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Performance or Praise? How to Perform and Lead Worship with Integrity!
Ps Darin Browne
©Darin Browne, http://worshipleaderonline.com 2012, All Rights Reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means, both physical and electronic, without the permission of the author.
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CONTENTS:
Introduction 3
Performance Verses Ministry 4
Watch and Learn 6
How Do I Know What I Should Be Embracing? 8
So What Do You Wear? 10
Vocal Techniques 13
Microphone Techniques 16
Body Movement 20
Guitarist Techniques 23
Talking Between Songs 24
Audience Participation 26
How Do You Use Performance to Engage Your Congregation?
28
Conclusion 33
One Final Word 34
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Introduction
As worship leaders we may not like to think that we are performing, but if
we are leading worship on stage or in front of an audience of any sort,
performance is something that needs to be considered. We want to give
an exciting performance, but we need to do this with real and genuine
integrity, and it is this balance which we will be addressing in this book.
As a Christian performer and recording artist for many years, I always
prefer to label what I do as ministry rather than performance. The logic
behind this is that ministry is something that is done for the Lord,
whereas performance is something that is done to satisfy the desires and
needs of the audience. Yet I need to recognize that the line between
these two is very blurred. Without doubt there is an element of
performance in my ministry, and I also recognize that this performance
adds to my ministry rather than subtracts from it.
My aim in writing this is not to make worship leaders focus on ministry
rather than performance, but rather to discuss their next tour the
elements of performance that we can add to our ministry, thereby
enhancing its power and effectiveness for the Lord.
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Performance Verses Ministry
It is tempting as worship leaders to hop on our high horse and exclaimed,
“But I don't perform, I MINISTER!” We do this to try and alienate
ourselves from secular performers, who are clearly not ministering to the
Lord but are performing to satisfy their audience. We are trying to say
that our motivations for playing and singing are far purer than those of
our secular peers because we are serving a higher Master and they are
only serving themselves, their audiences and their careers.
Yet if we stop and have a good look
at ourselves as worship leaders, we
need to recognize that we are also
performers. We say we are serving
the Lord with pure hearts, but if we
are absolutely honest with the
recognize that most of us are also
carving out a career as worship
leaders. We say we are doing it only
for the Lord, but if we are criticized
we take it personally that if we upraised something inside of us response
positively to it, whether we try to give glory to the Lord or not.
The fact is, public ministry involves at least some element of
performance. If we say it doesn't, we are lying to ourselves and opening
ourselves up to serious error.
What we can say, however, is that her motivation for ministry is not
based on performance. Our motivation is to serve the Lord, the pastor
the congregation and the congregation rather than elevate ourselves,
because we recognize as John the Baptist did that, “He must become
greater, I must become less.” John 3:30. If our true motivation is not to
have people say how wonderful we are, how well we sing or play, or to
further our careers, then our motivation is one of ministry and not one of
performance.
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However, to completely divorce ministry and performance is to short
change what we are doing for the Lord! No, we should embrace the best
aspects of performance and incorporate them into our ministry, so that
we can by all possible means used of God to touch the hearts of His
people! We need to find the right balance between being simply a
performer, and incorporating the very best aspects of performance into
our worship leading ministry.
Worship leader, you need to understand that the idea
of performance is not wrong. If it is, you will never
be able to watch a movie, television show or live
performance ever again! It clearly is not wrong, but
the question is, does it have a place in the worship
ministry?
The short answer is: of course it does! The way we
play a guitar, the way we sing, the way we hold the microphone and the
way we move around the stage are all aspects of performance. Who
among us has not watched a DVD of a live performance and thought,
“That is so cool, I’m going to try that next time I'm on stage?” Who
among us has not heard a rift played or a series of notes sung and tried
to incorporate these into our stagecraft?
There are aspects of performance that will make us better at what we do
and help us to achieve greater results in a ministry. Our job as worship
leaders is not to embrace everything that performance has to offer, but
did glean that which is profitable and use this to improve what we are
doing and how effective we are in a ministries.
So let's not put our heads in the sand with regards to performance, but
let us listen, watch and learn so that we may become more effective in
our ministry for the Lord.
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Watch and Learn
Musical talent and stagecraft are not inherent skills that we are born with,
they are learned as we grow and develop. No baby is born with the
ability to play a concerto, but given time, training and discipline a person
can grow up and start playing concert piano. The raw talent and potential
is present in the young child, but it takes years of discipline and training
for the true gift and ability to be fully recognized.
