Worship Musician June 2018 | Page 22

For me, I need to focus. If I feel like something is rising up, like there’s something off the page that we need to explore, sometimes I will close my eyes to try and focus and tap into that. Pastorally, I am aware that people are waiting on me and that I’m holding leadership at that moment, but I also know that God is saying something and doing something, and if we chase that it could actually serve people so much better than just my plan. So, sometimes I close my eyes just to focus in on what God is saying. It can help put blinders on to some of the distractions and help me to zero in on what He’s saying. But, almost always, once I’ve get that thing out and I’ve heard from God, when I feel like I’ve found it, then I’ll open my eyes, because I love taking it in and having that communion with people as we go a lot of time singing about the breath of God, you keep your eyes closed while leading and returning to the breath. I try to stay true worship. I’ve heard senior pastors ask worship to my season and singing out my season. leaders to keep their eyes open so it doesn’t [WM] Steffany, just as Michael Pope has The phrases I use may be a part of the things feel too introspective. While I understand that become the ‘face of guitar’ for Bethel Music, that I read, or study. Like, learning how to perspective, you don’t seem to be losing when I think of the spontaneous worship breathe, how to take a deep breath. I’ve done connection with the congregation when this there, you’re the one that comes to mind first. anxious worship for a long time, which I believe happens. Can you put into words some of the In watching the various videos, it is pretty in because I believe in taking all of myself to things that happen in the moments when you clear that you find tremendous freedom when God, all of the time, which includes all of my close your eyes? you lead worship. Can you tell us about your anxiety. But then, there are moments where somewhere together. journey as a worship leader and how Bethel my propensity towards finding answers, or [Kalley] We stand in the midst of this beautiful even just reading gets set aside. The other day tension. We are leading people, and we are I was reading, and I felt the Holy Spirit telling listening to God. There are moments when I go [Steffany] I was in a little Nazarene church me to put the book aside and to just go lay into spontaneous worship where they feel like where revival broke out, and I was completely in the grass. The point was that my anxiety they’re not the same thing. I have to choose, rocked, forever. The environments that I grew was searching for answers, and the Holy Spirit in that moment, how to navigate that tension. up in were relatively formal, so the Steffany that has impa