WORSHIP LEADERS
HOW TO AVOID MULTIPLE WORSHIP LEADER MAYHEM | Jon Nicol
I coached a church not too many years ago that had four distinct Sundays each month : One week of the month was the " Worship Hits of the 90s ." ( They were still rocking “ Lord I Lift Your Name On High ” and “ As The Deer .”) Another week was Southern Gospel Sunday . ( Big vocals , big hair , a little bit of twang .) And the final two weeks were for a slightly younger crowd — the Chris Tomlin Sunday and Bethel / Jesus Culture Sunday .
Each of those two weeks had the ‘ feel ’ you ' d expect . And each Sunday , a different onequarter of the congregation participated wholeheartedly .
If a church desired this kind of variety or intentionally decided it was best for their congregation , I would fully defend their decision . I may not enjoy attending there , but that ' s beside the point . However , for this church , it wasn ' t a deliberate , well-thought approach to corporate worship . It was the lowest common denominator of leadership : four people were willing to lead , and they all did their own thing .
When a church has multiple worship leaders , it can be a sign of healthy growth and leadership . It can also be a sign of confusion and chaos . Let ' s start with the positive .
Multiple worship leaders ( MWLs ) in a church can mean that no one person has to carry the load . The different leadership styles bring variety . And MWLs can also help a church avoid the trap of worship leader celebrity status and the cult of personality — no single leader becomes ' the one .' Bottom line : MWLs help prevent burnout and promote healthy shared leadership .
That is ... if .
If each leader truly believes their part of a team and practices mutual respect and submission .
If each leader sacrifices some of their personal music and style preferences .
If each leader adheres to an agreed-upon song selection and rotation protocol .
If each leader can work with others on the team besides their own primary band .
Otherwise , your ministry may suffer from what I like to call ' Multiple Worship Leader Mayhem ' ( MWLM ). This mayhem ( confusion , disorder , and even anarchy ) occurs when a church has a " team " of multiple worship leaders with no strong guidelines , little regard for musical cohesion , and no shared commitment to serve the congregation above their own musical tastes .
We ' re going to explore the symptoms of Multiple Worship Leader Mayhem , the leadership fallout because of it , and , finally , the