Top 10 Pet Peeves About Worship Leaders

I’m just done reading a list of Top 10 pet peeves about worship leaders over at Church Relevance – it’s based off a post by Carlos some time back.

Sometimes lists like this can be useful and help us to do better jobs as worship leaders.  Of course, other times they are an outlet for people who just like to complain no matter what we do.  I took a bit of time and responded to each point.

Have a read of the list and join in the discussion.

My response:

Let me first say that I’m a worship leader and at most times I do not find it an easy role. It’s demanding both physically and spiritually. There is a lot more involved than what is seen on the stage. When I see peeve lists like this they intrigue me. Sometimes I get peeved off reading, other times I take notes. Here’s my comments on this list.

1) Our jobs as worship leaders to to encourage people to worship. Instructions to ‘raise hands down’ or ‘dance’ probably are out of order, but gentle prompts to worship is acceptable I think.

2) There is a slight pressure on worship leaders to talk between songs instead of just sounding like a cd. I’m not confident at this part at all. I haven’t done any transition-sermons yet. I might mutter a prayer. Nothing more.

3) This should probably be No.1 since it’s supposed to be all about God. Why are people not most annoyed about this area?

4) Sometimes when we concentrate too much on the professional aspects we can loose the element of worship. I know for me sometimes I can concentrating really hard on getting the song right and it’s more of a stressful experience than a worshipful one.

5) Sometimes even repeating a chorus can annoy some people. If you don’t like it now, eternity is really going to bug you.

6) The whole eyes-closed-eyes-open thing again. A worship leader needs to interact with the congregation in order to encourage them to worship. BUT, the worship leader also should be able to worship. If we close our eyes for some stretches, it’s OK – isn’t it?

7) Some of you are awful hard on worship leaders. Talking & Praying between songs is not easy at all. How can you say it is not authentic simply because the theme of the song is used as a prayer? They picked the darn song list in the first place. Songs & prayer go hand and hand in my book.

8) Again, touching on transitions a little bit. In the old days it was perfectly fine to stop playing after a song before starting another one. These days you have to keep the ‘atmosphere’ (aka keyboard player) going. If God’s Spirit is there – you don’t need the keyboard necessarily.

9) This should be up there at No.1. If you know your worship leader isn’t living like he should consistently (we all slip up from time to time), then you ought to do something about it. Your worship leader should attempt to live a lifestyle that honors God 24×7. A worship leader post is not just a job.

10) A worship leader needs to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. We must be willing to go where God leads during a service. Yes, we’ll make mistakes from time to time – but following God closely involves some risk.