to God.”

In my mind there could not be a greater compliment!

Anyone—I MEAN ANYONE—can perform! AND…we are fascinated by performance…look at the ratings on American Idol if you don’t believe me! However, the church doesn’t necessarily need someone performing for them—they need someone on stage who is “smoking what they’re selling.” People need to see people on stage who are EXCELLENT and what they are and who are RADICALLY in love with Jesus…which leads to my next point…

#2 - A Great Worship Leader Is Intimately Connected With God.

If you say the name “Lee” in front of me I will admit that the first thing that pops in my mind is NOT how talented of a musician he is…but rather how much the dude loves Jesus. Lee is a student of the word—I have him in on every single creativity team meeting that I have because of his creativity AND his PASSION to see lives changed.

Trust me on this one…if your worship leader, or anyone on staff for that matter, isn’t connected with God…well…they can only fake it for so long. Sooner or later junk will come out!

If someone is into worship leading because of the show—they will ultimately fail. I will say this—Lee is fun to watch…he’s full of energy…he’s all over the place; however, he did the same thing when we had 75 people coming…because of his connection with Jesus!

#3 - A Great Worship Leader KNOWS and UNDERSTANDS The World He Lives In.

Once again…Lee does an amazing job at being able to connect with every single aspect of culture.

I know this might make some pastors nervous…even a little upset…but Lee went to a Nickelback concert last Friday night!!! How do I feel about that? I LOVE IT! I do not like every song that Nickelback sings…but I love the fact that Lee understands that the secular world knows how to grab people’s attention…and he is a student of every single band that he goes to see.

I not only don’t mind Lee not going to secular concerts…I encourage it! He always comes back with fresh and creative ideas as to how we can ramp things up in our services and make them better.

But not only that—Lee understands how to connect with those who have grown up in church. For those who attend NewSpring…you have GOT to admit that one of your favorite songs is when Lee and Jon sing, “It Is Well With My Soul!” That song puts goose bumps on my goose bumps!!!

There is a balance…and that balance must be managed well.

#4 - A Great Worship Leader Must Be Attentive To The Holy Spirit!

It’s amazing…I will say about 90% of the time a song will be in my head and so I will go to Lee and say, “Hey dude—I was thinking that next week we should do such and such a song.” He will laugh, pull out the set list and BOOM…there it is…he already had it down. We laugh like crazy every time this happens.

A great worship leader does not just throw a set list together…but rather he meets with the pastor to try to get a grip on what is being talked about and then he goes and spends time in prayer—seeking God and asking Him what songs He would like to be in the service.

Once again—if a worship leader isn’t listening to the Holy Spirit then he will inevitably gravitate towards doing his favorite songs…and people will then see that its a show and not a worship service.

#5 - A Great Worship Leader Must Have A Great Relationship With The Senior Pastor

Like it or not—the worship leader and the senior pastor are the two most visible people in your church…and those two people HAVE to be on the same page—or there will be tension on Sunday…and everyone can see right through it.

Lee and I have a great relationship…one of the things I am dedicating to this year is spending more time with him one on one, finding out what’s going on in his world and sharing the same with him. We are a team!

Senior pastors, worship leaders—understand this—it’s not about the EGO…and if it ever becomes about the ego then one, or perhaps both, of you will flame out because instead of trying to reach people for Christ the attention will swing to who gets the most attention…and it just can’t be that way.

Lee can say ANYTHING he wants to say to me about a message…and I listen to him. AND…I can say ANYTHING I want to say to Lee about the music…and he listens to me. The worship leader and the senior pastor MUST value the opinion of the other person…or conflict is unavoidable.

#6 - A Great Worship Leader Will Seek Talent

A great worship leader doesn’t have to sing every song…they don’t have to be on stage every Sunday…they are not afraid to share the stage at all…AND they are constantly seeking ways to encourage and tighten the band they minister with.

Lee is so good at this…there are times he leads…and other times one of “the Meghan’s” or Daniel (aka “Rocky”) will lead…and Lee is FINE with this…because he understands that it is not only his job to lead worship…but to train and mentor others to do the same.

#7 - A Great Worship Leader Will ALWAYS Pay When He And The Senior Pastor Go Out For Lunch!

I’m just saying that if…oh, let’s say for instance that Lee and I had scheduled lunch for today that…well—Lee—look at #7 one more time! :-)