Anytime someone asks me what my job is I almost dread to tell him or her that I am a full-time Worship Pastor. The reason for that is that I consistently get the response, “so you get to play music one day a week as your job?” Sometimes it isn’t worth the explanation and I just smile and respond with, “I guess you could say that.”
Being a Worship Pastor isn’t just for those with exceptional musical talent. Being a Worship Pastor takes exactly that… being a pastor.
In my opinion a worship ministry is very limited without the presence of a pastoral figure. Hear me out! People may worship along with that ministry… individually, but without someone nurturing them, protecting them, and caring for them we truly are just giving them a song to sing. A true Pastor watches over his flock to see that they grow spiritually. A Worship Pastor wants to see his congregation and team grow as worshipers. The term “Worship Leader” seems to place the emphasis on leading a service (which we do). “Worship Pastor” takes the emphasis off of the service and places it onto the people… the sheep.
Do you lead the singing portion of the service or do you lead people?
As a “music person” do you spend more of your time worrying about the songs or the message? The arrangement or the people? I come from a musical background and it would be really easy for me to focus in on the musical portion of my job and push the limits of what we are currently doing, but with what price?
I do ministry different than many “Worship Pastors” or “Worship Leaders” do, I actually spend more time pastoring the people than I do listening to the newest and most “relevant” song. Now don’t jump to conclusions… I do spend TONS of time finding, writing, rehearsing, and planning songs. My team has a routine and knows when they can expect new songs, worship plans, and when to be at church for rehearsals. I approach our music with Biblical excellence, but a couple of years ago I had a revelation that went a little bit like this: “Do our people even care about how good the music Sunday was, and are they looking forward to singing next Sunday?” Then, it dawned on me. I need to be thinking about my people throughout the week, and thinking about what they are thinking about throughout the week! The only way I can Pastor them well throughout the week is to be with them throughout the week and to live as they do… alongside them.
Below I want to briefly discuss three things that have been goals and good reminders for me to make sure I’m shepherding the people I lead on a Sundays on a weekly basis. Let’s think together.
- Know the People
As a Worship Pastor or Leader do you get off the platform?
Do you truly know the people you lead on a weekly basis? Who is that lady on the right hand side of the third row? What is her story? What are her spiritual gifts?
Something about knowing the people makes leading them that much easier and that much more impactful. At the church in which I serve there are all kinds of people in need of things… some need physical healing, others need finances to pay their bills at the end of the month, some have children who have strayed or spouses that have died, the list goes on and on… but I know them and they trust me with their stories. That makes the singing of songs that declare God’s faithfulness and goodness super powerful and real. It brings the worship to a whole new level when you know what people are declaring and what that truly means in their life at the current moment.
After every worship service that I lead, I try to get off the platform and speak with the people, pray with the people, and get to know the people. You can’t possibly expect to nurture them if you don’t know who they are or what they need.
- Be Visible and Available
As a Worship Pastor it is really easy to become isolated. In an artistic ministry we can spend as much time as we want in our particular area and we will never run out of things to do or things to practice. To truly Pastor we must fight this mentality… we have to get out of our area and be visible and available for people to see and interact with.
I personally try to be at events that our church puts on that have nothing to do with my ministry area… worship. For instance, just a few weeks ago our kids ministry put on a Harvest Festival. To be honest, as a guy with no children I really did not want to go… but my wife and I ended up going anyways and what I noticed was that it connected me with people from our church that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Being involved in the life of the church outside you ministry is healthy because it allows the people within your church to see you in an element outside of leading them in worship. It provides opportunity to have conversations and build relationships. So, if there are any events that your church puts on, try to be there and get to know your people outside of something you’re having to lead at or oversee.
- Live with the Sheep
True discipleship and pastoring takes place up close… on a personal level.
John 10:11-14 says,
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
I have found it interesting that the word pastor is derived from Latin where it literally means “shepherd” and relates to the Latin verb “pascere” which means, “to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat.” Shepherds in Biblical times lived amongst their flock. They consistently worked with them and taught them the best way to go. The sheep responded to the voice of their shepherd and trusted that he would not lead them astray. At night a shepherd would gather their flock into a pen or cave and sleep across the entrance in order to protect their sheep from predators that lurked around in the night. Shepherds cared for their sheep, and they demonstrated that caring by being there beside them and tending to their needs.
Are we being pastors? Are we being shepherds? If roles were reversed and you were in another person’s shoes would you trust YOUR “sheep” to you?
Proverbs 27:23 says,
Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.
How can we truly know our flocks condition if we aren’t living alongside them? A Worship Leader who is a Pastor doesn’t have a one-way ministry. He’s not exclusively in the music department, but is involved in the body life of the church… he’s in touch with the congregation as a whole. I think that’s important on a number of levels. Shepherds know their sheep. They’re aware of the needs of the sheep. I think that’s going to be really important when it comes to song selection, but also in terms of how you love the flock well. I don’t want to see a guy just hanging out in the green room not being involved in the life of the church. With that, I would encourage the Worship Leader who is a Pastor to be accessible. Don’t allow yourself to be viewed as inaccessible, as someone on a platform, a rock star, etc. We should be seen out there mingling with the people.
I believe all these things are very important and very vital for us as Worship Pastors because it allows us to lead without a guitar on our back and a microphone in front of our face. It takes us from the stage and into the flock.
Sheer musical talents and abilities won’t cut it. Let’s set out to be Pastors together. We want to bring more than a song. Let us pray together for the compassion and patience it takes to shepherd God’s people. Let us pray for wisdom and the ability to carry each other’s burdens. Let us pray for sensitivity, and most importantly let us pray for change.
Tanner Royalty 