Are you wondering to learn how to lead worship because you’ve just been asked and it’s your first time? Perhaps you have tried to be a worship leader in the past with limited success, and you are searching for a way to learn how to lead worship which is quick, effective and easy to implement. If this is your first time at leading, then there are some basic steps that can make all the difference.
How to Lead Worship Simply
When you first start learning how to lead, the best advice is to keep things simple. Many inexperienced leaders select songs which are far beyond their current ability, or the abilities of their team. They often try to reproduce what they have seen on a worship DVD or heard on a CD, most of which are recorded by fantastic bands who have great ability and have been playing together for years.
No, if you are learning how to lead praise and worship you need to keep things simple! Choose songs that are not too difficult, preferably ones that everybody knows, both within your team and within your congregation. Selecting songs that your congregation knows and loves is a simple yet very effective way of becoming a successful leader, because even if the songs are played and sung poorly you know already that your congregation loves them, so your first-time worship leading is sure to be a hit!
Also, make sure that your arrangements are relatively simple and easy for both your team and your congregation to follow. Complex arrangements sound great on a CD, but they take a great deal of work to pull off well. You are far better to keep the arrangements simple and tight rather than pursuing complex and messy arrangements with the potential to sound terrible.
How to Lead Worship Quickly
There are many ways that you can learn how to lead worship, but most people want to learn the skills of leading quickly and efficiently. You can search across the Internet for free articles on how to lead worship, and you will certainly get some ideas from these, but it is the least effective way of learning because it is haphazard and incomplete. You can also attend praise and worship seminars but you will probably find that the level of information offered is either way beyond you, not what you are after all simply overwhelming.
The most effective way that I’ve found to learn how to lead worship quickly is using written material that I can constantly refer back to, either in the form of a book, or the worship leaders training manual. I find that some techniques I pick up quickly while others require me to go back over the material several times before I absorb it, so having written material to refer back to is essential for long term growth of skills.
If you are learning how to lead worship, try not to clutter your leading with long passages of talking, philosophising, praying or reading Bible verses. You may think this sounds spiritual, but it does not serve your role of leading people into true and deep worship. You are far better to have a quicker praise time without constant interruptions, especially of you are learning your skills as a leader.
How to Lead Worship Effectively
Above all, most of us want to learn how to lead worship effectively. For most of us, our heart is not to become rock stars but rather to be humble servants, yet we still want to be effective for our churches and congregations, leading our people into a true and wonderful presence of the Lord in worship.
To this end I would advise those who are learning how to lead praise and worship against the many clichéd techniques so often employed by inexperienced leaders. Techniques like having the ladies sing a verse, or repeating a chorus over and over most often do nothing to enhance the entire experience except frustrate your congregation.
So if you are learning how to lead worship in your church, by all means find some great teaching such as the course we supply, but try also to keep things simple, tight and natural.