4 Ways a Worship Leader Can Earn the Trust of Their Lead Pastor

At Elevation Church, we are in the unique situation of having a lead pastor who used to be a worship leader. He is also a huge music lover who knows more rock trivia than anyone I know. Even though he knows how to do our jobs as worship leaders, Pastor Steven has given us a lot of freedom in the worship department as we have gained his trust. Here are some of the ways this trust can be developed.

1. Implement your pastor’s vision for the worship ministry, not your own vision.
The Lord speaks to the lead pastor about the vision and direction of the church, not the worship leader. Yes, your pastor wants you to dream big and push the envelop of creativity and excellence, but it must be done within the parameters he has set. At Elevation, Pastor Steven has cast the vision that our worship experience will be one of celebration. So, you won’t find a lot of dark songs in a minor key because they don’t fit the vision of the church…that might mean I don’t get to play one of my favorite songs– and that is ok. There will also be times when your Pastor asks you to cut or add a song, and when he does, do it joyfully.

2. Be a worship leader who cares more about Jesus and the vision of the church than being on the next Passion CD. Jesus specifically has chosen to work through the local church to advance the gospel. Your pastor will trust you when he sees that you are more passionate about the vision God has given him for your city than you are about the how cool you sound covering the latest Coldplay song.

3. Choose the words you say on stage carefully. The priority for us at Elevation is the preaching of God’s word. That gets 50 minutes in our worship experience while the worship set gets 20 minutes. As a worship leader, when you pray or set up a song, be intentional and strategic so that you maximize your impact with few words. When we don’t prepare and ramble, we are taking valuable time away from the most important part of the worship experience.

4. Play to win, don’t play not to lose. Push yourself. Don’t play it safe. When we get comfortable with what is working well and stop creating, we are not honoring God with our worship. Always let your pastor see that you are continually striving for excellence and taking chances. Worshipping our creative God should never be stale and boring.

Just Kidding. Kind of. I’d like to introduce a new feature here at stevenfurtick.com that will either be the best idea we ever had, or the demise of our ministry.

My staff has talked me in to letting them twitter as a group and we’re going to feature the conversation right here on the side bar. You get to keep track of what the staff does day in and day out. All of their inter-office tournaments, meetings they attend, mayhem they create, etc. Just think of me as Steve Carrell and them as the supporting cast. Hopefully this will allow you to get to know our staff a little better. And who knows, you might get sucked in to the drama and the majesty that is Elevation Church.

(If you’re not this way before you preach, the following is not meant as a slam.  Just a window into my way of doing things.)

They say Spurgeon was abnormally intense before he preached.  Sometimes, they had to carry him out to the pulpit…the weight of the burden and the glory of God made it difficult for him to even walk.  He rebuked preachers who were jolly (Spurgeon’s word) and lighthearted before ministering the Word of God.  I wouldn’t take it that far, but…

I always felt guilty about not being able to shake hands and kiss babies before preaching.  Until I read this.  If Spurgeon was intense and anti-social before he preached, maybe it’s not such a bad thing.  Besides, it might be the only thing I’ll ever be able to claim I have in common with the great man.

For what it’s worth, if you were backstage with me before a service at Elevation, you’d witness the following ritual.  It might make you laugh, but it’s how I roll:

-Several volunteers prepare lots of wonderful food for me, but I’m rarely able to eat much of it, at least before the first service.  My stomach hurts too bad.  I’m very nervous.  I feel like I might throw up.  I never do, but I feel like it.

-I don’t really talk to the people around me.  I’m telling you, it’s intense.  They understand.

-I listen to one worship song, over and over again, in the background, and pace around the room praying…often out loud.  I lift my hands some, kneel some, etc.  Just trying to get in the right posture.
(Sometimes I jump around to get fired up.  I bet this looks pretty funny to the people around me.  So sometimes I make them jump with me.  Really.)

-I anoint my head, my eyes, my ears, and my mouth with oil before all 4 services.
I think the symbolism is obvious.

I’m grateful for the people around me who accommodate and endure my intensity every Sunday morning.  I just can’t imagine handling matters of eternity any other way.

• To force our need to the surface…

…So we can comfort others with the comfort we have been comforted with.

• To force the issue to the surface…

…So we can recognize it, and speak into it.

• To force our faith to the surface…

…And produce a deeper gratitude in our lives.