And how do we learn? The most effective way to learn anything is by
imitating, and that is why Paul says, “You became imitators of us and of
the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 1:6) Even if you have the wrong raw
potential, you still need to imitate others further along the road in order
to reach the fullness of that potential.
I remember when I began to learn the guitar.
I was singing in a rock band at my school, and
I went to the guitarist and ask him to show me
some chords on the guitar. He showed me
eight chords and I wrote them down. I returned to him the next day
asking for more chords, having stayed up all night and taught myself the
chords he had already showed me. He told me that that was all the
chords he knew, and I realized then that I had to find a new teacher!
I bought a small book which contained a number of guitar chords, and
despite the fact that I now knew quite a few chords, I still was not playing
the guitar very well. My strumming was poor, my timing was not great
and by fingerpicking was non-existent.
Ever since I was a little boy I have loved the music of the Beatles. I
owned many of their albums so I decided that I wanted to sound like
them when I play and sung. There was a fantastic book with all of the
guitar chords for Beatles songs written in it, but I did not have enough
money to buy this book.
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Instead, I sat in front of the stereo and listened to the songs while trying
to play the guitar with the limited number of chords but I knew. I
discovered that if I could play the bass notes than I could figure out the
chords from there, and so I taught myself guitar by listening to my
favourite performers and imitating the playing style and singing style that
I heard on the records. As I grew older and my musical taste expanded, I
begin to do the same with other bands and singers, incorporating the best
aspects of their performances into what I was doing. I wasn't playing on
stage as yet and I didn't have a ministry at all. In fact, for most of this
period I didn't even have a relationship with the Lord! Yet the Lord was
preparing my talents and my gifts to be used on stage around the world
in front of thousands of people for His glory!
So the first thing you can do to incorporate the best aspects of
performance into your worship leading is to do some homework! Listen
to bands and singers that you love, and watch DVDs of their live
performances. It does not matter if they are Christian or secular,
because you are not worshiping or idolizing these people, you are learning
from them. You are learning tips, techniques and ideas for performance,
you are not learning philosophies and beliefs. If I want to study medicine
to become a Christian doctor, I should not refuse to go to the elections
delivered by non-Christian professors! No, to become a Christian doctor I
need to listen to and learn from people who are not Christians, because
they have knowledge and techniques that I need in order to serve the
Lord more effectively.
So, do some homework by listening to CDs and
watching DVDs of great performers, Christian and
secular! You may even want to note down things that
they do and techniques they use that you think may
enhance the skills and talents that you have.
Watch and learn! Imitate and develop!
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How Do I Know What I Should Be Embracing?
Not everything that every performer you see should be incorporated into
your ministry. The question arises, what aspects of performance should I
be incorporating into my ministry, and which ones have no place in
serving the Lord.
To be able to effectively differentiate between what is good and what is
not requires wisdom, and this comes from the Lord. If you lack wisdom,
the Bible says, ask and it shall be given to you (James 1:5). So before
you begin your quest to enhance your performance on stage, pray and
ask the Lord to give you discerning eyes and ears.
Some things that are done on stage that you see on DVDs are clearly not
a part of worship ministry! For example, when you see The Who
smashing up their guitars on stage after a performance, you don't need to
pray long and hard to wreck it nice that this is not something that will
enhance your ministry! Biting the heads off whippets like Ozzy Osbourne
is also not to be part of a Christian ministry. Provocative dancing which is
so prevalent on modern music video clips (for example Brittany Spears
will Beyonce) also clearly has no place in the worship ministry.
In fact, if you are looking for a “rule of thumb”, here is a good one: any
action that is designed purely to draw attention to the performer or to
make them look sexy has no place in the worship ministry! Here's
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another: any action that is designed to shock or disgust an audience has
no place in the worship ministry!
Ant performance technique that you incorporate into your ministry must
be one that promotes holiness and humility. It must enhance what you
are doing and convey to your congregation that you are fully committed
and fully engaged in your ministry. It must encourage your audience to
fully worship the Lord, not watch you and the band. It can make you
seem professional, but you need to be a professional servant, not a rock
star. This is church, not American Idol!
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So What Do You Wear?
