The Many Faces of the Worship Leader

Darcy L. Watkins – June 17, 2024

Introduction

As a worship leader, have you ever dreaded being called “two-faced”?  Maybe it’s worse, you dread actually being two-faced.  Hold that thought!

I usually take the position that leading worship is an intentional activity.  It’s not an accidental byproduct of just “doing it” up in front of everyone.

In Psalms 34, David proclaimed:

“I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.  O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.  I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”  Ps 34:1-4

His intent was to praise the Lord.  His intent was to be heard.  His intent was to invoke a response from those with him.  In fact, he invited all to magnify the Lord with him, to join with him in praise.  He was a worship leader long before he became a king.

Leading worship is an intentional activity, everything from planning, practice to organizing a team, maybe even setting up chairs and the stage.  What if leading worship happened to be multi-facetted?  What if, like wearing one of many hats, you have to put on one of many faces?

So it’s not just two faces but many?

Let’s consider several faces a worship leader may have in relation to leading people in praise and worship.

Performing Artist

One of the most common faces of a worship leader is that of a performing artist.  This is usually what we see at events, concerts and on social media videos.  In this mold, you are likely a good musician and singer and have become comfortable using this craft up front in public.  One can be good at the craft, but not necessarily be a worship leader.  We revere such as accomplished performing artists.  Some are even considered stars.  A worship leader of this face is comfortable using the performing art as a tool in support of leading others to worship God.  And such are often shy about the attention it may draw to them.

Lead Singer

Lead singer is a variation of the performing artist, especially if you sing and have other musicians to provide the musical backing.  You may take singing more seriously, easily memorizing the lyrics to hundreds of songs.  Musicians sometimes can remember the tunes, rhythms and chords, but not necessarily remember the lyrics easily.  Some musicians treat singing as an afterthought, something necessary to pull off a gig.  I’ve heard it said that in the local music scenes, vocals can be an afterthought to many bands, but on the national music scene, the vocals define the band.  I’ve observed over the years, that with all other things being equal, a good vocalist who isn’t so good as a musician has a better chance of succeeding over the long haul than a good musician who isn’t so good as a vocalist.

Cheer Leader

In the context of leading worship, the cheer leader face isn’t so much about hype and cheer as it is about engaging the people and then directing their focus of attention to the real star, Jesus.  The cheer leader face has the knack to sense where the group is at, to engage them to focus on Jesus and then get out of the way.  The cheer leader grabs everyone’s attention, but instead of saying, “Look at me!”  They point everyone to Jesus.  It’s like in John 3:28-30, John the Baptist, after he gathered people’s attention with his preaching, he pointed them all to Jesus.  He rejoiced as Jesus increased.  Some well timed, well placed innovative antics can be effective as an icebreaker to pull the people together as a unified voice of praise, rising up to our Lord.

Master of Ceremonies

The master of ceremonies is one who steps people through a program involving a sequence.  This can easily be a part of your function or role as a worship leader.  You may be up there for more than just the portion that involves singing songs.  A famous TV healing Evangelist of the 20th century once said, “I am so humbled and honoured just to be a doorman for Jesus, welcoming people into His kingdom”.  You may very well be “the announcer” of the Lord who introduces a stranger to his or her creator for the very first time.  You may have the privilege and awesome responsibility of being the first impression.

Actor

An actor is someone who steps up to a role to pull it off.  This implies professionalism, involving much practice and rehearsals.  We usually think of acting in terms of drama, comedy or theatre.  We sometimes get cynical and think of acting as putting on a false face, an act of insincerity (as in being a hypocrite).  Some may struggle with being up in front of everyone.  So, the face of the actor implies that you suck it up and play it out.  At first it may seem like you are twisting your personality inside out.  But after gaining some experience, you become more accustomed to this stepping out, and it becomes less stressful.

Chief Musician

This term appears in the Psalms and in the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah in the Bible.  In the contemporary worship team environment, this is the face where the worship leader sets the pace, chooses the arrangements to use and in some cases even writes them out.  It involves activities that are behind the scenes.  At times, you are coaching the less experienced members of the team through it all.  In the Biblical context, the chief musicians were Levites, from a tribe that was set apart for ministry to the Lord.  There is also a sense today that a worship leader is one who is set apart for ministry to the Lord.

Band Leader

In some cases, a worship leader may have someone alongside who fulfills the function of a band leader.  This is especially helpful when the worship leader doesn’t play an instrument.  In other cases, the worship leader directs the band themself.  There are many systems of communication available such as hand signals.  Sometimes it’s just body language.  I had a guitar player friend who said he could tell where I was going with a song based on how my back would arch at pivotal moments.

Technician

Some worship leaders have no knack for the technical and that’s OK.  With a good team, no one has to be it all.  Other worship leaders have a good grasp of the technical.  This can be from properly EQ’ing each channel, to knowing how to best deal with room acoustics, to having a knack for how lighting should be adjusted.  In some cases, with very little available help, you must set it all up, yourself.  I started worship ministry on sound.  The pastor asked me to run the sound system. My reply was, “Why not? I used to do this for the devil, DJing at parties, so, why not do it for God!”

Producer

A producer thinks strategically in terms of the whole picture from the organization, the technical to the craft.  This all needs to be planned out and be properly resourced with a budget.  You may put on this face more if you are planning for an event, or if you are the department head at your church.  But there is a sense that every worship leader is producing something that will facilitate leading the congregation into the presence of the Lord.

Director

A director is a bit more tactical, focused on the service at hand.  How will the service open?  How does it play out as a time of gathering where people will enter engaging worship of the Lord?  How will this transition into later parts of the church service?  What lights set the right mood, etc?  What is the proper volume level for each stage?

