The “Ninja Skills” for Worship Leaders
As Worship Pastors and Worship Leaders it’s important that we continue to grow in our role. Being stagnant and not continuing to improve as leaders of our team and musicians isn’t honoring God in the role that He has placed us. And there are a number of areas that we can focus on in our growth. We can grow as vocalists and musicians. We can learn more about worship technology that will enhance our services. We can become better organizers to help the service run smoothly. All of these are important, but what are the “Ninja Skills” of a worship leader? What is the skill that really makes an effective Worship Pastor?
People skills and Leadership skills. These are so important as a worship leader. Jason Houtsma from Worship Artistry and LC Founder Matt McCoy talked about this more in a recent Loop Live episode.
Matt: “We’ve all had that guy on our team, let’s call him Ron (imaginary worship leader), he shows up and he’s never listened to any of the parts or looked at the setlist. Ron’s been playing music for 40 years and he plays the song how he wants to play it. He plays his part. How do you get a guy like Ron who is resistant, to learn the correct part?
Jason: “What I would say, is communication is really important. Ron needs to feel like you care about him, and you care about the team. He needs to know that when the whole team works on something and he decides to do his own thing, that actually hurts the team. It minimizes their effort. That’s not what the team needs. You need to say “Hey Ron, let’s go out and spend time together, let’s grab lunch. I’d love to talk to you about the vision for this team. Then explain to him, you’re a leader Ron. People are looking at you. You’ve got all this experience, but you tend to side track us, and I need you to not do that.”
Matt: “Yes. Those right there, those are the Ninja Skills. You could have the best voice in the world, be the best musician in the world, but if you don’t have the people and leadership skills….that’s a huge part of leading worship. You’re coaching a team of people.”
Learning how to communicate, coach, and build your team is crucial to being a worship leader. If this is an area you are trying to grow in, talk with your Senior Pastor, other pastors and other worship leaders to gain wisdom in this area. Seek to communicate well with your team and build relationships with the different members. Growing in this area will help your team and help you serve your team and the Lord more and more.
Go to our YouTube channel for the full interview with Jason Houtsma on “How to Grow as a Worship Musician“!
0 Comments