Let's start by looking at what you wear on stage when you were worship
leading. What you wear is a message in itself, complaining loads of
information about who you are and how you want to be perceived by your
audience. This is why Elton John wears flamboyant, outrageous
costumes, and Bruce Springsteen looks like he's just come home, building
construction site! Elton John wants to be a flamboyant homosexual and
Bruce Springsteen wants to be a working class hero.
There is a great tendency in all forms of music
performance today to dress provocatively, and I
want to say the outset that this has no place in
the worship ministry! Low-cut tops and sexy
short skirts, both of which are designed to stir
up sexual thoughts among men, have no place
even at church, let alone on the stage! Our aim
as worship leaders is for ourselves and the band
to point people to the Lord, so that as they
worship is really is about each individual and the
Lord, as the worship team fades into the
background. If a beautiful woman is dressed
provocatively on stage, very few of the men will be up to concentrate on
worshiping the Lord because they will be dealing with their thought life!
When you choose clothes to wear on stage while you were worship
leading, what do you want these clothes to say to your congregation?
Most of us would agree that we want to look professional, clean and neat.
Personally, I like to look neat but laid-back and relaxed. I want to look
approachable, gentle and easy to relate to. For this reason, I don't wear
a suit and I don't wear a tie when a minister, but I do wear a comfortable
shirt and pants which are neat, relaxed and subdued. My preferred
colours are black pants and black shoes with a single coloured shirt,
usually a blue or green. I try and avoid yellows and reds because my wife
tells me that they make me look ill, even if I am healthy!
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What you wear on stage may be dictated by the culture of your church,
and this is perfectly okay. If everyone in your church wears suits, by all
means wear a suit. If everyone in your church wears jeans and T-shirts,
by all means wear the same. But don't wear jeans and a T-shirt if
everyone else in your church is wearing suits! As a worship leader, you
do not want to wear something that draws attention to yourself, but
rather wear something that conveys who you are and how you would like
people to perceive you.
So as you watch DVDs of your favourite performers, ask yourself what it
is that you like about what they are wearing, and whether this would be
appropriate to incorporate into your on stage costume. Years ago, I saw
one of my favourite performers wearing a large shirt and vest, and I
decided to incorporate this into my onstage persona. I thought was pretty
cool, and it was for a while, but nowadays the vest is not considered
super cool, and needless to say I no longer wear one on stage.
As a lad who grew up on a farm, I thought a cowboy hat would be a good
thing to wear onstage. The difficulty is that my music is not country and
Western music, so wearing this hat conveyed a mixed message about the
content of the music I was playing in my ministry. I no longer wear the
hat onstage.
Watching DVDs and music videos can help to give you ideas for your
onstage presentation, and this is all part of performance. You need to
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pray about which things you need to incorporate into your presentation,
and which ones should you avoid. Be sensible about what you choose to
wear, pray about it, and make sure that it reflects who you are and allows
you to minister in an authentic and honourable way.
Please be sensible about this! I remember arriving to minister at a
meeting where all of the backing singers wore Darlene coats, like what
you see on the Hillsong DVD. It was 38°C outside, so wearing coats at all
was a really silly idea! Be sensible please, don't just copy someone else
but pray about what you need to incorporate into your onstage
presentation.
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Vocal Techniques
It only takes one viewing of American Idol for you to realize that there are
many vocal techniques available to performers in a variety of styles.
While each worship leader must discover the vocal techniques that work
for them individually, I would encourage you to avoid some of the
complex, more showy techniques so often seen on programs like
American Idol. If you are new to worship leading, the best idea is always
to keep things simple, because very often less is more and more simple
techniques that you use a more effective anyway. Remember, your
calling is not to be a great performer but to be a worship leader pointing
people to Christ rather than your own abilities!
Vocal Teachers
As with any skill, finding a competent teacher can
fast-track you to attaining the skills you need to
be the best at what you do. If you want to be a
great guitarist, a guitar teacher can help you to
get there. If you want to be a great vocalist, a
competent vocal teacher can definitely help.
Before you rush out and start googling for your nearest local teacher, I
recognize that many of you do not have the sort of money required to
obtain the services of a great vocal coach. If this is you, don't give up
yet! You can learn many great vocal techniques and great performance
techniques using our materials at http://worshipleaderonline.com, and
you can also learn a lot from talking to good vocalists, watching DVDs and
listening carefully to great vocal CDs.
