What You’ll Learn
- Why worship doesn’t begin or end with the first or last song.
- How attempts to control worship can stifle the Spirit and the congregation.
- Why worship leaders can’t worship for others and how to help people participate instead of spectate.
- What it means to lead with your church rather than for your church.
When worship leaders step onto the platform each week, it’s easy to forget that worship was already happening before the first chord was struck, and will continue long after the final note fades. This piece from David Manner reminds leaders that worship is not something we start; it’s something we join. It’s the continual heartbeat of a people who love God and neighbor every hour of the week, not just during the Sunday setlist.
Manner challenges the idea of control in worship. When leaders cling too tightly to structure, style, or perfection, they risk suffocating the Spirit’s movement and draining their own passion in the process. True worship leadership releases control, invites diversity, and trusts God to lead through the imperfections.
Finally, the article confronts a subtle but dangerous mindset: thinking we can worship for our congregation. Worship leaders are not proxies or intermediaries; they are fellow worshipers who help others encounter God for themselves. Leading worship is not doing something to or for the congregation. It’s doing something with them.
This is a call to humility and partnership and to remember that God doesn’t need our performance to meet His people, but He delights to use surrendered hearts to point the way.
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