You have likely heard of the post pandemic clergy shortage in the American church. The same story seems to occur over and over again; ministers are worn out by the challenges that COVID has brought to local churches including online services, new trends in engagement, and increased need for pastoral counsel. Barna (2022) conducted a study that found 42% of pastors have considered quitting full-time ministry. That same study found that 19% said they don’t feel equipped to cope with ministry demands, 12% believe they don’t have what they need to be successful in their job, and 12% feel unsupported by their staff. The leadership of the American church is experiencing a trend of burnout.
Worship leaders have not been immune to the effects of COVID. An article by Kelsey McGinnis at Christianity Today (2022) explains that worship leaders are facing the same dangers of burnout. The pandemic has especially increased relational stresses with managing sickness on teams, creating and enforcing masking policies, and increased need for shepherding. This stress no doubt affects the worship team as a whole as well as the worship experience.
One factor that is likely contributing to this kind of worship leader burnout is a lack of competency or support held by worship leaders in the local church. Dr. James Cooper (2020) performed a study involving surveying several worship leaders in the Free Will Baptist denomination. Over half of his survey participants felt not confident or only somewhat confident in their contribution of musicianship skills. How is a worship leader supposed to successfully lead a team when he is not confident in his skills first?
Another contributing factor is often a lack of competent musicians on the church worship teams to help carry the load. In my experience leading worship with various groups around the Twin Cities, finding quality musicians can be a difficult task. It is not uncommon for worship leaders to struggle to find instrumentalists that are both musically competent and spiritually consistent.
So we ask: how do we move forward with this dilemma that the worship community is facing?
Exodus 18 paints a story relevant to this conversation. Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, tells Moses that he will wear himself out if he continues to judge for the people of Israel all by himself. Jethro recommends teaching God’s decrees and selecting capable and honest men to appoint as leaders over one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten to help carry the load. In this story we learn that leaders have a mission to instruct, build, delegate to, and trust our teams to continue the effects of ministry.
So here is what I believe is the begged solution: worship leaders need to have a strong team of helpers. But before this, we must foster worship leader development so that he or she has the competence and the confidence to teach and equip that team.
Building Worship Leader confidence
This simply involves investing in your worship leader’s education and experience so that he or she has the necessary skills for the job. I have come to understand the biblical requirements for ministry as the 5 C’s:
Christ: an authentic heart for God
Character: formed by the Holy Spirit
Community: creating and maintaining healthy relationships
Competency: understanding and ability to perform your required task
Calling: tuned to and empowered by the Holy Spirit
Encourage your worship leaders to participate in relational, instructional, spiritual, and experiential activities that allow for growth in these areas. These activities can include (but are not limited to) seminary or other formal education, conferences, workshops, reading materials, and mentorship. Make it obvious that you care about their competence and confidence and be there for support along the way. Make sure your worship leader is well equipped so that he or she can train others.
Building a team of competent musicians
The next task is to encourage the development of more musicians to share the load that the worship leader carries. This process is commonly referred to as a leadership pipeline. The key to an effective leadership pipeline is that every leader has an appointed apprentice to invest into and empower. A leader’s apprentice should be equipped to be able to fill their role if it was ever needed. This type of pipeline can raise musicians and worship leaders inside the four walls of the church. To implement this process, the worship leader needs to:
Foster a shared value of leadership development within the team.
Without the shared value of leader development, the transformation of a “doing” mindset to a “developing” mindset will never successfully occur. Implement this value by demonstrating it and promoting it within your team.
Define and clearly communicate the biblical requirements for ministry.
Let the team know what you expect from them as their worship leader. This way they have a vision for what competencies they should grow in. This also demonstrates that you care about their personal development!
Give developing musicians tasks and roles that align with the desired ends.
When equipping a musician for a specific task or role, give that person the encouragement, experiences, and feedback that will ensure success. For example, if you know a girl at church who is taking piano lessons, invite her to lead with the youth band. Or if you have an electric guitarist that you would like to lead the team when you go on vacation, give him opportunities to shadow you and co-lead the team.
Concluding thoughts
My advice for every leader: appoint an emerging leader as your apprentice and equip him or her to pick up what you cannot carry. Encourage this on your worship teams. Foster this development in all of your church’s ministry channels. Paul demonstrated this with Timothy by passing off the baton after a fruitful ministry. You don’t have to do it all by yourself.
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"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands" 2 Timothy 1:6
"...and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also." 2 Timothy 2:2 (ESV)
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References
Barna (2022). Pastors share top reasons they’ve considered quitting ministry in the past year. https://www.barna.com/research/pastors-quitting-ministry/
Cooper, J. A. (2020). Who Is Leading Our Churches in Worship and Are They Ready? A Study on Worship Leading in the Free Will Baptist Denomination. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
McGinnis, K. (2022, January 26). Worship leaders hit with pandemic burnout. ChristianityToday.com. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/january-web-only/worship-leader-burnout-pandemic-music-ministry.html