five practices healthy Multiple Worship Leader churches embrace . Let ' s start with six of the most common symptoms of Multiple Worship Leader Mayhem :
1 . A SCHIZOPHRENIC CHURCH ( MUSICALLY & STYLISTICALLY ). The disparity of style from leader to leader creates vast inconsistencies from one Sunday to the next .
2 . TOO MANY NEW SONGS . When there are no restrictions for introducing new music , nobody ( the band or congregation ) will have time to learn them well .
3 . AN OVERGROWN MASTER LIST . Each leader has their darlings — the batch of tunes they prefer . Add those to all the new ones they see fit to introduce willy-nilly , and the result is low repetition for each song . That results in ...
4 . GLASSY-EYE SCREEN-GAZERS . The congregation sings the song from the screen and not from their heart — if they ' re singing at all . The same thing is happening on the platform ...
5 . MUSIC STAND-OBSESSED MUSICIANS . The platform team has their eyes glued to the stands . They ' re singing and playing from the chart , not the heart .
6 . NO CONSISTENT DEADLINES FOR SET PLANNING . Some leaders may plan ahead , but others don ' t complete sets until the day of rehearsal . No wonder the guitarist is fixated on the chart — she ' s trying to play a song she hasn ' t seen in six months that was handed to her six minutes ago .
Now , these symptoms can occur in a single worship leader context , too . But MWL churches are at a much higher risk for these issues . But , unfortunately , it gets worse than this . Without clear boundaries and expectations , MWLM enables three kinds of toxic leaders to create dysfunction and disunity . The first toxic leader is ...
TOXIC LEADER 1 : THE TERRITORIAL LEADER . A territorial leader has the attitude of , “ This is my band ... my song ... m week of the month ... etc ." In other words , she gets possessive and acts entitled .
Uglier than that is the second toxic leader .
TOXIC LEADER 2 : THE DIVISIVE LEADER . The divisive leader is a new level of toxic- he ' s a territorial leader who ' s descended into ' little-k ' kingdom-building . He does his own thing because it ' s ‘ his ’ ministry . Any agreed-upon guidelines or expectations don ' t seem to apply to him - unless they fit his agenda . Whether subtlety or overtly , he sows seeds of disunity among the other leaders and team members - usually as a way to protect his turf or gain even more authority on the team .
And even worse than the Divisive Leader ( yes , there is something worse )...
TOXIC LEADER 3 : THE ABUSIVE LEADER . Without clear standards - and with little to no leadership oversight - unhealthy MWL churches will inevitably attract ( and promote ) dysfunctional people .
I ' ve seen situations where the worship leader was overly demanding and disrespectful to his / her musicians and techs . Unfortunately , I ' ve also heard of cases of authoritarian control . The narcissistic leader manipulates his team and gets away with it -usually by gaslighting both the team and any authority figure above him .
Without central oversight , no one is there to remove this leader or rescue the team from him . In too many cases , the team assumed it was normal and took the abuse . And those who wouldn ' t stand for it ? They just left .
Thankfully , the abusive worship leader is relatively uncommon . I wish I could say that for the two other toxic leaders , however . Unfortunately , as I work with churches and worship leaders throughout North America , I see the divisive , territorial , and entitled behavior of dysfunctional leaders far too much . Multiple worship leader environments enable this behavior when there ' s no accountability structure .
No one wants this . Multiple worship leader situations start from the best intentions : " Let ' s share the leadership of our worship gatherings ." But before long , the ' team ' of leaders begin drifting in different directions as they plan and lead their services . Eventually , the worship ministry splinters into two , three , or even four disparate worship teams . The result ? The church services lack cohesion from one week to the next .
So how does a church have MWLs without descending into the mayhem ? Here are five healthy practices I see in churches that successfully incorporate a team of worship leaders .
1 . CENTRALIZED WORSHIP PLANNER OR PLANNING TEAM Healthy worship ministries with multiple worship leaders create accountability for planning sets . I ' ve seen three approaches work well :
1 . One central leader plans all the services for each leader .
2 . Each leader plans his / her own sets but is accountable to a central leader .
3 . The leaders plan all their sets together as a team .
During most of my worship ministry , I mostly used approach # 1 , dabbled in # 2 , and now wish I had worked more on # 3 . I had multiple leaders capable of leading a full worship service , but I planned almost all of the music and other worship elements . This meant I had to know my leaders ' range , style , strengths , limitations , and preferences - and pick songs accordingly . On the plus side , it was more efficient , and it required less time for my volunteer leaders - which they preferred .
But I didn ' t actively develop my leaders ' planning skills , and that ' s one regret I have .