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Although it is people who engage in worship, worship
is an act or event that is directed toward God.
The worship leader is coordinator, leader, and occasionally
even commentator throughout a service. All three of these
roles are designed to help a congregation participate in
worship. Not everyone is equally gifted or even comfortable
in all three roles, but it helps to remember that leading
worship is not a performance. It stems from the desire
to worship with others. Acts of leadership in worship should
be allowing the congregation's focus to be directed to
the One whom we worship.
This means making the acts of worship understandable to
those who are new to the congregation or when there are new
things going on in worship and clearly communicating even
with the regulars what is happening, when and how. It means
making connections between the elements of worship in a meaningful
way. It means creating a feeling of flow between worship
acts so that attention is on worship. Occasionally it means
adapting to the unexpected or to surprising interjections
in a grace filled way.
This can feel like a lot of pressure, but below are some
tips, helps, and things to keep in mind. If something unexpected
or not according to plan happens, or if there is a need to
improvise remember that both God and the gathered community
are full of grace and the Spirit often works in the imperfections. “We
come together as worshipping communities, not because we
are perfect, but precisely because we are not. So, week after
week, we gather to ‘draw the holy into life.' We expect to
hear, to taste, to see to touch, to remember, and to imagine
God in our lives.” May
all who lead worship be blessed in their imagining of God,
and may each one be a blessing in the congregation as we
gather to hear, see, taste and touch.
Janet Walton, quoted
in Karmen Krahn and Leslie James, Proclamation by Design:
The Visual Arts in Worship , Scottdale, PA: Faith and
Life Press, p. 56.
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