step away because of health problems . So the church hired Pastor Ethan , a dynamic leader in his early 30s , to helm the church . Brookside Fellowship more than tripled from a solid 500 to just shy of 2000 average weekly attendance in the first few years under Pastor Ethan . And the larger the church grew , the more dissatisfied Pastor Ethan became with Abe ' s approach to music and worship .
Abe and I would catch up at denominational events and worship conferences a few times a year , so I knew he and his lead pastor were at odds with direction and style . I had visited Abe ' s church a few times and had to admit I could sympathize with Pastor Ethan — Abe ' s musical choices felt like a throwback . To be fair , Abe did incorporate some of the newer worship songs . But even those modern songs felt dated the way Abe and his team led them . leader is tempting half the congregation to respond with " OK , Boomer " instead of " amen ," there ' s a problem .
But …
Too many Christ-like leaders have invested a decade or more to intentionally build rock-solid worship ministries only to have them dismantled by their younger , hipper successors .
Sure , the music at these churches may sound more modern now . But at what cost ? The existing worship team members are now subject to the immature leadership of an insecure twenty-something . And too often , many of the longtime members also get sacrificed on the altar of " relevance ."
And that ' s what happened at Brookside . style and song choices and allow others to step into leadership roles .
This third way would require Abe to become what I call a ' Second-Half Worship Leader .'
SECOND-HALF WORSHIP LEADER If worship leaders want the longevity to build a legacy — a ministry that thrives long after they ' re gone — it requires leading differently than how they did in their first half . It ' s that now-classic leadership adage : what got you here won ' t get you there .
And if senior pastors want to see the church reach a younger demographic — but also reap the benefits of healthy , mature leadership — they need to invest in their worship ministers to help them become Second-Half Worship Leaders .
As we waited for our burgers to arrive , Abe told me of the latest . Pastor Ethan had pushed him to hire a young , talented " worship intern " named Tyler . Tyler had been a high school student at Ethan ' s last church and had just graduated from a nearby Christian college known for its worship arts program .
" I ' m pretty sure I just hired my replacement ," Abe said defeatedly , right as the server arrived with our food .
The rest of the story is too long to tell here . But before we get how it ended ( hint : not well ), let ' s talk about this issue of " older worship leaders ."
WORSHIP LEADER AGEISM If you ' re a worship leader and you don ' t think ageism is an issue in the church , you ' re probably still under 35 . Unfortunately , too many " over-40 " leaders get pushed to the side or replaced outright .
On the one hand , I get it …
If a church wants to reach a younger demographic , musical style is a piece of that puzzle . And , when a cluelessly-aging worship
Abe wasn ' t fired . But within a few months of our sports pub meeting , he was encouraged to resign with a healthy severance . Tyler took his place . Within a year , the ministry that Abe built hemorrhaged 60 % of its team because of Tyler ' s green and untested leadership .
It ' s easy to armchair quarterback the situation now . But if I were teleported back in time and asked to consult with Brookside before the situation deteriorated , I would ' ve encouraged a third way — one that neither Abe nor Pastor Ethan would love . But I believe it could ' ve been the best long-term solution for the church .
This third way would have cultivated a younger and more modern Sunday morning feel — over time . It also would have leveraged the depth of Abe ' s leadership experience . And with that third way , a kid like Tyler could still be on a path towards leading the ministry , but at a pace that set him up for success .
This third way is not the popular way . It requires compromise on both sides . Pastor Ethan would have to be OK with a longer runway towards the modern feel he wanted . Likewise , Abe would have had to give up his longtime grip on
So what does a Second-Half Worship Leader look like ? Let me give you nine mindsets of healthy , second-half leadership . And for each one , I ' ll be adding a " heart-check " for every worship leader to consider .
1 . Plays the Guide Instead of the Hero If we look at a worship leader in the context of " the hero ' s journey ," the second-half worship leader takes on the mantle of the guide instead of the hero . She ' s about helping others succeed and grow .
It ' s like the young Luke Skywalker moving from a hotshot pilot and Jedi-in-training in the first trilogy to the old Luke Skywalker final trilogy . Old Skywalker no longer needs ( or wants ) the hero title . But he sees the necessity in becoming a guide and mentor to a new generation of Jedi .
The second-half worship leader moving from hero to guide might look like this :
• She shares the platform leadership with others . There will even be weekends where she ' ll play a ' back row ' or BGV role or be off the platform entirely .
• He ' s investing increasingly more time and budget money into developing leaders