FredMcKinnon.Com

Hey Everybody -

This post was inspired by Kyle’s poll over at OurRisingSound.Com.  Seems Kyle took an informal poll that said “When a worship leader speaks a lot during the middle of worship you are …”

Over 80% gave a negative response – like they were annoyed, distracted, etc.

Here’s my response (as a comment) on his blog:

I think my question is “what is defined by these users as alot”? I get ticked off when I see results like this – because people have the wrong idea about Worship Leaders. They think “shut up and sing”. Duh. Leading songs – yeah, shut up and sing. Leading worship? Pastoring worship? That takes some teaching, some exhortation, some focus.

Seriously – what is “a lot”?  How much is too much?

It took me a while before I really started feeling comfortable in my role at SSCC.  After a while, I started feeling more freedom to “talk” – do transitions, or open a set with dialog.  In doing so, I received overwhelming support from my Senior Pastor (who is my “direct report” on the org chart) and our Elders.

Of course, I have no idea what the 80+% of the people in this poll are hearing or feeling.  But I can’t help but feel that this is yet another horrible reflection of the “contemporary/modern church” and their pathetic view of what “worship” really is.

I can imagine those thoughts, “C’mon, I love this song, so just shut up and sing”.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think the WL should just be rambling along in between every song.  Other than a quick “welcome” or “greeting”, I typically do a “talking transition” maybe one time in the entire segment of MUSICAL worship.

But how can we truly pastor our congregations … you know, shepherd them, lead them, train them, teach them … without spoken word?  Maybe a short song story, maybe an encouragement to connect, maybe a personal confession of a trial to expose yourself in a way that the congregation connects with you on a more personal level, thus, trusts you more to lead them.

Maybe the problem lies within the fact that many of these “spoken” segments are too spontaneous, and ramble on.  I’ve learned to prayerfully consider the flow of the service, and in most cases, any spoken transitions I share have already been considered, and even rehearsed.  (more on that later this week, perhaps).

What do you think?

Related posts:

1. Blog Buzz – Worship Leader Mag
2. Worship Leader Training – Songwriting Critique Review
3. How Twitter and the Internet Rescued this Worship Leader