The issue is not finding a great vocal teacher, but rather which vocal
techniques can you adopt which will enhance your worship leading ability.
Start by choosing techniques that are within your ability as a singer,
rather than trying to become Mariah Cary in seven days!
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See Your Vocals as an Instrument
It is important that you see your vocals as an instrument, rather than just
the ability to hold a tune. Therefore you can improve your skills by hard
work, practice and learning new, innovative ideas in just the same way
that a guitarist or a pianist can improve their skills.
What type of skills are you trying to improve?
I believe that we need to carefully choose
which vocal techniques we adopt into our
performance, because some vocal techniques
clearly are designed to showcase the abilities
of the singer: And these are not the
techniques that we require for worship
leading!
In praise and worship leading we need techniques that are attractive,
pleasant to listen to yet which draw attention away from how skills and
talents to enable people to focus on the Lord during worship leading.
Here are some great ideas that I have adopted into my vocal techniques
which appear to enhance my performance as a worship leader without
distracting from the central aim of pointing people to Christ…
Vibrato
Vibrato is a vocal technique which
involves a quivering or up down
movement of the voice, and it is a
common vocal technique which is easy
to integrate into your worship leading
performance, without turning people
away from worshiping the Lord.
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I taught myself this technique by listening to some of my favourite
singers. I have always loved Judy Garland, and part of the style she used
in her singing was the careful use of vibrato.
However, a word of caution should be mentioned about the use of this
technique, because overuse of it can sound horrible! It can make your
singing sound like a warble, and poorly controlled vibrato can cause flat
notes and sound really grating!
Usually the vibrato is introduced after a note is initially held for a short
time. This means that you hold a note as usual, and the longer you hold
that the more your voice starts to gently quiver up and down, providing
an attractive vocal technique that is easy to integrate into your worship
leading performance.
Vibrato is a performance technique that has real value and can make your
delivery of songs world class! If you are unsure of the amount of vibrato
or how to introduce it, I would recommend talking to a qualified vocal
teacher and getting the training needed to control this technique.
If you are a little strapped for cash, and if you are a good copier, listen to
your favourite artists and see if you can reproduce their vibrato. You will
notice that different performers handle their vibrato in different ways,
and if it come to the crunch, I would always opt of less vibrato than more
vibrato.
Many younger singers have strong and pure voices, and in this case you
may find the introduction of a vibrato actually detracts from your
performance! Like any performance skills, you need to be very, very
careful about how you introduce them. Ask the most accomplished
singers you know for their opinions, and I would recommend that you add
less than what you think. If you have a strong, clear voice, I would argue
for NO vibrato. Try to keep the genuineness and clearness of your voice
rather than compromising it with performance tricks like vibrato!
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Microphone Techniques
Microphone techniques are easy to integrate into
your worship leading and can greatly enhance your
performance abilities. The trick with microphone
techniques is that they need to look in natural, and
be a part of your general body movement rather
than something artificial which you impose on your
performance. If used wisely and correctly,
microphone techniques can add a new element to what you were doing,
helping you to look professional without changing the manner or the spirit
in which you worship!
How to Hold the Microphone
The first decision you face when considering microphone techniques is
how to hold the microphone. If you hold it the right way you can look
professional, and if you hold it the wrong way you can look like a
complete amateur, and the strange thing is that it is different for each
individual.
Firstly you need to decide whether you want to have a microphone stand,
or would you want to physically hold the microphone. If I'm playing a
guitar, clearly I need a microphone stand. If I'm singing without playing
an instrument, you can either use a stand or hold the microphone in your
hand. You can also flip between one or the other, placing a microphone
in the mike stand if you require two hands to clap, and pulling the
microphone out if you are singing a quieter or more intimate song.
When holding the microphone, I always like to look natural. I intend to
grasp the mike loosely, it almost a relaxed fashion. Others that I sing
with like to hold the microphone with the very tips of their fingers, but I
just tend to grab it in a loose, relaxed manner and sing. Rap artists
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always seem to grip the microphone around head rather than around the
body of it, and sometimes this is a kind of cool way to grab the
microphone!
In the end, the way you grip the microphone is entirely up to you. The
most important thing is that you look relaxed and confident as you
grabbed the microphone, rather than tense and stressed!
Beware the Big Notes
My favourite microphone technique not
only looks great and sounds
professional but it also helps your
soundman mix your vocals more
effectively (and who doesn't need
that)!
