On Mondays I’m posting about the 7 levels of musical worship leading. If you missed it last week, click here for LEVEL 4 – The Exhorter. If you want to start at the beginning, click here for LEVEL 1 – The Worshipper. Here’s the fifth installment:
The Facilitator (LEVEL 5 Musical Worship Leader)
The level 5 musical worship leader has learned when to get out of the way of a congregation. This kind of worship leader has learned that even their own excellence can become a distraction when others are led to the throne. The Facilitator makes music in a team with excellence and precision, leading the crowd somewhere, and then gets out of the way. They know that even music itself is made up of pauses, lest the note all run together. They know that full stops in songs and moments of silence in the service are special. They know that the instruments sometimes overwhelm the voices, and need to get out of the way. They know that even music itself is made up of beats, lest there be no rhythm. They understand pace as much as melody—in a solo, in a song, in a set, or even in a whole service. They know that clothing sometimes becomes a “look at me” show for artist—and they start to blend in more. The Facilitator sometimes radically shifts a song, or an order of worship, or even a stage, around so that the musicians get out of the way and point toward Christ more clearly. They call out the congregation—and then shut up about it. They know how to lead, and they know how to do it with excellence—but they also know when to stop.
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Links to all 7 Levels of Musical Worship Leadership:
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7
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These have been great posts each week! Really holistic picture of musical worship leading and easy to understand and practice. Thanks for writing and posting about this, Dave.
Hey Joel… thanks for this encouragement. You’re one of the only worship leaders I’ve ever seen get to level 6 before you graduated from college. (Of course, I think you were at level 3 before puberty–so you sorta had a head start!)
Miss you, friend!
Hey, I really appreciate that man. Not sure I would have put myself that high though! Still growing in all of these areas. And my dad, The Very Reverend Pastor of Shredding, modeled worship and worship leadership well for me my whole life. Pretty fortunate for that example and training.
This is sometimes difficult when leading a worship team, as everyone likes to know “where we are going,” (v1-chorus-vs2-chorus-bridge-chorus) and when to play their instrument. I found hand signals and dynamics (vocal, instrumental, and with my body) or just letting the team know “When we get to “Lord I Give You My Heart” I don’t know how that is going to go,” to be helpful in being sensitive to the Spirit and knowing when to get out of the way. I had a worship leader encourage me by saying, “Paul, you stopped playing your bass during that song and just raised your hands . . . that was awesome!”
People often encourage me when I stop playing as well but I suspect it’s for a different reason, Paul.
🙂