Stage Manager

A stage manager is one who ensures that everything is in its proper place at the right time and on que.  This is particularly important during times of transition.  Is the microphone positioned properly for the next person to use it?  Is the pulpit properly positioned for the preacher?   Are music stands, etc. out of the way sufficient for the non-music parts of the service?  But oops! has it gone too far, making it difficult for that time of worship and response at the end of the service?

Choreographer

A choreographer is someone who coordinates movement on stage, particularly in the case of dance moves.  If your church uses visual activity such as banner waving, dance, this may be important.  Even if not, it doesn’t hurt to pay some attention to how the team appears up on the stage.  Some will video record a service so that they can spot awkward movement and positioning.  Unfortunately, this is often treated as an afterthought, or it is a free for all.  The results can sometimes be distracting.

DJ

We all think of a DJ as someone who spins discs and sometimes gives M/C like remarks.  But a good DJ is a bonafide artist, one who takes it to a higher level, creating a mood, fostering a sense that you are on a journey.  Each song segues into the next to create an experience that builds up to an exciting climax.  The song keys aren’t random (or overly monotonous), but flow neatly into one another.  It’s like how when you listen to a good record album, the listening experience is like going on a short trip.  This is sort of how I first came into being a worship leader.  I handed the pastor a proposed set list explaining how the songs chained together thematically with key changes, etc.  I suggested that he use it for worship one day. His response was to hand the list back to me.  Instead, he slotted me in to lead worship the following week.  It was scary, but also fun.

Guide

When you want to take people on a journey from point A to point B through what could be considered unfamiliar territory, you need a guide.  A guide is usually someone who is familiar with the territory one travels through.  To come into the presence of the Lord, the worship leader must be a guide.  But you cannot take others somewhere that you haven’t been to before yourself.  This speaks into the matter of the private times of worship we each have with the Lord.  There is also the sense that you cannot expect to succeed bringing people to a holy place of worship if the places you frequent and explore are all profane.

Event Planner

Sometimes, it’s not enough to just plan a worship set.  You are planning the entire event.  This may include beverage, snack and food planning, or even more.  Some church growth experts define “worship” as the round trip from when a congregant’s car enters the parking lot before the service to when they leave the lot back into traffic afterwards.  The question is, “How inspiring is the round trip experience?”  This means even the state of the washrooms matters. And how easy it is to find where to go get stuff?  In this sense, the parking attendants and security people are part of the worship team.  In the events around, II Chronicles 20:21, Jehoshaphat put the musicians and singers at the front of the march, but there were also soldiers and other supply chain attendants in that same procession.  They all praised and worshipped God together.  It was more than just a concert.

Worshipper

There must be a place of rest from the upfront ministry for each of us.  That includes each person on the team, including (maybe especially) the worship leader.  We understand that a life of worship goes beyond what happens during church services.  I’m not talking about these matters of worship here.  Each person on the team needs times where they can worship as part of the congregation.  In a sense, you lead by example, even from the pew.  There’s a saying that you cannot effectively lead worship on the stage unless you can worship from the pew.  I enjoy the upfront time as much as anyone else.  I also enjoy worshipping and having communion with my wife.

Disciple

A true worship leader is also a disciple who learns from Jesus, other mentors and the people on your team.  Disciple also means the genuine article.   Years back, there was a keynote topic where the preacher pointed out the three “L”’s.  Based on the claims that Jesus made, He was one of Liar, Lunatic or the Lord.  There was no in-between.  He was either God or a fake.  Well, there are also three “D”’s as we follow Jesus.  Each of us are one of, in Deception, in Delusion or we are a Disciple.  There is no in-between.  Each of us is either a real follower of Jesus, or a fake.

Pastoral

There is a pastoral element to being a worship leader.  Whether you lead at a department head level, a small team level, or even just for a particular event or service, you lead the team of musicians and singers you are assigned with.  This can include some sort of development and/or pastoral responsibilities.  Someone may show up in need of prayer and encouragement.  To make demands of the team as volunteers, you must be willing to invest in their growth and well-being.  There are some worship leaders who are awesome at exhorting the congregation as they lead worship.  This is because that worship leader has a strong pastoral face, a pastoral anointing.

Prophetic

Prophetic can be a controversial word in some circles, but in most cases, when we say prophetic in context of leading worship, we mean that we seek out a two-way dialogue, a communion with God.  It’s not just a show or a one-way monologue to Him.  When someone uses “prophetic” in such a manner as to confer privilege or unquestioned authority, there is something wrong.  But when the word, prophetic is used in context of a gathering of believers within a framework of accountability and leadership, seeking out a two-way communion with God, that is much more balanced.  We seek His face, His voice in reply.  Sometimes our words need to be few, so that we can take time to listen to Him.

Conclusion and Closing

Undoubtedly, there are more faces, as many faces as there are directions from which we came from to get close to the Lord.  Just like in the Apostle Paul’s explanation of diversity of gifts within the church (I Cor 12:4-6), we have a diversity of faces of a worship leader.  Not all are performing artists in demeanor.  Not all are producers, directors or band leaders.  Not all are cheer leaders or DJs.  Not all are pastoral.  We each likely exhibit elements of some, but not all.

There is an account that in times of old, a preacher, Smith Wigglesworth would start the singing and then play along with his trumpet.  The people sang along without a lead vocalist to que them.  We didn’t always have lyrics projected up on big screens.  With God all things are possible, and He will provide what is needed for the times and the seasons.

You may resonate with one or more of the afore mentioned faces.  Hopefully this helps you better understand why you are different from another worship leader you’ve seen or know.  If this article is helpful in any way, that makes me glad.  The important matter is to follow the Lord, grow and then lead on.  Amen.