I personally have found a way I think really helps get more to sing and join in. I do a few things... 1. I always need to lower keys of songs. Most songs these days are very HIGH and men cant seem to sing so they just worship but never get to sing out. so every song I test it in a lower key and see what people do. 2. I also take out odd beats and technical song pieces. Like things that make the people confused example some songs have special choruses that are different or a part where the groove changes to some weird thing. I even drop off 2nd verses to some songs so people can hear the first one again OR I repeat the 1st verse so people can catch up. I try to make the band transparent as I can and also make the song simple and easy to join.
Bflatest This is awesome! These are very practical things that will definitely help the people engage with the music. If they can't get past the music, they will rarely move into engaging with God, right!? In the end, our goal is to get them engaged with their God in worship - not just to sing the songs more easily! Thanks for your input! You rock!
Way to go if you want people to sing along in the audience. If they wanted a choir song the audience would be in a choir. As a singer in a choir, I appreciate a simple song too.
What you said is very true and I agree, but as a worship leader myself, I still find it very important to have a response from the audience. Most worship leaders don't want a response to glorify themselves, but because it helps us see that what we are doing is having some sort of impact on the spirits of the audience. Our goals as worship leaders are to LEAD each person in the congregation towards the glory of God, not to just have our own moments with Him on stage and have everyone just watch.
All I do is worship the Lord as if I'm all alone with Him,then soon I notice everybody is following!!!!It has work the best so far,but I would like to try this too! Thank you for the amazing teaching! God Bless!
Thank you for a straight-forward concise, yet loving approach to praise and worship. As a p/w leader I had often found myself “trapped” behind my keyboard thinking if I took either hand off the music would dive-bomb and die. Long story short, when I began to “get lost” in praise and worship more and more of our congregation joined in.
Great word my friend, we all worship something. And many folks need to read and learn what true, sincere worship really is. I also think one of the biggest struggles is wondering what the person next to you is thinking of you. Worship is contagious, if a few start truly worshiping the rest of the congregation tends to get in one it.
I am typically a pretty shy person, and I agree that some things may look foolish sometimes, such as dancing. But I do think that you should let the Holy Spirit guide you in worship, no matter what. This is something that I have been struggling with. Thanks for the video! I will be trying to express myself in worship more, no matter how silly or foolish I might look to others.
This is an excellent question and Jeff you are on point my Bro! A Seminarian Prof told me that perfect worship to God is when there is 100% participation from the congregation. For those un-willing to submit praise to God is a reminder to The Godhead to that of lucifer's pride and rebellion. I found the following tidbits helpful. 1.) King David tells us over and over that God uses clean vessels after His heart to lead people. 2.) The Senior Pastor is the chief praise leader & sets the tone of worship for that congregation & community, then the assigned pastor of worship & music. 'THE CONGREGATION IS THE REAL CHOIR & PRAISE SINGERS". 3.) Worship services should begin with altar prayer for confession of sin & to invoke The Holy Ghost's presence. 4.) The Worship Leader should always select simple, easy & familiar songs. I hate standing and trying to sing a top ten worship song that doesn't speak to my heart. 5.) One good song can accomplish that of 3 to 4 songs. 6.) Sorry to say, but 3 or more back ground singers can be a distraction at times, because we humans love to watch rather than participate. Its tough to break the entertainment spirit off folks, but as you said Jeff, congregations MUST BE TAUGHT TO WORSHIP ALONG WITH THE PRAZ LEADER! Worship & Praise is tied to our soul salvation and is the culture of Heaven. God bless everyone
Oh Jeff, you are talking Right To my heart!! Last Sunday I stood up, and raised my hands so high! My body just wanted to respond, I couldn't hold back!! I wish you could come and lead my church sometime! You are such a blessing to my soul. God knows just what I need. He used used you once again, to remind me that I am not alone in my longing to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Funny too, you mentioned "Jesus, I Surrender".
