Sovereign Grace Ministries:
Worship Leader with Bob Kauflin
WL: Please share a little bit about your unique worshiping community.
BK: My home church, Covenant Life Church, is one of 80+ churches that make up Sovereign Grace Ministries, led by C.J. Mahaney and based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Our theology and practice draw heavily from reformed theology and continuationist practice. In other words, we view God as sovereign over history and salvation, Scripture as our ultimate authority, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12, 14, and Rom 12) as relevant for today. As a ministry, Sovereign Grace is devoted to caring for pastors and planting churches. Part of that involves producing congregational music characterized by sound doctrine, gospel centeredness, and contemporary music. We’ve been around since 1981 and have written and recorded over 300 songs, including “Before the Throne of God Above”; “I Stand in Awe”; “Forever Grateful”; “Jesus, Thank You”; and “Let Your Kingdom Come.” Some of our writers include Mark Altrogge, Steve & Vikki Cook, myself, and Pat Sczebel. We also have an increasing number of songwriters who gather once a year to work on songs for specific projects.
WL: In the new landscape of the worship music industry, the model for “success” seems to be more of a communal approach to creating music than a single worship leader front person. Why do you think this approach is resonating with worshipers and/or your specific community?
BK: Biblical worship has always been primarily about God’s people, not individuals, whether they’re in the congregation or up front. The model of the single worship leader who handles song selection, leading, transitions, and often songwriting, is more a product of the music industry than a careful study of Scripture. Incorporating different people in the planning and leading of corporate worship enables us to benefit from our various God-given gifts and cultivates humility.
WL: How are you intentional about keeping God at the center of worship?
BK: Keeping God at the center of our gathered worship really begins before we ever step in front of people. We encourage our musicians to live for the glory of Christ, remind themselves of the gospel every day, maintain a vibrant relationship with God through prayer and his Word, and to live in a manner worthy of the gospel. What we do when we’re leading then becomes the overflow of our lives.
When we meet, these are some of the things that help us keep God at the center of our time together:
We seek to be consciously trinitarian and gospel-centered in our meetings.
We sing songs that exult in and expound Christ’s atoning death on the cross, which points us to God’s holiness, justice, mercy, grace, wisdom, sovereignty.
We encourage passion and spontaneity to communicate that we love God and expect him to reveal his active presence in our midst through the various gifts of the Spirit. Our prayer is that what happens to the unbeliever in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 will be more and more a common occurrence in our meetings.
We try to make sure that our songs give people enough doctrinal fuel for their emotional fire. In other words, we don’t limit our song diet to songs that talk only about our feelings and responses.
We sing the Word, pray the Word, read the Word, preach the Word, fellowship around the Word. Corporate worship in Scripture is always centered around God’s Word to us; this points us to the living Word, Jesus Christ.
When we speak in between songs, we consciously try to point people to some scriptural truth, and will often read passages of the Bible together or responsively.
We try to use technology and creativity intentionally, understanding that both can distract from, distort, and demean the gospel. We keep two maxims in mind:
1) Creativity isn’t something you do; it’s a way you do something.
2) What you win people with is what you win them to.
We encourage our instrumentalists to sing as often as they’re able, so that their minds are focused not only on the music, but the truths they’re singing. That also communicates to the congregation that their focus is God, not simply the music.
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