Worship Leader and The Lead Pastor
by Jessica Martin-Weber
I can't tell you the number of times I've heard worship leader friends, myself, and at one point, even my own father voiced this frustration: "I feel so unappreciated as an artist by my lead pastor."
What's up with that? Is it because the artist tends to be insecure and overly sensitive? Or maybe it's that the lead pastor is taking them for granted? Perhaps it's just a difference in temperaments and personality types? Of course, it could be the difficulty in balancing art and administration? And what about gifting, priorities, and calling? Are jealousy and arrogance possibly part of the problem?
I think it may have to do with all of those reasons and then some but what are your thoughts? What kind of experience have you had as a worship leader/worship artist or as pastor? Have you had a relationship with a lead pastor where you felt encouraged or discouraged as an artist? Pastors, what about you in working with a worship leader? Both lead pastors and worship leaders, what do you think is the problem here and what are possible solutions.
Pastors, what is one thing you'd love to hear or see from your worship leader? And Worship leaders, what is one thing you'd love to hear or see from your lead pastor?
I can't tell you the number of times I've heard worship leader friends, myself, and at one point, even my own father voiced this frustration: "I feel so unappreciated as an artist by my lead pastor."
What's up with that? Is it because the artist tends to be insecure and overly sensitive? Or maybe it's that the lead pastor is taking them for granted? Perhaps it's just a difference in temperaments and personality types? Of course, it could be the difficulty in balancing art and administration? And what about gifting, priorities, and calling? Are jealousy and arrogance possibly part of the problem?
I think it may have to do with all of those reasons and then some but what are your thoughts? What kind of experience have you had as a worship leader/worship artist or as pastor? Have you had a relationship with a lead pastor where you felt encouraged or discouraged as an artist? Pastors, what about you in working with a worship leader? Both lead pastors and worship leaders, what do you think is the problem here and what are possible solutions.
Pastors, what is one thing you'd love to hear or see from your worship leader? And Worship leaders, what is one thing you'd love to hear or see from your lead pastor?
posted by Jessica | 6:03 PM
2 Comments:
well, I get along great with my lead pastor...then of course that could have to do with the fact that we are sleeping together!! hehe (of course he's my husband!)
--lol that joke never gets old...ok maybe it does!
One of the problems with larger churches in particular is the segregation of ministry. We have the youth pastor, the teaching pastor, the worship pastor, the adults pastor, the singles pastor.... But let me focus on the pastoral team that is up front on a Sunday morning, specifically the lead/senior/teaching pastor and the worship/music pastor.
When the roles of "worship" and "teaching" are segregated, I think it betrays a misunderstanding of both worship and teaching. By my own definition, worship is a response to an encounter with God; the job of the worship leader, then is to usher people into an encounter with God. When we reduce worship to music - of any style - or prayer, we eliminate a vast repertoire of responses, such as evangelism, praise, dance, hearing the Word of God, teaching the Word.... Yes, teaching is also worship, and it is in this area that I think the "teamness" of the up-front pastors needs to be rekindled.
Too many churches for too many years have said - sometimes quite explicitly - now we're going to worship (sing, sing, pray, sing); okay, now we're done worshipping and we're going to hear the Word of God (preach/listen, preach/listen). I want to hear in church that the teaching is part of the worship, and by listening to, learning from, and acting on what I hear in the message, I am worshipping God.
This goes far beyond simply a coordination between the worship leader selecting music that ties in with the theme of the message (though that is certainly beneficial). It also means that the teaching pastor needs to tie in the music with his message. As leaders in a local gathering of the church, we need to work together in close partnership to draw our people into an encounter with God.
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