I think we have a vision of what "worship" is like from seeing how it works with big churches, big bands, stadium tours for Jesus Culture or Hillsong or whatever it may be. I've certainly visited and played at many churches where the raising hands, clapping, and being super engaged and "looking like worship" was going on, but I've been at and played at more churches where that wasn't the case. I don't think people weren't happy to be there or happy to be praising God, but every audience or congregation is going to be different, and you may have to cater your playing or lower your expectations. Do your job in conveying the message and have genuine joy in what you are doing and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
I agree, also I have been on platform and FELT that the songs were dead and nobody cared. And then after several people come up and say how they totally loved the service and we did such a grand job and they were completly in worship. I was like OK great wow. I think in worship we are mixing in the worldly FEELINGS and not going by faith. It's not a concert the People are not even the audience :) God is. I think that is the message we need to teach that we are in the midst of the Father and we have His ear lets sing to HIM. Seems like now days unless you get people all jumping in place its not good enough. Well I think that ANY worship from a heart is enjoyed and loved by the one on the throne.
Amid the Fight Hey thanks for your comments! We've definitely all seen situations where people where being physically expressive but didn't seem genuine, and we've definitely seen places where people didn't show much expression and they were genuine. However, the goal is to help people encounter God biblically. Since a lot of people haven't done in-depth study on this, it is part of our job as leaders to share God's truth on the subject. We will always be amazed at how teaching and then doing the word will transform people. Even people people who aren't dancing or kneeling types of people will respond when they see these truths in the word. Remember, we can't tell if someone is authentic by whether they raise their hands or not, but authentic worshipers will always move toward worshiping the way the Bible tells us to - not out of duty, but because of FREEDOM! Appreciate your thoughts!
I am too. Small congregations are like that. Instead of responding always, most of the time, they are more like judging the performance. Even though they are true Christians that you love to death, u cant make them open their eyes to know how to respond & worship. It is very frustrating to you the leader, & you also know God deserves a little more. But hang in there. U will be specially rewarded for your troubles, brother. FYI, don't pressure yourself into unnecessary changes to your music
Exactly I wanted to do something but I did not know what so I heard the Pastor say "raise your hands up in the air so God can heal you" guess what " I did for the first time in my life and I got healled. Yeah, speak HIS WORD.
Worship is a heart condition. How I worship God in my secret place is how I lead worship at church. I'm the same at home in worship as I am at church. Humility and authenticity...
Thanks Jeff...this is really useful practical stuff for those of us leading worship out there in the real world who have to deal with these kinds of problems!!
Hey Jeff I really apprieciate your tips for worship as i'm struggling with a small congregation that isn't responding to worship the way God has commanded us.I will diffinally put this teaching to use.thanks for the insite.
I had this first, awkward experience this week on Sunday morning. Me and the whole worship team were playing our line-up as we are playing and at the same time worshiping the lord. After the first song, which was "Whom Shall I Fear" by Chris Tomlin, the congregation was so quiet and the first thing that came to my mind was that it's a new song so they don't know it but it was powerful or that they are not awake since it's summer vacation.
I support you 100%. When you lead worship you are ministering to the people and we should never lose sight of that. If the people are not being ministered to, you are not doing your job. We must feed them where we find them.
this was VERY helpful! I am has a part if a ministry that has many churches in various cities states and countries. there is only one of those places where it is sooo hard to get the praises raised. I will immediately implement these suggestions and see how it flows. Thank you for allowing God to use you to guide those He has called into a leadership position in worship....Bless you
I’ve always loved worship, but sometimes appear disinterested because I don’t have a singer’s voice or musical talent. I love singing alone to worship music but find the congregation setting difficult because I don’t want to be a distraction. Thank you for teaching. Please keep doing what you’re doing! Love your music 💙 Still find myself going back to old Sonicflood albums and your solo projects.
As a worship leader i've been doing it for a while, because i know the congregation since i was born, i always try to get a response from them and sometimes that leaved me frustrated. Thank you so much for your words. I'll definitely think and reflect about that during this week
Worship leaders can choose the songs and sing them well, but they can't make everyone worship God joyously. That comes from a daily relationship between that person & God. If people turn Christianity off Monday-Saturday and expect to suddenly worship freely with joy on Sunday, that's not the worship leader's fault. Agree that their role is toward God first and foremost, not the audience.
