By New Churches Team:

Doxology and Theology

It’s imperative that our worship leaders be theologically trained. This doesn’t mean your worship leader has to have worked through difficult theological texts, but you want to help shepherd that person toward theological formation and growth. For pastors who want to disciple their worship leader and see growth, encourage the worship leader to read one commentary on the book that you are preaching on Sunday. Then take time to discuss the text together. The next step in discipling is for your lives to be so crossed over that you are discipling them in a one-on-one relationship.

The Focus of Worship

Church planting around the world didn’t start with a half million dollar budget and a full rock band with a light show. There is a lot to learn from global church planting when it comes to what is needed for the people of God to gather together and worship Jesus. You need His Word open in the midst of His people. You need an environment to pray. You need to be singing. You need to observe the ordinances. You need the right preaching of God’s Word.

That doesn’t mean you need all the bells and whistles. Some Sundays it is good to intentionally have just a guitar. In doing so you are modeling and teaching the church that they don’t need a large band setup. They are great to have and we want to use them, but they are not imperative.

The Selection of Songs

That relationship between the worship pastor and the lead pastor is critical to operational health. The compartmentalization between preaching and music needs to be erased. The pastor needs to be involved in the singing and in helping approve songs, even if he is not choosing them. I think if both the worship pastor and the lead pastor understands what the other is doing, everyone grows and thrives.

Historically, there are several faithful examples of pastors who cared so deeply about the hymns that were sung: Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon. Spurgeon had a profound experience with hymns. He incorporated a pedagogical sense of teaching through the hymns in his sermons. He picked the songs for worship every week. He created his own hymnal that he edited personally. He also contributed to that body work by writing about 15 psalms and 14 hymns.

The Importance of Family Worship

You can’t lead your church in worship if you aren’t first leading your family. Everything begins in the home. There must be a sense of consistency in who you are in front of your congregation and who you are in front of your wife and children. This looks very different from home to home. Reading Scripture, expositing the word, praying together, praying for one another, and singing together are all things to be included in family worship.

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