You are Called to More than Music

Are you a worship leader or a worship pastor?

That’s a question I ask the men and women that are part of the Worship Pastor Tele-Coaching networks I lead.

And it’s an important question for us to answer if we are going to fulfill the calling that God has given us.

On the surface, the two seem to be the same. But as you might imagine, there’s a little more to it than just a matter of semantics.

Let me explain . . .

A worship leader thinks about how to make the music great on Sunday.
A worship pastor thinks about how to make the entire service great!

A worship leader watches out for the musicians and singers on the Worship Arts Team.
A worship pastor takes full responsibility for the leadership and shepherding of the overall Worship Arts Team.

A worship leader sees himself as a “song leader”.
A worship pastor understands that her calling is to equip artists and technicians in the church for ministry.

You get the idea…

Early in my ministry at The Journey, I was operating solely as a worship leader or song leader. I showed up on Sunday, did the music well, and saw that as the limit of my investment. But about 6 months in to our new church plant I realized that my church needed me to step it up, take on a stronger role, and lead at a higher level.

So I did . . . and I found that I had a lot more to give!

That’s when I learned this important ministry truth . . .

The call to be a worship leader is the call to be a pastor!

They cannot be separate. If we are to fulfill our role in the church, then we must be pastors and equippers.

We must take ownership for not only good music on Sunday, but for the lives of those who serve on our team, and the entire area of worship in our churches.

It’s not enough to want to be the lead musicians, or lead singer. Those roles are secondary to the role of pastor and leader we play in the lives of those whom God has entrusted to us.

So how are you operating in your church right now?

Are you serving just as a “song leader”, or are you fully embracing your calling to not just lead great music, but to build a healthy team, too?

Here’s what I found as I made my transition from worship leader to worship pastor:

Both are good. Both are necessary. But they aren’t the same. In fact, the role of worship leader is just one of many roles that I feel as the Pastor of Worship Arts. The same is true for you.

And the way you view your role will greatly determine your leadership and impact in your church and for the kingdom.

Here are 3 ways to embrace the “worship pastor role” this week:

#1 – Spend as much time planning and preparing ALL of the elements of the worship order as you do the music.

#2 – Meet with your pastor to discuss the worship order for this Sunday and ask what you can do to help him.

#3 – Invest time equipping the members of your team by sharing a helpful article or book, and by asking, “What can I do to help my team grow over the next 4 weeks?”

As you begin to think of yourself as a worship pastor, you’ll realize that God has much more in store for you than just leading songs on Sunday. And your church will be all the better for it!

Your partner in ministry,

PS – Understanding and fulfilling your calling as a worship leader is the single greatest determiner of how effective you will be in ministry.

Yet, there is still a lot of confusion over “the call”.

Recently, I sat down and recorded a very personal and practical resource entitled “The Call of a Worship Leader. In this 70 minute leadership training resource I will walk you through how to realize the power of fulfilling your purpose through equipping volunteers, planning worship services, leading winning ministry teams and more!

Whether you are a new worship leader, considering a call to worship leading, or have been leading worship for years, this resource will help you discover:

• Why the call is the single greatest determiner of how effective a worship leader you can be
• What the call really means and how to know if you have it
• The four key elements that are in your call and why you must develop all four if you want to become everything God has called you to be as a worship leader
• How you can immediately begin equipping artists for ministry in your church
• Three ministry-defining truths that you must learn for effective leadership in your church
• How you can build and lead winning ministry teams and avoid common pitfalls that many worship leaders make in doing so
• How you can begin planning life-transforming worship services this week
• How you can cultivate and inspire passion for the Sunday service in yourself and your team

Plus much more!

Your calling is the foundation of your ministry. The Call of a Worship Leader will help you get crystal clear on your unique calling, and build systems to succeed in the four primary areas of ministry.

To immediately download the complete MP3 audio training resource CLICK HERE

And as always — if you aren’t absolutely satisfied with this resource (or any of my resources for that matter) simply return your product within 365 days for a prompt and courteous refund.

About Jason Hatley and Worship Leader InsightsIn 2002, Jason Hatley helped launch The Journey Church in New York City, directing the programming of their worship services. He serves as the Pastor of Worship Arts and built from scratch The Journey’s worship arts team, a group of over 200 artists and technicians who develop and implement the creative and technical elements at weekly Sunday services. The Journey has been recognized as one of Outreach Magazines fastest growing and most creative churches.

Jason has been a worship leader since 1996. He invests in Worship Pastors around the country through interactive coaching networks and worship planning resources. He has been a featured break-out speaker at the Willow Creek Arts Conference, The Purpose Drive Worship Conference, as well as seminars around the country. He has a B.M. in Sacred Music Performance from Appalachian State University.

Jason is the author of Engage: A Guide to Creating Life-Transforming Worship Services and Revolve: A New Way to See Worship as well as over a dozen worship leader personal and ministry growth resources.

Jason and his family currently live in Boca Raton, FL where he serves as the Pastor of Worship Arts at The Journey’s newest campus in South Florida.