We do all the steps that you mentioned to get the audience going. The whole worship team practiced and played them so well. I'll get a dvd from the performance and I'll see if I can upload it to you so you'll know what I'm talking about.
Kendall Fire Yes! Worship is a response to a revelation, and God loves to reveal himself to his people through us, his leaders - through the songs, but also through our modeling and through our words. Teaching people about God and about what he says about worship in scripture will always provide greater supernatural revelation and lead to a greater response! Bless you!
Yes, I definitly agree. I just mentioned that because many of us have more strict time constraints. It came out differently than I meant it. Just hard to get the songs out and teach in the time alloted.
@J. Brooke Fenwick and @AnotherGuitarAddict, as a worship leader you're goal isn't to stand on stage and worship God and not care what happens in the congregation, you're there to create an environment and lead the congregation into worshipping God, if you see they're unresponsive you want to try to engage them in a way that they will shift their focus from you to God and begin to worship Him. It's not about a performance, it's about bringing the congregation into a worshipful experience
so long as the heart of worship is there, that is what God wants. We should want to better ourselves with our instruments and present our best to Him. All in all, what matters is that we are worshiping this Grand Divine God by giving him our very best, even if that best is someone who only knows how to play C and G on a guitar, or even a simple 2/4 beat on drums. If you have a gift that God has given you, use it all to glorify Him!
But music is meant to stir the emotions. I think worship done skillfully can encourage a genuine emotional response. I do agree with you though if the music is about manipulating or forcing an emotion.
Having read through the comments on this video, I see that there is a division with regards to it's content. Personally, I think that Jeff provides some great insight into this. My only advice would be to not use of the words "crowd" and "audience" so much as it hinders the points you are making and can turn people off. Overall, good job dude and thanks for sharing with us!
That's exactly my point. He defines "responsive" as getting into his music... i.e. dancing and clapping, etc. My point is a quiet crowd is not necessarily an unresponsive one. He's worrying about seeing their emotions evidenced through whatever he deems appropriate. My point is, if the music is amateur hour and the crowd knows it, nothing is going to get them moving. Awful music is getting in the way of the crowd "responding". Modern lyrics are seeker friendly... not challenging at all.
I know this is an old video but I have a question. What if you are leading saints (congregants) who are mostly passive, indifferent and unresponsive? We have three worship leaders and they won't respond to any of them no matter how nicely or humbly you try to "urge" them. They however respond better to the Pastor.
Worship should not about format, but the condition of your heart when doing it. I don't recall the bible specifying the type of instruments, of genre of music, or type of clothes to be worn. W e are to have a heart of worship. If you want to reach the younger generation, you have to be able to relate to them in a way that they understand. Not watering down the gospel, just communicate it in a way that makes it real for the audience it was inteded for. Music is a powerful tool to do just that.
I stop a song sometimes and say something. but I make it fun. not rude. not disrespectful. we have a mix of young and old, hymns and contemporary praise, and believe me you cant please everyone.
I meant to say that two things came to mind, my bad. Any who, I'm a guitarist for the worship team as my mom is the worship leader. This kind of response went from the first three songs and we approached the songs that the audience know so well and that's when the response comes in. So I'm wondering that playing the new songs, that the congregation has never heard before from these great christian artist, can create this effect?
In my opinion, Sometimes it takes the worship leader to do something to get the congregation to be involved. A good worship leader can change a worship experience drastically for someone in the congregation.
Honestly, when the piano was first introduced into churches to play for the hymns, they thought the same thing you did. Change is not allways bad. God's message throught speach and song remains the same no matter what vehicle He chooses to use to get the His message out to the people.
