Worship leader, do you assume that people love your music?
More specifically, do you assume that people love music?
I understand you listen to music all the time, understand its intricacies, and get emotionally fired up when you hear it.
But not everyone feels that way.
How do you lead worship for those who don’t like music?
How do you engage someone who loves Jesus but doesn’t obsess over today’s current audio delights?
The Honest Truth
I know, worship leaders have a tough calling. We are gathering people from all ages, walks of life, and preferences.
When U2 has a concert in Pittsburgh, they gather 50,000…well, U2 fans. Same goes with a Chris Tomlin or Hillsong United concert. It’s a roomful of pastors, worship leaders, and raving fans.
It’s cakewalk compared to what many of you have to do every Sunday morning.
Part of the reason I write these question posts is to get your feedback. You, my amazing readers, are truly awesome. You always have insights that make my posts look weak. Yea, you’re that good 🙂
But I also write these posts because I want to reach people. I want to engage people in worship – to see them take steps in their relationship with God.
5 Tips For Engaging Non-Music People
Part of being a pastor is seeking to connect those who aren’t connected. Even if you’re not a pastor, you should think this through as a worship leader. Here are 5 tips:
1. Don’t just sing – encourage people to engage beyond the song. Declare, pray, read scripture.
2. Try other creative expressions – though it is Biblical, singing isn’t the only form of corporate worship. Try prayer stations or communion or giving. Teach your congregation to worship through it all.
3. Challenge them to sing – though they may not like singing, it’s something they should try. There’s something that happens when a person lifts their voice and sings the praises of God. It doesn’t have to sound good, but it will open up their heart to God in a special way.
4. Acknowledge them – sometimes all it takes to engage a person is speaking to their situation. You could say something similar to: “You may be here this morning and you don’t really like music or you don’t really like to sing. That’s OK. We’re glad you’re here. I want to challenge you to encounter God in a way that’s comfortable to you.”
5. Ask them – this may be awkward for you, but approaching and asking someone how they connect with God goes a long way. It shows them that you care and teaches you in the process.
Leading worship through music is just what we do. But let’s not assume that everyone loves it and knows what’s going on. Connect them. Learn from them. Lead them.
Question: How do you engage people who don’t like music? What have you tried? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
I never thought about that.Definitely something to be thinking about.
Let me know if you come up with any other ideas!
Having a couple of minutes after slowing down a fast song…transistioning to another slow song…and having just one instument play and having an intimate moment…there is something cool about just a piano…and 100 – 3000 people singing for God…amazing…(if that does not engage them….i don’t know what will)
Agreed. I love that. Do you think people who don’t like to sing enjoy that moment or hate it even more?
Is true worship only music? At a specific place and time? Does it require others? Maybe singing together is simply one method of getting there. My (ability to)worship with other believers is tempered by the tone I carry at home and in the workplace all week long. And often I walk in knowing I could have been bolder and stronger in Him. Easy to sing his praises in a crowd doing the same. And it feels safe. Finding that safety and strength in Him in all kinds of situations is what I want to pursue more this year.
Something that I have wanted to start adding to our services is a time for readings. We have many in our congregation that are gifted in this way. We are also going to be adding a time for a soloist to sing or singers to present a song that allows the congregation to connect through someone sharing from their heart a song that has made an impact on them. These are all ways in which a variety of preferences to worship can be expressed.
Love it. How many readings would you do in a typical worship set?
The readings would be a part of the whole service. Our services run about 1 hour long, so the readings would be included in with the other parts of the service. Probably would only be one per service, just as the soloist or singers special song would be.
This is a great question and article! But, with all do respect, I don’t think the question can be answered by performing music differently. Let’s take music completely out of the equation…the power is out…no one has a guitar or acoustic piano…and a cappella singing is not an option. How do you lead worship?
On a regular day, when the power is on, what do you do about those people who politely stand during the songs, listen to everyone sing, and then sit down with the rest of the people, but have not been worshiping because music is not worship to them. What about the people who are hearing impaired? If everyone was, how different would your approach be to leading worship?
