[Tony]

The Worship Leader v. Music Minister:

Here’s where I’ll probably tick off a few of you, but I’m going to explore it nonetheless. I welcome your feedback, even if it’s to tell me where to take a flying leap.

Part I of this series highlighted the shift in role from Music Minister to Worship Leader. Without rehashing the historical analysis, the main characteristics of the shift are:
- The church musician’s focus has changed from director to performer.
- The church musician’s age and experience level has generally lowered.
- The church musician’s spiritual role has been elevated from music leader to pastor.

Let’s examine each of those characteristics.

From Director to Performer:
First, I mean nothing inherently derogatory by the term Performer. Merely, the average Music Minister a generation ago did not have, as a primary job description, the need to be more than a director of lay musicians (choir & instruments), and time keeper for congregational singing. Today the Worship Leader is a highly visible person on the platform who leads with performance skills – the ability to sing, and more than likely play an instrument, well. Some would also say that the Worship Leader models the behavior of worship by his/her platform presence and command.

A criticism of this modeling is that it overlooks the Music Minister who is gifted with enabling other church musicians, but isn’t as strong in his/her own performance ability. By the same token, many churches are looking for an individual who can perform, perhaps more so than he/she can equip others to. I can personally attest to seeing candidates for churches be passed over because their voice or playing ability wasn’t strong enough, regardless of the rest of their capabilities.

I can also attest to seeing more than a few Music Ministers who, when tasked with trying to make this shift, either changed ministry settings, careers, or retired, because they didn’t fit the model. And while this has happened in other ministry areas as well – youth, children, even senior pastor, it has to a much greater degree with church music.

Younger and Less Experienced:
Let’s be honest here. While there are exceptions, P&W is a young person’s field. A cursory review of “great” Worship Leaders today would list people (mostly men) in their 20s and 30s. On one end of the bell curve are a few that are older, but more who are at the younger end. It’s probably not a “bell” at all.

What does this potentially mean? The average Worship Leader has less experience than the average Music Minister had a generation ago, simply by the fact that he/she hasn’t lived as long. Also, many Worship Leaders do not have the training (musical or theological) their predecessors did, due either to a lack of such, or the fact that they’re barely out of high school. And while youth and inexperience doesn’t necessarily equate with immaturity, the strong possibility remains.

Young Worship Leaders, whose sole experience is with P&W congregations, don’t automatically have a frame of reference for church music beyond their years. And why should they, if their catalog is only five years old? Is there any benefit to appreciating, if not using, church music from previous eras? Is there incentive for doing so? This can create a disconnection with the church of yesterday. The church of our parents. Does this matter?

From Music Leader to Worship Pastor:
Because the Worship Leaders’ presence is more pronounce on the platform, their status as spiritual leader has also been elevated. By title and by placement, they physically lead the congregation in worship, which positions them at an influence level equal to the senior pastor in many cases. How they do this leading has more significance to the congregation than did the Music Minister. But coupled with the age/experience factor, are they in fact ready to cope with this type of responsibility? And should they truly have it in the first place.

This is perhaps my deepest area of questions for the role of Worship Leader. And in all honesty, I don’t have satisfactory answers yet. But I think we are requiring more that the role needs to be, or can be handled with grace and maturity. Scripture is quite clear about the standards for church officers, and they tend to stress a level of maturity that the average 20 year-old does not have. Yet we are placing these 20 year olds on the platform, calling them Worship Leaders, and granting them spiritual influence over our congregations that they may not be able to handle.

Next: What are we to do about it?