WORSHIP LEADERS
WHAT DO WE DO WITH ALL THESE OLD WORSHIP LEADERS ? | Jon Nicol
[ Names , places , and specific details of this story have been changed to protect the innocent ... and the guilty .]
BURGERS WITH ABE " I think they ' re looking for a reason to fire me ," Abe said just as the server walked up to take our order .
Abe and I sat in a booth at a sports pub far across town from Brookside Fellowship , the church where Abe had been serving as worship pastor for over 16 years . He didn ' t want to take any chances that this conversation was overheard .
" Oh , crud . I ' m so sorry , man ," was my response after the server walked away with our order . Abe went on to recount a too-familiar story of a church ' s desire to be ' relevant to a ' younger demographic .'
Abe was a trim and youthful 54 . Over a decade his junior , I ' ll admit I was jealous of his thick hair and sense of style . He also was a talented singer , pianist , and Spirit-sensitive worship leader . As a caring shepherd to his team , he built a deep bench of committed musicians and techs over his tenure at Brookside .
But he didn ' t fit what his church wanted .
He had joined the church as a volunteer worship leader eighteen months after it was planted . As Brookside grew , the founding pastor mentored Abe towards being the church ' s full-time worship pastor .
Ten years later , the founding pastor needed to