What does it mean to be a worship leader off stage?
This past Sunday, I was leading worship at one of our campuses and it was one of the best Sundays that I’ve ever been apart of and I couldn’t really understand why. It could’ve been attributed to a number of things. It could’ve been the weather, the amount of people that were there, the song choice, the sermon, who knows. As Monday came around, I was reflecting about the Sunday we had and how good it was. It got me thinking, should I prep for this coming Sunday the same way I prepped for last Sunday?
It really struck a chord with me. Do our people even care about how good Sunday was and if next Sunday will be just as good? Then, it dawned on me. I need to be thinking about my people throughout the week. What are they thinking about throughout the week? Am I pastoring them well throughout the week or am I just pastoring them well on Sundays?
3 Ways to Be a Worship Leader Off Stage
I wrote down three things that have been good reminders for me to make sure I’m shepherding the people I lead on a Sunday basis very well on a weekly basis.
First, after every worship service that I lead, I try to get off the platform and stand at the front of the stage. Normally, we have a prayer time for people to come and pray with our prayer team, elders and staff. There are some Sundays that nobody comes up to me. If that’s the case, I will purposefully try to go find someone, introduce myself and try to get to know them. What this does is stirs up a conversation that might lead to getting coffee that week or lunch the following week. It allows me and them an opportunity for us to get to know each other. This has happened over the course of my time here at The Austin Stone and has helped me get to know our people and pastor them well on a weekly basis, because I want to be a worship leader off stage, not just on Sunday mornings.