The technique involves the simple
method of pulling the microphone away from your mouth when you hit a
big note. Failure to do this will mean that when you hit this note and
your soundman is taken by surprise, your voice will dominate all the other
voices and be far too loud. So the practice of moving the microphone
away from your mouth when you hit a big note helps your soundman, but
the cool news is that it also great!
I often do this by not only moving my hand away from my mouth but also
throwing my head back, thereby increasing the distance between your
mouth and the microphone. Another way to integrate this into my
performance is that as I hit a big note I leaned forward as I pulled my
hand away from my mouth, giving the visual impression that I have put
everything into the note and then singing with all my heart!
The same principle applies, even if you have your microphone in a stand.
As you hit a loud note, throw your back increasing the distance between
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your mouth and the microphone, and it looks like you are singing with
genuine conviction and with all your heart.
With a little bit of practice this small microphone technique can be added
to your performance, and become an essential part of the way you deliver
your worship onstage. It looks great, sounds great and is very easy to
learn and to integrate into your onstage behaviour.
Which Hand?
Younger singers often ask me, “Which is the
best hand to carry the microphone?” My
answer is… both. If one hand is holding the
microphone, the other is available to be
waved around in the air, perhaps being
raised in worship or pointing to the sky, or
even reaching out to your audience.
Changing the hand that is holding the
microphone adds an extra dimension to your performance, and can look
very natural and relaxed because you are not tied to a specific hand. I
am naturally right-handed, so I feel more comfortable with the
microphone in my right hand. But if I flip it over to my left hand, which
feels less comfortable, I can still seeing with great conviction because my
right hand is available to be raised, etc.
The most important thing is that you discover the microphone techniques
that feels right to you, and that you integrate them into your onstage
persona in a way that seems totally natural and genuine.
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A Word About Head Microphones
Many worship leaders today are using a head mounted microphones, and
they tell me enthusiastically that they are cool and also very practical.
I am not convinced!
The big problem I have with head mounted microphones, apart from the
fact that I think they look silly, is that you cannot easily pull your head
away to clear your throat, cough, sniff or say something to your team off
microphone. You have to reach up and physically turn the small
microphone away from your mouth in the hope that what you say off
mike will remain off mike. You also cannot move your head away from
the microphone when you hit a big note, so if you are a singer with light
and shade you will find it far less effective than the hand-held variety.
The other problem I had with them is that you have no opportunity for
the microphone techniques I mentioned above. A great singer and a
great performer does not sing into a microphone, they caress a
microphone. A great performer seems to get so intimate with the
microphone that it is almost like they are in love with it! This is simply
not possible with head mounted microphones, and for this reason I
personally refuse to use them.
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Body Movement in Worship Leading
Body movement in worship leading is certainly a controversial issue, but
this is mainly because it is often interpreted as being purely performance,
rather than a genuine expression of worship. The amount and style of
body movement will depend directly upon your audience, because within
certain cultures and denominations some movements of the body viewed
with suspicion.
In some cultures any type of body
movement is considered unacceptable
when singing in church. I once sang in
a Russian church, and was told that all
of the singers stand bolt upright and
perfectly still to deliver their songs. I
sang two songs keeping it as still as I
possibly could, and my ministry was
well received, except that the pastor
said, “You seemed very nicely, but I think you move too much!”
So if your culture is one that does not find any type of movement during
worship acceptable, you can completely disregard this discussion!
However, most church congregations like and even expect a degree of
movement. In most cases, the “singing statue” approach makes the
performer appear nervous and incompetent, and this is not the
impression we wish to give to our congregation, is it?
So what is involved in performance body movement? It is highly
individual, but many times actions such as swaying back and forth, raising
hands or clapping are very common movements used in worship leading.
Above all, don’t start doing things that are unnatural or embarrassing to
you, because they are sure to look awkward and nervous and detract
from the overall performance.
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In addition, I always avoid any type of movement that attracts attention
to myself, and therefore detracts attention from the Lord. We want to
look relaxed and professional, but we do not want to be the centre of
attention. I believe that any movement we produce on stage that
detracts from the whole hearted devotion of the congregation to
worshipping the Lord is detrimental, and could even be sinful! It is all
about Him, not about how we move and how cool we can look!