Great information! In John 4, our LORD JESUS tells the Samaritan woman at the well that the time is coming when the true worshippers will worship the FATHER (relationship) in Spirit and in truth and that those are the worshippers that He is seeking. The things that we sing about and talk about that pertain to worship are found in the WORD of GOD, yet we somehow think that we can separate who we can are in the church and what we do in the church from the Word. Yes it would be great to incorporate what the LORD says about worship to the congregation, but I think music ministers and worship leaders should include that type of teaching of the WORD with their singers and musicians regularly each rehearsal. If people are so busy rehearsing that they don't have time to hear from the LORD at their rehearsal something is wrong. Our GOD's Word is the only true foundation and life giving substance to everything happening in and through the church and if it isn't, it's just dead works. When the WORD is coursing through our spiritual veins and I truly love my Heavenly Father and my Savior, my worship won't just happen on Sunday and Wednesday and no one will have to pump me up and keep trying to get me to worship Him (while I continue to stubbornly resist). Love will worship. Spirit will worship. Truth will gladly worship.
my pastor said that regarding raising of the hands should only be done at church only if you do that when you worship at home. what's your take on that?
Totally get what your pastor is saying. I don't believe he is saying you can't raise your hands if you don't raise them at church - he's simply saying you should be the same worshiper at home, at work, and everywhere else that you are in church. Meaning, if you find yourself raising your hands in worship or jumping or dancing at church but not anywhere else, you may wonder if you're really doing those things in worship to God or just jumping in with church culture. My take is this: authentic worship starts at home when no one is "watching". The secret place is the place I develop who I am as a worshiper - then when I'm in public, I am the same person that I am in private. Hope that helps!
Jeff Deyo +easier said than done. If you run around jumping and shouting and raising hands in thanksgiving at home or church don't think you could go to your job and do the same thing. Imagine you are a cashier at Walmart and you start running around the store shouting and praising God. You will find yourself jobless in short order.
As for having musical standards for the worship team...I too fight the battle of trying to eliminate distractions from the platform. If your drummer (for instance) is not on the beat, this will destroy the effectiveness and therefore hinder worship. There is a responsibility to bring those that have musical abilities to the worship team and leave those who can’t contribute effectively to experience worship for the audience. It’s the “leading” worship without distraction that must be our goal. Not everyone is a drummer… (for example)
Some excellent points here, however I am curious why you use dance as a command but not the lute? You said "but I'm not a dancer" used as an excuse, but I'm not a harp player. So I don't think dance is used here as a direct action we must do or our worship suffers; my study leads me to believe the truth here is to use the gifts God has given us to worship, and dear Jeff, dance is NOT one of mine. HAHA!
Some people are going to tell you that's not worship, let em say what they will, nothing will change their minds just introduce things slowly and smoothly. No ripping on the metalzone when you have a good blues driver next to it to use for now.
Even though they knew the law by memory even, Jesus called them hypocrites. It is not only what it's written, but what the Lord speaks to you through what it's written. It's something like reading between the lines. God has many other ways to speak to you through His Holy Spirit. Blessings :)
But as a worship leader, it's not that we're worried about drawing people in, but to me personally, more whether or not I am leading the congregation in a right way, or whether I am creating distractions with my worship. Those things don't help people focus on God. It's about ushering in people into the presence of God.
By the way, Psalm 95 is a CALL to worship and not a COMMAND. It says, "Let US..." It does not say, "You MUST...." A call is an invitation and not a demand. Often times, I feel worship leaders try to demand and manipulate certain responses from their "audience" so they can feel that they have put on a successful performance.
The congregation isn't an "audience". I just worship my heart out when doing worship, if they don't respond, that's their choice. It's not a gig, you don't need to make them respond at all
Love it, Judith! Worship is never about "performance," but for the worship leader, though it is ALWAYS firstly about worshiping God (in spirit and in truth) it is also about serving people. Any time someone gets up in front of people, it is about service, so worship leading is no different. And when we are on stage in front of people leading worship, we must worship God and also do whatever we can (as we are led by God's Spirit) to help people encounter Him. Of course there are things we can do that get in his way, but there are also simple, practical things we can do that help people to love the Lord more. What a blessing it is to serve people in this way!
I'm sorry, not clear at all. Because many of the great hymns of old were DIRECTLY taken from pop culture. Take for example "I heard the voice of Jesus say", the tune, kingsfold, is a traditional folk melody. In other words, the worship of the 19th century was reflective of the secular culture of the 19th century...in just the same way as the worship of the 21st century is reflective of of 21st century culture. So, I still want to know..when did "Modern" worship music begin for you..what year?
yes, you have to lift Him up, that is the first thing, but if you're a worship LEADER, your job is also to lead the people into worship. A leader doesn't just think of what he has to do so that he'd be ok...he needs to let the group that they're leading know what they have to do; that is why that person is the leader, if not, there would be no point on having a leader. Don't you think? And about where in the Bible says that...don't be like the Pharisees...
