If you’re a local church worship leader, the thought of developing other leaders probably gives you one of two reactions:
First, you may be thinking, “Why would I want to replace myself? I would be out of a job!” Or, you may be thinking, “How do I even do that? Who do I even develop?”
Truth is, you make yourself more valuable to an organization not by doing ministry but by equipping others to do ministry.
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What You’ll Learn in this Episode
Are you more interested in creating moments or movements? Here’s what I mean:
If you choose not to develop worship leaders, you may have some great moments of worship – powerful services, experiences, and you’ll be used by God.
But if you take the difficult path of investing in others, you are creating a movement. You are multiplying your efforts so the impact can be exponentially greater.
You have the potential of setting into motion people who are better than you who will go and do things you never could. Isn’t that exciting?
A Step-by-Step Guide to Developing a Worship Leader
1. Adopt a Discipling Mindset – This is where it starts. It’s a change in the way you do ministry. It’s not just about getting things done but about bringing others along. One of my mantras is to never do ministry alone. That pushes me to not just finish a task list but to invest myself in others. No matter how mundane or disorganized the work, just bring someone along. Talk to them. Show them. Model for them what it looks like to do what you do.
2. Identify Your Systems of Opportunity – For anyone to develop, they will need opportunity. You want to figure this out before you start to disciple someone. This also needs to happen while maintaining a standard of quality in your ministries. Just because you’re mentoring someone doesn’t mean they’re ready to lead your church in worship this Sunday. They will most likely need some smaller, lower pressure venues to cut their teeth on. At my church, we borrow a baseball analogy and have A AA AAA opportunities for people. Here’s a quick overview:
- AAA (beginner, needs first experience)
- AA (intermediate, needs more leadership experience)
- A (the big leagues)
3. Identify Who You’re Going to Disciple – I recommend starting with one person. The more you do this, the more you may be able to add, but I definitely wouldn’t do more than 3 at a time. Your life just becomes too cluttered and you don’t have enough margin to stay sane. Find someone who has potential. There needs to be a certain level of skill, teachability, and visible anointing. I like how Brian Doerksen said it in podcast 36: Look for someone you would feel safe following.
4. Develop a Calendar of Discipleship Opportunities – Here’s where the rubber meets the road. It’s time to schedule out some opportunities for this person to be trained and get experience. I recommend looking 3 months ahead so this person has enough time to agree to the plan.
5. Cast Vision to this Person(s) – Next comes a conversation – not a text or an email. Nothing can replace a real life conversation. Cast vision to this person about how you see potential in them and want them to develop as a worship leader.
6. Give Regular, Recurring Feedback – Discipleship isn’t just about giving someone opportunity. It’s about giving honest feedback. If you leave out this step, people will never grow. They need your loving, direct, pastoral, honest feedback about what they did well and what they could improve. Be bold. Speak the truth. Coach.
7. Prioritize Heart Over Performance – A final point here on discipleship. It’s easy through this whole thing to think that discipling worship leaders and musicians is all about their performance and public ministry. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Make it a point to care not only for this person’s skill, but their soul. Don’t only care about their performance. Care about their purity before God.
Post Resources
- Podcast: Brian Doerksen on Emotionally Healthy Worship Music
- Scripture: Ephesians 4:12-16
- Book: Building a Discipling Culture by Mike Breen
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Question: What are your greatest struggles as it relates to developing other worship leaders? What have you tried that has worked well? Would love to hear your story. Let’s talk in the comments. It’s always better that way.
[ois skin=”Beyond Sunday 2″]
Hello David.
I liked this post. We have been looking and inquiring for someone with a heart for ministry that we could partner with to disciple and help finance any studies that are needed for the plan God might have for their life ( I am appalled at the debt pastors accrue to get their pieces of paper) but have not had one response to web, word of mouth or poster adverts. So what to do when we are willing to help someone but no one admits wanting help?
Guy, that’s awesome that you’re doing that. When finding someone to disciple, oftentimes it’s not someone who’s asking. You have to be proactive about noticing people who may already be in your ministry. That’s how I approach it.
Hello David, thanks once again for insight and inspiration. i have been a member of worship teams at several churches over the past 15 years and was given the opportunity to lead at my last church (by default) as the worship leading team left abruptly, stating that they (husband and wife) felt a calling elsewhere. tragedy followed this in several ways and this church crumbled and is no more. i am now attending a new, smaller church which has an established worship team and am waiting to hear what God intends for me. i have been invited to play with them when a member was ill and felt genuinely accepted. could you send out a few more specific, consolidated thoughts and instructions for team members to enter into mutually mentoring relationships? (am reviewing your archives) also, perhaps some guidance concerning how i may best support and not intimidate or cause any divisiveness in this group. there are many “i’s” in this reply which is not my mindset. joy comes from being a part of worship leadership and there are no intentions to be overbearing; just contribute and support. that seems to lead to “no-brainer” assistance that all teams and ministries require. would appreciate your thoughts, however, as my objectivity can be eclipsed by intensity at times. pray for more humility to overtake me, and for patience to allow His peace to dwell more deeply. may God continue to bless the work you are doing for His kingdom. i grew up south of the city in scott township and am thankful that you are there.
Michael, thanks for sharing. That is a great blog post idea. Mentoring is usually talked about from the perspective of the mentor, not the mentee. Let me work on some things.
From what you mentioned, it sounds like you have a bold yet helpful, no-nonsense personality that may be viewed as overbearing at times? My recommendation would be to just join the team and serve. Don’t offer any input or suggestions unless you are asked. Focus on building relationships and then your insight will be more welcomed as the team trusts you more. Does that make sense?
makes great sense, david. sincerity and humility in service are my intentions. you are correct is sensing my inclination to offer perspective on a given situation, etc. based on my experiences and the wonderful mentors i have had over the years. none of us know the place or time……..but if God gives me one day or a thousand to engage Him and offer that to others, i am overly blessed! when i see someone doing something that i learned a harder way, i want to help them move past that more quickly and realize, in one small step, more of their potential. my impatience wells up in that way. sort of a parental emotion/desire, perhaps? thank you for your insight! i’ll work even more on silent, supportive encouragement and service. who was it that said, “the notes we don’t play are often more important”? blessings
A great podcast and teaching David!
Greatest struggle? Availability. There seems to be so much competition for the time, attention, and heart space for those that have an aptitude to be developed as worship leaders.
Yes – so, so true. I’d love to hear how others have balanced this tension. I’ve found the most success with young people as their schedules have more margin.
David- Thank you so much for your ministry to worship leaders. This particular podcast was nothing short of a Godsend. We are a relatively new church plant and our hearts are deeply rooted in “equipping and sending”. Unfortunately, I did not come from a background where I was discipled and equipped so I do not know what a healthy discipleship relationship looks like in light of developing new leadership. Therefore, I was feeling very lost, even though I was quite confident that the Lord had already placed on my team a guy I know I need to be pouring into and developing. I am so grateful that the Lord has used you to give me direction and I look forward to what He has in store for my “guy”, our church, and my own walk as we set out on this new adventure. Keep them coming! PLEASE! Blessings to you and your precious family!
Hey David, I just wanna confirm that this is the right thing to do, the heart of it is not getting more volunteers on worship leaders, I would say that would be a byproduct of the discipleship process. The heart is the discipleship.
I just started this program called Worship Leading Development Project (WLDP) in my local church in Indonesia about 8 months ago, I had been contemplating for this since last year. I am still developing the curriculum regarding this and I like the step by step things, and it added more value to the curriculum I am working on, so great to know people doing things that is based on discipleship.
I would love to discuss about this deeper with you in person, is it ok if I email you regarding this?