Shortly after I was saved, the leader of the small group I went to asked me if I’d be happy to lead the worship, as he was struggling to lead the group and the worship, too. I gave him a reluctant yes, telling him I didn’t really know any of the songs, and I’d never led worship before. Also, I’d only been following Jesus for a few weeks! He seemed quite happy with my qualifications. So the next week, I brought along the church songbook, my nylon string guitar (I’d taken classical guitar at school), and a readiness to strum my way through the six songs I almost knew. Worship was over in about 12 minutes.
One of my enduring memories from those days is looking up at the end of my setlist and seeing Chris, the group’s leader, using a basic form of sign language to indicate that I should continue. The rest of the group’s eyes were almost always closed…mostly I think, in a vain attempt to try and shut out the awkwardness, but also because the end of worship normally took everyone by surprise! I think I was often finished in less than 10 minutes! I can still see Chris giving me the universal sign for “One more song, please.” It’s a look I still get! Back then, though, it often meant me just going back to the top of the list and starting again! Eventually, Chris caught on and began to ask me to prepare twelve songs instead of the usual six, owing to my surprising speediness.
In those days, I didn’t pay too much attention to the rest of the group. My guitar didn’t have a strap, so I was usually seated unless there wasn’t enough room in the small apartment we met in. And my eyes were pretty much glued to the chord charts in the open book in front of me. Occasionally, I would look up and see these dear brothers and sisters abandoned in worship, many on their knees with hands raised and eyes closed—often ready with a prayer of thanks. They were an inspiring group of people, and as you can probably guess, their ability to engage in worship had almost nothing to do with me!!
The reality is that most groups are not like this. These amazing people gently shepherded me as I learned the ropes of worship leading, graciously opening their hearts to the Lord while I butchered my way through songs they clearly knew better than I did. The surprising thing is that, despite all of my inadequacies—all the awkward pauses, all the page turning, false starts, misremembered melodies and long, long periods of silence—we still experienced the nearness and goodness of our God. And I think that is because our ability to meet with the Lord has so much more to do with His promises to us and so much less to do with our ability to lead a group of people in sung worship.
That being said, there are a few things I would love to have been told back when I started! Here are a few in no order:
- Take time to learn the songs you’re planning to lead, even if that means playing fewer new songs each week. Just sing them through once, making sure you can find the starting notes without too much trouble!
- Stand (or sit) in the corner of the room furthest from the door.
- Work out how many songs you’ll need for the time you’ve been asked to lead worship. Assume most of the songs you’re planning to lead will last about four minutes.
- Invest in a music stand, a tuner, and a guitar strap!
- See if you can limit the number of keys you use in the set to about two or three. This will reduce the awkward pauses between songs where you have to change key. The same applies to tempos. I especially like to keep the tempo and key of the first few songs the same as we ease into the set.
- Try not to talk your way through the difficult sections. Silence is better than an embarrassed prayer.
I guess the most helpful thing you can give to a group you’re leading is a sense of calm and peace. Feeling comfortable with your instrument, your songs, and the person who’s leading the group can go a surprisingly long way to make others feel comfortable, too. Oh, and don’t take your leading too seriously!