I said, " Worship leaders SERVE the whole 'team' by prompting and not by performing." There is a difference between prompting and performing. Sure worship leaders prompt and need to be sensitive to what is doing on in the congregation. My problem with the video is his constant referral to the congregation as "the audience." God is the audience!
More than likely it is the volume of the music (too loud) .... If we don't know the song and we can't hear the singers singing (to know where you are up to in the lyrics) ... this is the most irritating. I find that when the music is soft it seems to be more inviting for the Holy Spirit to move you ... loud music is distracting. I am sure that the Lord God loves to hear the voices of his saints .. but they are drowned out be music ...
Because if no one is following you, you are not leading anyone. The Psalmist was leading right there in Psalm 95 "Come let us"... That is what leaders do lead and that is what God has called Worship leaders to do...
This is a decent video, however, I feel it is more geared towards the congregation, than to worship leaders. Most of the video is teaching how the body should worship instead of what the team can do to help them worship. Also, please make sure you don't cross the line between Worship Leader and Pastor. One very valuable word you mentioned is, "model."
you're overthinking it. music is great, bridges minds, connects people spiritually, and with music comes the dance. it's not showing off, it's just something that's part of the entertainment of performing music.
you people should relax about stage presence. it's not showing off, it's part of music, simply just something that comes naturally. The body wants to move to music. don't fight it, just have fun and praise god
man i thought this was gonna be useful. too bad i can't show up at a metal venue and tell them "god wants you to enjoy my music, no matter how bad it is." it'd be a lot easier if i didn't actually have to write good songs for people to get into them.
Sure. But when leading worship, the band isn't there to entertain people like it's a heavy metal concert. The congregation didn't buy tickets for a performance. We must praise our Savior whether the band is good or not. Ideally, the band will be prepared and full of skilled musicians. But they are merely there to facilitate a worship gathering, not put on a killer show. Which is why I think Jeff makes a good point when he says it's important for a worship leader to teach people what worship is supposed to look like, according to scripture. This is not meant as a cop out for the band.
Personally I think most people in churches are there because they think worship is entertainment and they've never experienced the presence of God and such a strong way and they use the fact that they have passive aggressive personality to not engage in worship lest they be set free.
If I understand you correctly, I do tend to agree. Many do see worship in church as a moment to enjoy a "concert" or sorts. This is NOT good. That is why I am sharing some things we can do to help flip this thing back around - as leaders, we want to do everything we can do to perpetuate the idea of participation in worship rather than spectatorship. This video is designed to help the worship leader help the congregation understand how to respond biblically in worship. Of course, we wish everyone already knew these things already, but that would only be true if people were reading their bibles at home. Since many are not, we need to re-teach the congregation how to worship the Lord (including how to reignite their study of God's word at home)!! Thanks so much for sharing your heart on this post! May God bless you richly!
@@jeffdeyopodcast wow Jeff thanks for responding I met you back in 2005 at the Assemblies of God conference momentum still enjoy your music still enjoy your worship thank you so much for the contribution that you've given your music is still ministering to people decades later always enjoyed the sonicflood CD still have it and still listen to it
Why are we as worship leaders looking for a response from people? Where in the Bible does it say this is the job of a worship leader? "If I (God) be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself." (John 12:32) The role of a worship leader is to lift up God. If your goal in leading is to get a response from the congregation, you don't get it. Stop trying to draw people, that's not your job. Lift Him up, He'll do the rest. Pray for all you worship leaders regularly. God bless
Again, it does not matter the music format as it does the condition of one's heart. You get so bent over about formalities that really don't matter . They could be playing the old gospel hymns and your soul could still be going to hell. We are not going to be judged on whether we listened to the old hymns or contemporary praise and worship. If you can back up your statements with scripture that tells us that we have to play a specific type of music than so be it, but I doubt you will..
