Practical Advice on being an Effective Worship Leader- Isabella Ogo-Uzodike

The word ‘effective’ is relative, depending on a number of variables and circumstances, for example, culture tradition, custom, personality, environment, level of exposure, orientation etc.  Whose opinion or judgment ultimately counts when it comes to effective worship leadership?  Who is worship for, or to put it in my own language, who is the “Worshippee”?

The Oxford Dictionary defines “effective” as “successful in producing a desired or intended result” whilst the Free Dictionary adds “Producing a strong impression or response” to the definition.  Going by the Oxford Dictionary definition, an effective worship leader then is a worship leader who is successful in producing the desired or intended result. What is the intended result?  Most people would say “To usher the congregation into the presence of God”.  I would personally put it another way to say the intended result is to raise people’s consciousness of the presence of God and steer their focus on to Him.  God’s presence was always there anyway, as the Bible says, when two or three are gathered together in His name, He is in their midst.  The worship leader is really just a lead worshipper who sets an example to encourage others to follow.  His or her job is to help them to ‘come up higher’.

Ultimately, the person who can give me the best tips and highest training is the Master Himself, the One who the worship is for.  Not only because He is the recipient of the worship, but because He KNOWS the hearts of the worshippers and He DESIRES their worship.  Now, because He desires true worshippers, He will help the worship leader to be effective if they submit to His leading and guidance.

Let’s make it clear; love for music or singing does not equate to love for God, as a matter of fact; love for ‘God music’ does not equate to love for God! The fact that one can sing beautifully doesn’t mean they can casually slot into the role of a worship leader. Worship leading is a call to ministry, not a hobby and not a career. It is a call to serve and not a call for fame and glamour.

The worship leader is first and foremost a worshipper so their lifestyle should line up their title, their walk should line up with their talk. And yes it is possible to be effective in worship leading without being a great singer.  There is no doubt that being able to hold a note is definitely a strength and advantage which adds to the versatility of a worship leader but being a good singer is not tantamount to being a good worship leader.

I have seen effective song leaders (as opposed to worship leaders) who know what to do to ‘move the crowd’. They have mastered the art of performance.  They know how to ride the waves of euphoria, cook up an emotional tsunami and whip up a frenzy in the audience.  As a matter of fact, they could be singing or saying anything, Scriptural or not, interspersed with a few ‘Hallelujahs’ and ‘Praise Da Lords’ and the saints would be too sensually excited to care!  Many times we get carried away by the aesthetics and lose sight of the spiritual. These are awesome vocalists, entertainers and performers but are they really effective worship leaders?  In fact, are they ‘leading worship’?  If the energetic, boisterous worship leader got people all happy, pumped up and giddy with excitement by singing some well-loved, popular choruses interpolated by craftily spoken inspirational proses, have they been more effective in worship leading than the reserved, geeky worship leader who awkwardly tottered to the pulpit, read a Bible verse and solemnly led people in worship by singing some ancient hymns interjected with Scripture readings? Without the frills and thrills, have they failed in their role as a worship leader?

It is important to ask these questions because we are living in times when audience (people) centred worship is the order of the day.  We judge the effectiveness of worship leaders based on how successfully they impressed the congregation, how skilfully they did the riffs and runs, and hit the high notes, how husky or sweet their voice sounded, how well they adlibbed to the songs or how popular the songs were etc. Whilst these can be elements that help intensify and facilitate an enjoyable worship experience, are they really a true test of an effective worship leader?

Furthermore, the dynamics, factors and elements at play in worship leading are much bigger, wider and deeper than an individual ‘worship leader”.  To base the perceived success or failure of a worship service made up of a gathering of people on the actions (or lack of action) of one person is erroneous. Worship is too important to God to leave in the hands of one fallible human being.  I believe this with all my heart.  Some of the worst places a worship leader will find themselves are places of dissension, division, conflict, disunity, backbiting, gossip, envy, jealousy, unhealthy competition or places where sexual sin is rife.  Such environments are not conducive for the Holy Spirit so a worship leader will struggle to be effective!

In my own personal experience, I have had times when I have done all I know to do, done the praying, even the fasting, the private devotion, the rehearsals until every note sounded near perfect etc and when I led worship all I felt was dryness, emptiness, nothingness and I’ve come away embarrassed and depressed!  On the other hand, I have had periods when I have felt totally unprepared, scared, nervous, unsure, spiritually dry etc and the Holy Spirit has moved powerfully in the service in such a way that I was left totally stunned beyond words.  Those are the moments when I know and I know and I know that God indeed is sovereign.  The Holy Spirit moves as HE wills.  He cannot be manipulated to fulfil our selfish schemes.

By saying this, I am not negating the need for careful preparation. Not at all! The bottom line of what I am saying is that, we can share great tips, ideas, principles but as Psalm 127: says “Unless the Lord builds the house, They labour in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain”.  In other words, we can read all the books and get all the knowledge available, the Lord will only move according to His will and in the ‘right’ atmosphere.  I have said all these because I believe it is really important to keep things in perspective; the effectiveness of a worship leader is not totally dependent on the worship leader.  Whilst there are principles they can apply to improve their likelihood of being effective, ultimately, the Holy Spirit has pre-eminence.

However, you cannot lead others where you have not been yourself and you cannot give what you don’t have.  The best way to be an effective worship leader is to be a worshipper yourself, in the privacy of your closet and in your daily life.  Partnership and intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit is the backbone of effective worship leaders.  When we commune and communicate with the Holy Spirit continually, there is an outflow and overflow of that intimacy from the secret place into the congregational gathering. Flakiness won’t cut it with the Holy Spirit.  He can’t be fake and He can’t be faked. If we want to be effective in worship, we need to know the Father for ourselves; we need to spend time with Him in prayer, in meditation and in studying of His Word, there is no short cut.  An effective worship leader is one who is Spirit-filled and Spirit led. It really is that simple.

It is important and indeed needful to ensure we prepare properly for worship leading; we need to choose the appropriate songs for the service, rehearse the songs, pray, ensure the sounds, lighting, atmosphere, temperature etc are right. You’d be shocked how much a room too hot or too cold can take away from the worship experience. By setting the right atmosphere, we eliminate or at least reduce the potentials for distractions during the service.

In doing all of this, we must keep sight of the truth that the worship is to the Father and for His enjoyment alone.  The worship leader prepares the people’s heart for worship and steers their attention away from their cares, worries, distractions and concerns to the awesomeness and worthiness of the Father.  The congregation are not the recipients of worship, they are the givers of worship so we cannot base the effectiveness on how much they ‘enjoyed’ the experience.

The focus of worship is the Father, not our tastes, style, opinions, etc so, if we want to be effective, we have to prioritize spending quality time in God’s presence.

Culled from Chapter 9 of the book

“The Worshipper After The Father’s Heart” By Isabella Ogo-Uzodike