That being said, there is still a place for some types of movement in our
worship leading. You will often find me walking around the stage as I
worship (then again, I often pace back and forth as I sing), and if I am
holding the mike, I will frequently walk out into the audience as I sing,
encouraging them to worship the Lord as I go.
When I sing ministry songs in big festivals, I ask for a cordless
microphone and step right out into the audience, singing to many of the
audience members as individual, and often shaking their hands as I sing.
However, the song I do this with are not worship songs, because such
action would detract from the congregation attention on the Lord. They
are songs sung in the first person directly to the audience, and when I
hold their hand and sing to them there is a real buzz and excitement in
the stadium!
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In most churches, the singers stand in a line and may move a little on the
spot, but never move out of their little zone. To me eyes, this looks
contrived and forced, and so I would encourage even backing singers to
move a little (not all at the same time, it would be bedlam!) in a relaxed
and comfortable way. The worship leader should be free to move around
the entire stage, relating to each of the team members and to the
congregation seated in the various areas around the auditorium. These
simple movement techniques enhance the way your congregation relates
to you, and can improve worship if used wisely and sparingly.
Above all, worship leaders need to look like they are lost in worship,
totally engrossed in worshipping their Lord. This conveys to your
congregation that vibrant, unrestricted worship is acceptable, so they
should do the same. However, you need to be careful that as you
worship, you are still aware enough to be able to read your audience,
follow directions from the pastor and lead your band and singers
effectively!
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Guitarist Techniques
OK, this one is going to ruffle a few feathers isn’t it? If you want to know
how not to move when playing the guitar, check out the original “Back to
the Future” DVD, where Michael J Fox finishes flat on his back playing the
guitar and rolling around the stage. That, my friends, is definitely too
much performance for a worship guitarist!
However, you should not stand in the
corner still as a rock with a blank
expression on your face either.
Guitarists should move, sway and look
like they are putting serious effort into
their playing. In short, they need to
look like they care and that they are
interested in the worship and the
ultimate movement should be to let go
and lose yourself in worship!
I am often amused as I watch great lead guitarists, many of whom have
incredible facial expressions and gestures as they play. Personally, I love
watching these, but I believe that you can always tell if such expressions
are faked or contrived. If you are a guitarist, and find you feel music so
deeply that your face knows about it, then all power to you.
Most of all, the worship leader and the congregation want to see
genuineness and integrity from the band, not fakeness or worthless, self-
promoting performance! Get into it guys and enjoy worship. Put heart
and soul and everything you have into your worship. But please, don’t
fake it just to look cool!
Performance or Praise
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Talking Between Songs
One of my pet bugbears is excessive talking between songs! This is
particularly prevalent for worship leaders who are not playing an
instrument, and they seem inspired to fill every gap where there is no
singing with an endless dribble of words!
I believe that the job of a worship
leader is to lead the congregation
into deeper worship, the therefore
every word that is spoken by the
worship leader should be serving
that goal. Words should not be
used as a means of filling in time,
covering over mistakes or dealing
with panic! The sad fact is that
whenever anything goes wrong it
is extremely tempting for the worship leader to begin talking as a kind of
knee-jerk, panicked response.
So I am not against talking in between songs per se, I just believe we
need to be careful about the words we say and if in doubt, say less. If
our basic aim is to lead people into deeper worship, then let every word
we say serve that end. So the worship leader might find themselves
saying phrases like, “Let’s open our hearts to the Lord”, or, “Let's clap our
hands”, and as long as this enhances the worship experience and
encourages the congregation to join in with worship, they are serving the
greater of us.
You may have a verse the Lord has laid on your heart. You may have a
short prayer. Used sparingly and these are acceptable, but so often
praying or reading passages of Scripture between songs does very little to
enhance the overall worship experience.
Performance or Praise
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I believe that we are called to lead people into worship, and very often
the words we say can't can distract or break a beautiful and deep moment
of worship that the congregation you doing into. I intentionally use very
few words between songs, because I want people focusing not on what I
say or what I think but rather focusing on the Lord himself as they
worship. Remember, I'm coming back to the heart of worship and it's all
about you Jesus, not about my opinions, my experience, my prayers, my
exhortations!
Performance or Praise
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Audience Participation
There are very professional ways of encouraging your congregation to be
more involved in worship… and there are ways that I believe should never
be used!
Most notable among the performance ideas that I believe should never,
ever be used is what I call the “ladies sing the next verse” syndrome.
