Nobody likes to be the new guy.
All around you see worship leaders of large churches, touring musicians of crazy talent, and veterans who’ve been leading for years.
But what if you just started or are waiting for your time? That can be one of the scariest moments of your life.
When I started leading worship, it was the grace of God that prevented me from having an anxiety attack every time.
The crowds of people, no matter how small, freaked me out.
My inexperience with singing left me terrified.
The spiritual pressure of engaging a room left me spellbound.
If I could slip back in time, this is the advice I would offer myself. And it’s the advice I offer to you, young worship leader.
5 Tips For Brand New Worship Leaders
1. Don’t base your identity on each performance – I can think back to numerous times where I felt either crushed or on top of the world after leading worship. Truth is, sometimes everything will go better than planned. Other times, you will fail.
Don’t base your identity on how you perform. Realize that Jesus loves you. Understand that you are His. Lead out of that truth.
2. Your heart is what sets you apart – I’ll tell you right now, there are worship leaders who are way more talented than you. Who cares?
Want to know what sets you apart? It’s the work of God in you. It’s the way you see Jesus and how you express that in front of people. Don’t overlook the heart for the sake of petty competition.
3. Focus on serving, not performing – Bottom line: don’t perform worship for people. Serve them. What do they need? What will facilitate their encounter with God? How can you make their worship experience easy and engaging? These are the questions that will serve you best.
4. Don’t try too hard – Something that I failed to recognize (and still do) is that the Holy Spirit is moving. In every song, every word, every silent moment, He is moving. While you want to give your best effort, you need to relax and lead in the confidence that He is present and working miracles.
5. Stay Amazed – Nothing will dry up your worship leading faster than a dull heart. Fight to stay amazed. Fight to dwell in His presence. Fight to keep your heart alive to His breathtaking beauty.
Thanks for stepping out and giving your time to lead God’s people deeper into His presence.
Your church needs you.
Question: If you’re a new worship leader, what are you most excited about? If you’ve been leading for a while, what advice would you give your younger self? Add to the discussion in the comments! Go ahead, it’s always better when you do!
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Great post. Really encouraging as I set out on the work we’re starting in a churchplant.
To “stay amazed” is so important. It can be easy to loose sight of why we are worshiping and singing in the midst of all the preparation and work that we are putting in to a Sunday morning.
Wayne, awesome! Where’s the new church plant?
This is truly a timeless word. It’s easy for many worship leaders including my self to get off track, because of our busy schedule, family, friends and ministry it self. Staying amazed is so important to ministry in general. we must be able to recognize what Jesus is doing. I love this quote,
Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
Thanks again for your weekly awesome words. 🙂
Ryan, where’s that quote from? Fantastic.
I read it a while back in the Mark Batterson book “Wild Goose Chase” the quote it self is by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Your posts have been so timely lately! My worship class at school is starting back up in a month and ive been preparing for welcoming in the new leaders. This helped a ton! If I could go back to last year when I first started leading worship for my high school, I would tell my freshman self to not define my worship leading by the praise I get when I’m off the stage. I’d tell myself that my job both on and off that stage is to bring glory to God and lead others into worshipping him.
Thanks so much for all your encouraging posts!
So good, Rebecca. I need this reminder every day! Thanks for sharing.
Great reminder!
By the way, I love the customizations you have done with the new standard theme!
Thanks Brandon! I’m still figuring out all that’s included.
For any new worship leader, don’t ignore the advice and leading of your pastor. Intentionally strengthen that relationship as often as you can. Remember that you’re there to serve him and his vision.
And don’t see worship as a platform to get noticed – it’s an opportunity to make Jesus’ name known.
Excellent points, Ryan. These are so foundational.
I wish I had used more scripture when I was a younger worship leader. I depended way too much on my set lists and the flow of them rather than letting scripture inspire my creativity.
So good. How do you include Scripture in your creativity today?
Great post, I’d add…
Go out of your way to be mentored by several Worship Leaders. Be accountable to them with your progress and allow them to walk through questions with you.
M_
Yes! Any advice for seeking out worship leading mentors?
Thanks David, yes, my personal experience has been to befriend a worship leader that you believe you can learn from.
I have pursued several worship leaders by following them via Twitter or Blogs, connected with them and with time have invited them to be a part of my life in a constructive way.
I have developed long lasting friendships with these leaders and they have added tremendous value to my life as a music minister.
M_
I’m involved in a new ministry venture and I’m being asked to step into the role of worship leader, I haven’t started yet but I’ve realized already that if I focus too long on myself doubt attempts to overtake me. As long as I keep my eyes stayed on Jesus my weakness are made strong by the joy of the Lord. I think I’m most excited about how God will move through me and seeing the manifestation of His Glory…
Amen! God is going to use you, Marcus.
Something I wish I could go back and tell my beginning self is that it doesn’t matter what your voice sounds like, just as long as it’s strong and confident, because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how good of a vocalist or musician you are, it’s about if people can sing along and encounter God in their worship. I have recordings of my first few times leading, and it’s almost like I was whisper singing, but I just had to let my voice come out, no matter how nervous or scared I was, because I noticed that the congregation wasn’t singing because they were shy about the person next to them hearing them sing, so finally when I began to sing out with confidence, the congregation couldn’t help but mimic me.
Cody, this is awesome. Great to see how you’ve grown.
Mr David Santistivan you are a blessing to my life.. You are just simplifing this calling God bless you.. Am a new worship leader and what gets me exicted is that i know i have been called and set apart to be a worship leader. And even the fact that most time when i go out to minister and sometimes flop i dont get angry or start thinking rather i just recognize the place of preparation and that i must pass through theses stages….
So excited that you’re stepping into worship leadership! So awesome.
I am brand new to worship leading(barely been a month) and can identify with the feeling of anxiety, and down right wanna vomit before worship every Sunday. My church isn’t huge but is growing every week! I am in awe of what God is doing and feel crazy greatful for what he continues to do in worship. Thank you for the advise you have given above. Helps me to know there are regular people like myself in these positions. Imperfect person serving a perfect God
God bless
Thanks for the post! Very helpful! I’m leading a worship group who are all new believers and new at leading worship music. We have the extra challenge of having most of the congregation being international Chinese students from China who have never been to church or heard of Jesus or read the Bible. So most likely they will not know a lot of songs even if sung in their native language. My prayer is that the words of the song along with the music will speak to and touch their hearts about the love of Jesus.