Question:
I just started leading worship at a new church, and their are already some comments and complaints coming from some people in the congregation and praise team. First of all, they say that a lot of the songs we are now doing are too "new". they don't know them. another thing is that they feel like we aren't doing enough songs. we are doing 6 a sunday, and they want to do 11 or so...which we don't have time for. some of the worship band helped start this "new service" for this small Methodist church. they told me that this was "their" service, and they wanted it a certain way. i feel trapped, because the pastor obviously wants and needs it the way we have been doing it. any help or suggestions or encouragement would be much appreciated. oh, one more thing, one of the band members made the comment that "since we are up on the stage, we are worship leaders too." i agree that they are helping in leading the worship, but I am the worship leader....just because someone goes up and reads scripture, doesn't make them the pastor does it????
Answer:
The debate of who is a worship leader has been going on for years. I'll give my opinion but I have no interest in debating the issue. I think anyone who is leading worship is a worship leader. Thus, anyone who is part of a worship band is a worship leader. The drummer leads worship through his drumming, the guitarist through his guitar playing, and so forth for all the other musicians/singers. In any event, I'm not sure why it even needs to be mentioned. Who cares if they're called worship leaders too?
A key to leading worship is that you are actually leading. Leaders must have followers. If you lose everybody in the congregation, then you aren't leading. Thus, you should pick songs that the congregation can follow. That doesn't mean you can't do new songs but you need to think about how you do them. If I was to start leading worship at a church that never sung anything but hymns I wouldn't suddenly start doing nothing but modern songs. You should start off by playing songs they know and then introducing new ones. One new song a week is probably the extent of what most congregations can handle.
Answer:
Pray like supercrazy, then pray some more, then read your bible, then pray again. Try to come at this situation with an open mind, listen to people and most importantly listen to God. If you find yourself getting to frustraited then take a step back and re-evaluate your possition.
More specifically:
In order to objectively give advice I think that a we( or at least I) need to understand a few things.
1) how is it that you came into the position of "Worship Leader", you don't have to go to much into detail.
2)What exactly do you mean by "New service"? Is it another service done by your churches praise band at a different church?
3)Have you talked to your pastor? If so, what has he recomended you do?
Answer:
What he said.
As for the number of songs played in a service...at most churches I've been to, that is decided by the senior pastor, or some member of the pastoral staff, not by the whims of the masses. Would the congregation still want to do 11 songs if that meant they'd be in the service for 2 hours once the pastor gave a sermon?
Answer:
what they said. and also, when leading worship, it is impossible to please everyone so there are always going to be complaints.
Answer:
to answer your questions:
i was hired as the youth pastor/worship leader about 2 months ago.
this service is the "contemporary" service that started about a year and a half ago.
my pastor is the one who wanted the change in the way we did the service.
Answer:
what most everybody said.
as a leader, you are responsible for leading. you wouldn't be much of a leader if you took directions from the people you were leading.
i'm not sure i agree with the idea that every member of the band are worship leaders. in essence, this concept is claiming that everyone who contributes to the music is a worship leader. however, in my view, the congregation's voices contribute to the music as well. and so everyone who sings in the congregation contributes to the music, and can be called worship leaders. you are the leader. the rest of the band members, unless you're taking turns actually leading, are not worship leaders. they are there to assist the worship leader. they follow YOU.
of course, you can give the argument that you, along with the band, are all heading in the same direction, and so you are all leading together. this is partially true. however, i would feel that in order to have the freedom i need to follow the spirit's guidance, i would need to be THE leader.
the concept of every band member being a worship leader is something people use so that the rest of the band will take their positions more seriously, and won't start showing off, trying to draw attention, etc. it's a mindset. but in actuality, if you want to be technical (which is what we do best at CGR), they aren't 'worship leaders'. if the drummer, for whatever reason, feels that he wants to go in a different direction, he generally doesn't just take that direction, unless the worship leader is taking that direction.
yes, the band members are leading the music. but the worship leader leads the band, and leads the worship. it's a much broader concept to lead worship than to lead the music. i believe you can lead music in church without leading worship.
anyway, sorry if i'm going around in circles, but my brother is blaring the television so loudly that i can't concentrate. what i'm trying to say is, the band members follow the worship leader. there is only one worship leader (unless, of course, you're in one of those situations where two people lead together, which is great). the worship leader is THE leader, until the Pastor overrides him.
if each band member was a leader in the same respect as the worship leader, unless you were unbelievably tight, you'd have trouble. that's why one person, usually, is the worship leader, and the band is the 'worship band'.
why else do you think bands like "The David Crowder Band", "The Charlie Hall Band", and "The Chris Tomlin Band" are named after only one person.
because david crowder, charlie hall, and chris tomlin are the worship leaders, and the rest of the band is their worship band.
like i said, the concept of every member of the band being a worship leader is something we originally used so that band members would take their positions more seriously. not so they would get up there and change the direction of the service or anything. that's the worship leader's job.
as for this thread, maybe you can try compromising? play 8 songs or so, and see how that goes. we usually plan for about a dozen songs, but usually only end up using 7 or 8. it adds flexibility and freedom.
ultimately, your senior pastor is in charge. if you can manage to convince him that you're right, then by all means...
but he's in charge. not the congregation. of course, he's in charge OF the congregation, and he should be sensitive to their needs. but his judgement should prevail, besides of course, the Lord's judgement. but i believe you should always see the Lord's judgement through the pastor. if not, submit to him anyway, and God will bless your submission to authority.