This is a very lame and clichéd technique that was used by worship
leaders in years gone by. When I hear it, I immediately know that the
worship leader is inexperienced or just plain out of touch! I know, you
didn’t expect such a venomous attack on a technique, but I truly believe
that this idea is a bad one!
The main reason is that, having ladies or men sing a verse, does nothing
to enhance the worship experience or draw people to the Lord. It is
simply a lame attempt to make the next verse sound slightly different. If
there are prescribed parts for men and women, that’s a different story,
but if it is being used just to make it sound slightly different, I know that
the worship leader is either very old or really in trouble!
Audience participation is essential if
you are going to lead your
congregation into worship. So often I
witness very good singers and
musicians up on stage worshipping
away, while the audience sits in the
church watching them… with little or no
participation. It’s just like a concert,
which is just fine in a concert but
entirely wrong in a worship service! You NEED the audience to participate
with you: in fact it is EXACTLY what you should be doing.
Failure to engage your audience is one of the great travesties of modern
worship leading. Today there is so much emphasis on getting your
Performance or Praise
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performance better, sounding better and being more professional that we
seem to have forgotten the very reason we started this journey in the
first place… to lead God’s people into deeper worship.
If you want to lead worship, you need to engage your people, and to do
this you need your audience to participate with you in worship.
Performance or Praise
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How Do You Use Performance to Engage Your
Congregation?
Want to look professional but also do a great job in your ministry? The
best thing to do is to involve your congregation. As I said before, this is
not a performance, you have the mandate to lead people deeper into
God’s presence, and to do this you must, you must, you absolutely MUST
connect with them.
How do you do this? Audience participation, that’s how. Not the lame
techniques I mentioned before, but solid, professional ways of involving
your congregation.
Sing Along, But Remove the Words?
When leading worship, clearly you
need to have people singing along.
However, there is singing and there
is singing! Reading words off a
screen and singing is probably the
lowest form of worship, and the
strange thing is that, even if
everybody knows the words, as
soon as you put them up on a screen, everyone seems to forget that they
actually know the words and they start READING THEM!
So the best advice to get your congregation singing is, believe it or not,
get rid of the words on the screen. You need to have your media person
up with this, because they will rush around madly to find the words.
Question: can people live without words on a screen? Of course they can,
but only if you are singing a very simple, repetitive song or a song that is
Performance or Praise
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very well known. So something like “alleluia”, “How Great is Our God,” or
“Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” would be good choices for this.
Question: What if there are people there who do not know the song,
won’t they feel isolated? Possibly, but you will more than make up for it
by everyone else worshipping more freely. And, you shouldn’t do this for
every song, just pick one song and try it, making sure it is a repetitive
and consistent song.
Another thing to try is encouraging people to sing simple phrases which
you can insert into a song that they know. It may sound funny to get
people singing “na, na, na,” but it can become a very enjoyable
experience. Inserting a simple, nonsense phrase can help people to relax
and enjoy the whole worship experience instead of reading the words and
singing (which is often not worship at all!). I remember being at a Paul
McCartney concert years ago and the entire crowd singing the end refrain
of “Hey Jude” for ages. Is it spiritual to do this? Not really. But is it fun
and engaging? You bet it is!
Clapping Out
Like it or not, clapping is a great way to get
your audience involved, even in church!
Clapping along to the beat helps each person
to relate to the beat, and to feel a part of the
whole mass of the congregation. You can even
introduce specialized claps, like triplets, etc.,
and then you might find people laughing and
enjoying themselves as they try to get the
clapping right! Either way, clapping is a great
way to connect to your congregation and for
them to really enjoy the worship time
(although in more conservative churches this may not be culturally
acceptable, so whatever you do, don’t offend people!).
Performance or Praise
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Actions
Doing silly, childish actions is a great way of relaxing your people and also
connecting with them. Not very spiritual, but whenever the children’s
church want to engage their audience they use crazy, fun and sometimes
silly actions. Are we too old for this in our churches? I hope not, because
having fun is a great way to engage your audience, silly or not!
Dancing
Some churches find dancing unacceptable, and that is OK. However, if
your church is OK with dancing, then this is a fun and wonderful way to
connect with the congregation. Are you going to worship while people are
dancing? Probably not. But are you going to have fun, engage the
audience and break the ice? You bet!