What kinds of visuals do you incorporate? What kinds of interactive moments can you create to draw people in? How can you reach people if melody didn’t exist?
It’s less about the specific answers, and more about thinking like a worship leader – instead of a musician. Therein lies the challenge.
“All *due respect”… Whoops, typing too fast! wZt
I like your perspective, Zach. You’re asking some great questions. “Think like a worship leader instead of a musician” – so good. Do you have an specific ideas related to visuals? That would be an interesting discussion how you would lead worship for the hearing impaired.
I remember as a child hearing people of all ages give “testimonies” about things they felt God was doing in their daily lives. Not pre-planned scripts, just a usual spot in the weekly gathering for anyone to share His impact from various perspectives, thanking and remembering and admiring Him together.
Thank you W. Zachary Taylor for giving us a new perspective. I am challenged by your suggestions.
Sandi – You’re welcome. Thanks for being open to the challenge. I’ve been challenged by this subject a lot over the last couple of years. Music is my passion, and singing is one of my deepest expressions of worship. Being brave enough to approach worship from a non-musical place is not easy. At the same time, broadening my perspective has allowed me to create more thresholds for people to enter into encounters with God…regardless of music. Praying you will experience the same.
I have been inspired to worship through visio divina. It seems that regarding a beautiful piece of artwork while hearing scripture, or in silence after having just heard scripture read could be really engaging. At least it has been for me.
Julie, that’s great. Have you tried this in corporate worship setting or just in your personal worship?
It would be interesting to know if anyone has tried scanning their congregation during a service to estimate how many people are singing.
BTW – really like your 4th point David.
I’ve looked out before and notice a lot of people who don’t sing. Most do, but there are those who just don’t like to sing. Have you ever noticed that?
Sometimes just soaking in or reflecting on the song without singing yourself is worship.
First of all, I want to say thanks for this blog, David. Just found it a few weeks ago when googling “discipleship and worship leading”. I like that you’re asking this question. I actually find myself in the strange place of being the worship music director at my church and being a decent musician, but most of the time not really feeling very passionate about music. I find myself to be the one both leading in worship through music and also not wanting to use music for worship. But, I haven’t tried much else in a congregational setting. I’m not sure my senior pastor would be much for it. I tried some responsive reading once and he said I scared him. haha. We do scripture readings and more often put scriptures up for the congregation to read during instrumental parts. I’ll keep watching the comments on this one for some more ideas. From a utilitarian perspective, I feel singing has is a pretty unique tool to bring a group of people together to say the same thing (and maybe with some of the same emotion). Not sure other forms can compete with music in that realm.
Daryl, thanks so much for reading. It’s an honor to have you here. That’s very insightful how music does bring a group together. It focuses people. I look forward to the comments as well. I don’t think this is something that a lot of churches are doing.
Sometimes, there’s a lot going on during worship. Different instruments playing, verses, pre-choruses, chorus 1, chorus 2, bridge, instrumental bridge. For the average member, it can be too much. They can get distracted and not connect. And for those who don’t love music like we do, they get lost. On such an occasion when I felt that this was happening, the
Holy Spirit led me to do an “Acapella” moment for just the congregation. Their voices were all the instruments needed. It has been some special moments in my worship leading experience. All of a sudden the people who weren’t engaged are singing boldly, connecting to what they are singing about. Their whole attention towards the Lord. It’s an unforgettable experience when you let them sing and you take a step back.
Heidi, this is very wise and I totally agree with you. I’ve noticed that some songs are so structurally complicated that it’s difficult for the average church goer to engage. Sure, we musician people can learn it. But it’s a struggle for most. I’ve seen this with a lot of Hillsong tunes that have verse 1, pre chorus 1, verse 2, chorus, bridge, tag 1, bridge 2, chorus 2, instrumental solo, etc 🙂 Great point!