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(This post was written prior to 2016, in a blog entitled “Jubal’s Jottings.”)
I have noticed a trend – though maybe small – in some mega-churches as to how they handle some of their worship leadership. I was reminded of this when I visited a large church on the east coast recently. The worship leader that Sunday morning was a concert artist. As he left the platform (to applause!) it was announced that so-and-so (his name) was going to be the worship leader every 5-6 weeks. Every 5-6 weeks?! It also reminded me that I had an e-mail from a friend at another church wondering what I knew about contracts for artists who would lead worship on certain, specified Sundays, and then be free to travel to other churches on the other Sundays. And, it reminded me of another church that hired a whole band from outside the church to be worship leaders for one of their services on a scheduled basis.
So what are the good things about that system?
1) It would be good for artists to have a resident home base – with some accountability, of course.
2) It would certainly provide some high quality leadership.
3) It might even make good economics for a church in some cases.
But, as you can probably tell, I don’t like the idea! Why, you ask? Here are my thoughts.
1) No pastoral connection with the congregation. The artist is not likely to be in town, making hospital visits, getting to know the people they lead….etc! That makes the worship all about the product of the weekend service, not the process of living with the people they lead.
2) Lack of creativity. In many cases, the leader may be traveling quite a bit, and therefore unable to attend rehearsals during the week. That means there will be a tendency to pick songs and charts that are familiar and comfortable, rehearse them on the weekend – when changes can’t be made easily, and very little creative input can be incorporated. The result will be 4 songs and outta there…on the to next gig!
3) No equipping of the saints. All of the churches I know that use this philosophy are large churches. I can’t imagine – based on shear numbers – how many singers, guitar players, etc. are in these churches. With a system like this, they don’t get to play or sing. I thought that a major tenant of the local church was to train and use those that God brought to that church. Did I miss something? These singers and bands are replacing people who should be given an opportunity to lead the church community that they are a part of, right?
I don’t know, Jubal. Did someone hire you to be the resident lyre player at the Church in the Desert?