In big festivals, I use one song
that I write a long time ago. It
is a 50s number, toe tapping,
clapping, stomping, etc. I then
stand the audience up partway
through and get them dancing,
wiggling, etc. Everyone looks
embarrassed, but often an older
couple jump up, move to the
front and start dancing like
Happy Days (the old TV show).
They do the jitterbug, the twist, etc., and everyone laughs and relaxes,
and this is one of the most requested songs I sing any time. It is great
fun and breaks the ice in any culture. The Chinese love it and get
embarrassed. The Africans take off and go nuts! How crazy it that!
Now, I freely admit that I am not leading people to worship and deep
repentance while playing this song. However, it is a brilliant song for
breaking the ice, relaxing the crowd and letting all inhibitions fade away,
Performance or Praise
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and it opens people’s heart for later songs which are aimed squarely at
their hearts and deal with deep issues. If I do this song first, they are far
more open for later songs and especially when the Word of God is
preached. It looks fun, but there is a method to my madness, and it
works very, very well!
Won’t work in your church? You won’t know until you try it, so try it once
and see if you can not only brighten their day but also open hearts to
later songs which will cause deeper and more intimate worship.
Kneeling
If you are not in an Anglican church you may well have forgotten this one.
Kneeling can be one of the most powerful audience participation things
you could ever do. Unlike the other techniques, kneeling is very useful at
the most worshipful moments, times when your congregation are drawing
close to the Lord in intimate worship.
So what is kneeling about? Other than wearing holes in pants and hurting
the knees, it is an act of submission, humility and reverence. It is one of
the most powerful and significant gestures anybody can make, and when
directed towards the Lord in intimate worship, it can give rise to some of
the most significant worship experiences imaginable.
So as worship goes deeper, keep your spiritual eyes open and year ears
listening to the Holy Spirit? At a time when the music dies down and
quietness descends on the congregation, a few simply words like, “I invite
you to fall to your knees before His majesty!”, or even wordlessly fall to
your knees yourself may encourage others to get on their knees before
the Lord. If a few of you do this (you will rarely get everyone doing this!)
the atmosphere can quickly change to one of awe, wonder and, deep
respectful worship. It can become one of the most significant experiences
your congregation will ever have!
Performance or Praise
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Silence
I have written much on this subject before, but when it comes to worship
silence can be golden… then again it can be just plain yellow too! The
general rule with a period of silence is to keep it fairly short where
possible, because a prolonged silence often just becomes awkward.
However, a rightly times period of silence can allow the congregation to
think, contemplate, soul search or just adore the Lord Jesus!
Generally, if I feel the Holy Spirit is directing towards a period of silence, I
will settle the music down and then gradually stop it, usually without
words (I think words spoil the moment). I will only have silence for
around 10 seconds, which seems a long time and then gently start with
an acoustic guitar to build the music up again. Silence is a time of great
depth, and is very powerful, but it must be used sparingly and only when
you strongly feel that the Lord is directing you this way (and not very
often).
Performance or Praise
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Conclusion:
When you lead worship, like it or not, you are performing. In this book
we have explored a number of aspects of performing, from what you wear
to how you hold a microphone, and in each of these aspects you need to
explore the various options and discover which of these works for you in
your church situation.
Please don’t be afraid to experiment and try these new ideas, because
that is part of how we learn and how the Lord directs our steps in this
new part of our ministry. Get these performance additives right and your
ministry will be enhanced. Get them wrong, and you just have to try
something else, so do not be afraid to step out and be different. It is
better that you try a bunch of stuff and reject many of them rather than
just copying or reproducing what you see on a worship CD.
Once you find the aspects of performance that are right for you, the next
step is to incorporate this as naturally as possible into your ministry style.
If your friends think something it too showy, listen to them because they
are probably right.
These performance enhancements need to become an integral part of
your style to really be useful. So, do these things in rehearsals, in front
of the mirror or anywhere you sing or minister. This will ensure that the
performances are natural and beneficial, not fake and contrived.
Performance or Praise
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One Final Word
When looking to improve your performance the most important element
is…
PRAYER!
That’s right, you need to pray long and hard and make sure that any
changes in the way you perform are God-centred, Holy Spirit sanctioned
and glorifying to Him, NOT you.
Pray hard, try things, learn and above all, keep close to the Lord in your
personal walk and you will find that He will develop your personal worship
style and make your worship leading anointed, inspiring and personal!
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