ever, I think this last weekend it was,“ It might be a little too loud. We might need to bring it down in here.”( laughing)
[ WM ] That’ s great. And now let’ s shift to your worship band members, your worship musicians, not the leaders, but the musicians. What are your words of advice to them?
[ Tauren ] Well, first of all, I want them to know I’ m in the front row as a fan. Not as a critic. So I think a lot of musicians and singers and worship leaders have this thing in the back of their minds about what if they don’ t like this? Well, we can have conversations around if I liked something or I didn’ t like something, but don’ t ever wonder if I like you or not. I love you. I am on your team. I support you. I want you to succeed and feel good and comfortable doing what God’ s called you to do.
So that’ s the underlying foundation of our relationship. On top of that, though, practically, the best musicians know what to not play. So how do you play the pauses?“ Do not overplay” is usually what I’ m sending Pastor Dimitri. I’ m saying,“ Hey, talk to the band; make sure they lock in.” We want to be a unit, not a bunch of individuals doing solos.
So that’ s something that we keep at the forefront.
[ WM ] Right on. Okay, so now let’ s switch it to the next group to worship leaders themselves, your leaders.
[ Tauren ] I love these questions, by the way. My number one conversation with worship leaders is you must manage your energy and the energy of the room first and foremost. Throughout the week, did you give God enough energy? Did you give yourself enough energy in your preparation? And then that will determine if you have the energy that you need to bring to the room.
And you must not be just a worship leader directing people’ s eyes toward God; you have to have eyes to see where the people actually are. So, if you don’ t know where they are, you cannot lead them to where they need to go.
How are people coming in? Was it a hard week? Was it a hard week in the news cycle? Is it tough economically right now for people? Did we deal with relational stuff this week? Are people coming in heavier or lighter? And that’ s going to determine if they are coming in distracted or focused? And knowing where the people are at and really trying to sense that in the room and then lead people toward God from that place, managing energy is huge.
[ WM ] Well said. The last of the four questions in this category is, what advice do you have for pastors and how can they help their worship teams?
[ Tauren ] The worship team has to know
8 September 2026 Subscribe for Free...