gospel through music by demanding respect or a seat at the table. My job is to live out Colossians 3:15-17 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. I think, as leaders, and especially as women, if this is at the forefront of our mind and heart, God will make space for us in the places where He has called us to be.
[ WM ] Do you have words of encouragement to fellow worship leaders, worship bands and audio teams who serve week in and week out at their local church?
[ Hope ] I just got back from our church, The Belonging Co’ s, Servant Leader conference. The entire church staff puts on a Friday night / Saturday day conference for all of the volunteers. They do everything and only let the volunteers attend. It’ s really beautiful and something I look forward to every year because we have fun, worship and hear some messages that remind us of why we do what we do in church for the kingdom of God. People on staff or those who serve every week are gonna have seasons where they feel weary, but I want to encourage them to not give up. To keep running the race well. My life has seen the fruit of Psalm 92:12-15 in my life … those who are planted in the house of God will flourish. The key is tether your heart to Jesus, not the task. If you are serving as a response to your love for God and his people, there will always be an endless well of grace and strength that you can tap into for those early morning load-ins and late-night gatherings. We ultimately do this for Jesus, not our church, not our pastors, not our value, but for God. We serve because he served. And in our serving, we make space for people to encounter God. Nothing you do as a staff member or volunteer is insignificant. Don’ t underestimate the lives that can be impacted by your faithfulness to serve and show up.
I think the biggest form of encouragement I can give people is to remember these two things … Don’ t skip having personal time to connect with God outside of the moments you are working and / or serving at church. It is so easy to have a busy schedule and think that our gatherings at church are enough to sustain us. And while they are very significant to our walk with Christ and create moments for us to meet with God, they can never be a substitute for our daily time with God one-on-one. It’ s here that we learn the heart and voice of God; which is crucial for us to know when ministering during our church services and navigating what God wants to do in those moments. The greatest skill a worship leader can have is intimacy with God and knowing His voice. God desires for us to have time alone with Him, so we can ensure that we are building the foundation of our lives and ministries on Him and not what we do for Him in ministry.
Don’ t skip sitting in service. This is such a critical part of leadership for worship teams. We want to make sure that we are hearing what our pastors are preaching so that we can know the heart and vision that God is given them in every season. When we are in the service or services, we are able to tune in and see what God is doing during that specific service. I know that at my home church, every service is different. The message and worship set may be the same, but God is always doing something new and fresh in every service and as a worship team we want to be able to partner with what God is doing in every service. This has been a vital part of our church’ s worship team knowing what songs to sing during ministry time at the end of a service and give us insight into things we can be praying about and bring into our times of songwriting.
[ WM ] Where can our readers find you? Website, Social Media?
[ Hope ] You can find me on any streaming or social media @ hopedarst or on my website hopedarst. com
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