Worship and praise are two different things. Worship includes the prayer, meditation and reverence of the service, while praise involves singing and other forms of exultation. Music can be used for either worship or praise. The preaching of the gospel is the message of worship.
The music of praise and worship should be something that helps bring congregants into personal relationship with God. It is a participant activity. The goal should be to get everybody singing.
There are some things that hinder people from participating in singing. Some people just don’t think they have a good enough voice to sing. While that should not really be a factor, some people’s inhibitions discourage them from participating. The good worship leader is aware of that and takes that into consideration when planning the music for a service, perhaps providing a few very easy songs.
Others are prohibited from participating because they don’t know the songs. A good rule of thumb is, if 1/3 or more of the congregation is not taking part in the singing, the worship leader should probably look at choosing music that people are more familiar with.
That is not to say that new music should not be introduced to the congregation, but new music has to be introduced in a deliberate fashion. One technique is to use prospective new music as pre-service music one week, special music from the praise team or choir the next week, perhaps as an offertory song the third week and then as a congregational selection the fourth week. By then “new” music will be familiar to the congregation.
The style of music is not the main issue. Almost any style of music is appropriate if appropriately presented. It is not a good idea for the drummer to think that he carries the melody of the song, nor should he try to imitate a rifle on every second or fourth beat. Neither is it a good idea to use music that is too difficult for the abilities of the congregation.
The style of music should match the message of the music. One would not sing “Be Still and Know that I Am God” to a fast, rock or rap style of music, because it just does not fit. Neither should “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” or “These are the Days of Elijah” be sung to a soft, slow tempo, for the same reason.
The Bible encourages the church to sing three types of music: Psalms (Scripture songs), Hymns (songs of a poetic nature and particular format) and Spiritual songs (choruses and so-called “you songs”). It is good to incorporate each type in each worship service, in no particular order and at no particular placement.
The leader of the music portion of the service should have a positive, strong voice, should be able to sing on pitch and should keep constant eye contact with members of the congregation. His job is to engage the congregation and to encourage them to take part in praise and worship. Closing his eyes and “looking spiritual” is totally inappropriate for the leader because doing so would be distracting and would isolate the congregation. His tone should be authoritative without being strident or “blatting.” Remember that his job is to lead the singers.
It is funny to watch some people who think they are conducting music when they are just flailing their arms. Music conducting has specific patterns for a very good reason. Each beat of the pattern has an ictus that should be crisp and identifiable. (You can find out more about the ictus here).
The key to good leadership (beyond the basic qualifications of being able to sing, play or lead) is preparation. Many music leaders prepare for the upcoming Sunday at a rehearsal held on a weeknight before the service. They work only on the music for Sunday and nothing more. That is a really big mistake. As some wag once said, “Proper, prior planning prevents poor, pitiful performance.”
The praise team, choir, instrumentalists and dramatists should train according to established learning methods with which God has endowed his creation. Time between learning sessions ingrains the lessons far better in the performers’ minds than cramming all of the music into one rehearsal. If there are three songs for which the praise team will be responsible in any given service, the team should get four or five weeks of rehearsals before the performance. That takes good planning.
In the three song scenario, each worship rehearsal should involve about 15 songs. The first three rehearsed should be the ones for the following Sunday. They would have had five rehearsals on them by the time they are to be used, and the difference between the performance after on 2 hour rehearsal and 5 shorter rehearsals over time is astonishing. The next set of songs rehearsed should be the new songs. After that there should be rehearsal of the next three sets in order of the Sundays in which they will be used. If properly organized, this method should be able to be implemented in 1½ to 2 hours of rehearsal per week.
The final warm up before the worship service should be done just prior to the service itself for purposes of refreshing their minds. This is not the time to work out kinks. That should have been done at rehearsal.
When these principles are followed, the congregation is likely to be engaged in worship and praise. They will be blessed in their participation and God will be blessed by His people’s worship.
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