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Besides the ever so subtle shouting of “crap” instead of “clap” from the stage (who has ever done this?) 🙂 there are some common things that worship leaders do that I’d advise against (and I think your senior pastor would appreciate it too).

Also, are you wondering what a picture of Jack Black has to do with anything? Well, imagine leading worship like he sings. Just sayin’.

Keeping your eyes closed the whole time

While this may be great for your personal worship, I think a worship leader needs to keep his eyes open more often than not in order to connect and draw in those who are there. It won’t matter quite as much once the faith of the room rises up and people are lost in worship. I always say the goal of a worship leader is to lead people to a place where they don’t need you anymore. Open thine eyes till then.

Singing every song

If you are a worship leader who has the best voice, it’s OK if you lead every song or if there’s no good singers on your team. But if you have some great vocal talent on your team, defer the lead vocal to someone else occasionally. It’s actually a great rest for your voice and you can focus on actually leading in worship. Not to mention it empowers those who serve with you.

Fill in all dead space with the ‘vocal moan’

You know what I’m talking about. Some worship leaders feel that if they don’t sing a song, or moan, or talk, that God is packing up His bags. I understand the pressure. You don’t want there to be awkward silence. You want people to enter in. But it can also be incredibly distracting to have you moaning for 5 minutes while I’m trying to worship. It just doesn’t sound good. Especially if you’re a background singer. Moan and sing all you want in the dead space. Just pull your mic down.

Forgetting to pray until 3 minutes before service starts

You’ve been there. I know it. You’ve had a crappity crapface rehearsal and then it strikes you… we forgot to pray. So you woop out the desperation, “God rescue us from this crappity crapface rehearsal and make us sound good” prayer. I have a better idea. Sprinkle all your rehearsals with prayer. You don’t have to pray for 45 minutes before every song, but pray short, faith-filled prayers throughout. Prayer has an incredible way of calming down dominant musician personalities and focusing everyone on what matters.

I could go on. Expect a part 2 on this one.

What are some habits that we should avoid as worship leaders? How can we improve?

Recently I talked about how to engage non-Christians in a worship service But what about how to more effectively engage those who are believers? You may be wondering why I’m writing about this so much. I guess you could say it’s important and I’m working hard on it.

Many worship leaders are content to crank through a list of songs. As a musician and perfectionist, I have this tendency. But remember, there is nothing more important in your role as a worship leader than engaging the congregation. Success is determined by how many people are with you, not how flawless your performance was. What good is it if you have perfect execution but zero participation?

This is not easy. My goal with this post is to offer you 3 tips to help you engage Christians more effectively:

1. Mix new songs with simple, familiar songs

When introducing a new song, don’t sandwich it in between two other new songs. People engage with songs they know – songs that are simple and singable. That doesn’t mean you have to do Here I Am to Worship every weekend; however, if you do too many new songs at once, people are frustrated watching instead of worshiping. Do new songs but do them with songs people already know.

2. Speak Honestly

I can’t tell you how huge this is. Don’t allow yourself to be a cheerleader spouting off Christiany phrases. You don’t want to be a ‘wet blanket’ either. Find the middle ground. Be yourself. Speak to people’s situations. Worship with all you’ve got. Every generation of Christian will find common ground with someone who loves Jesus. They may dislike your music, but they’ll enter in if they respect your heart for God. Learning to speak simply and clearly can really unify a room.

3. Build Momentum

This comes with skill and experience. But you can start now. Momentum in a worship service somes when you begin to medley songs that echo what the Holy Spirit is doing in a room. This is not a concert. Don’t just blaze through your setlist song to song to song to song. Slow down, discern what God is doing, encourage people to sing spontaneously, highlight the theme of what God is doing with songs that people know.

I want to learn from you. What else would you add, worship leaders? Do you think engaging your congregation is important or can we just let the music do its job?