To Find a Worship Leader
April 1, 2002
A friend is on a search committee seeking a full-time worship leader. So far they have sifted through more than 100 names. Picky? Yeah, but the committee has to satisfy five culturally defined generations that now populate most churches. Each has its own taste in worship, and each thinks the other four are a bit off-the-wall. So the search is difficult.
How we got here
Fifty years ago they would have sought an arm-waving song leader who fired up people to sing three gospel songs, led in prayer, sang a solo, and turned things over in a timely manner to the preacher. Sound systems didn't exist then; neither did light bars, words on screens, or drums (in church anyway). Under those conditions, "Blessed Assurance" never sounded better!
About forty years ago, song leaders morphed into choir directors, who were paid (this ticked off some folk) to recruit a choir and present anthems. Most people came to like this and didn't notice that we amateur worshipers in the pew were singing less now.
Thirty years ago (give or take) full-time ministers of music appeared. They championed age-graded music programs: multiple choirs, cantatas, concerts, and complex musical extravaganzas with orchestras (and live animals at Christmas even). Most of us thought this development was quite classy.
But in truth we pew-people were worshiping less and being entertained more. Clapping (to do or not to do) became a serious issue for elder boards. The professional Christian musician debuted, and a star system was born.
Over the past twenty years, we saw the advent of the worship leader and the worship team. Each team member was armed with a long-cord microphone (uniformly held). The team was usually young, sincere, enthusiastic, often quite talented. Organs were ...
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