The ministry of worship and the ministry of music are two different things. They are the same for the most part in presentation, but the outcome is what makes them different. Worship and leading worship is a specific gift apart from music. Music is only the tool to help facilitate worship. I require of all our worship people to first be worshipers then musicians. You may come back with "but the music will suffer"? I disagree. I still feel that God requires those who lead to be gifted and called. He will gift those He has called to this ministry. It is easy to reason things out by using gifted musician to lead worship but the outcome will not be everything that God would have, and you will see a difference in your worship participation. People tend to see through performance as compared to true worship. If your teams are not worshipers they will stifle your corporate worship. You may still achieve worship but it will not be the same. Pray that God will send you gifted worshipers. He will be faithful if you will be patient and faithful to this standard. Let me say also that we all have different level of need and standard. If we all desire and set the standard to have a Maranatha! praise band and vocals we may be in for a disappointing journey. As the worship leader you have to set a reasonable level of musicianship that is in your congregation. Each church will have a different level some higher than others. Once you get your team together I encourage you to strive to improve and grow as worshipers and musicians. Continue to set goals that are attainable and leader your people to be the best with the gifts God has given them.
Let's rap this up. If you desire to have great worship in your churches then you will need to have the right leadership in place. This is easier said than done I know, but you will be better off in the long run for it. Don't allow those who clearly have no gifts in the arts to be deceived into thinking they do. Help them discover their true gifts and callings and lead them in that direction. Part of my job is helping people discover their gifts and callings and help place them in ministry. If we will help train our people in the philosophy of serving where their gifts and callings are, then we will have churches that are truly balanced in ministry. We will have healthy churches and great ministries. We will have great worship if our teams are filled with called and gifted worshipers and leaders.
Experiencing Worship, The Study
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
One user said..."Your 5 week study course has made a tremendous impact on my life in the study of worship... I would like to express my thanks for a well written study course that leads into a higher realm of praise and worship."
Experiencing Worship, The Study