Reddit reviews Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God

Highly recommend Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God https://www.amazon.com/dp/158134824X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_nVQYzb95ETR7E

Hey there! So to echo what some have said already we are worshipers created to worship God. Our job as worship leaders is to help, enable and set an atmosphere where people can freely and comfortably come and worship. As a worship leader I have had people complain about song choices and lack of older songs/hymns etc. Jesus is our worship leader and under him is our lead pastor and then we come in the picture. I try to make sure my worship first is done in spirit and truth and is biblically how it was designed for the body. Second, that it aligns with the lead pastors vision for the church. Not everyone will be 100% happy with how we lead and that's okay! My best advice is to be completely respectful and humble when people complain and give advice and don't get defensive but be receptive and ask them more questions on why they think that way and then thank them for their thoughts. After you can pray about it, meet with the pastor to talk about it and take time to genuinely assess what they said and if there is something practical you can do or if you just keep doing what you are doing a pray for them. If you haven't read the book "Worship Matters" by Bob Kaughlin I would encourage you to. Great resource for all worship leaders/pastors.

Praying for you man and that God will reveal himself more and more to you as you lead people into his presence

Don't know how much you've read from Bob Kauflin (I know, not capital 'R' reformed), but I think he would very much agree with you. Corporate worship is not about how we feel or getting revved up on Sunday, but about praising God.

I mean.. that's exactly what Worship Matters is about.

Number 3 is probably the biggest offender, followed by 6. We need GOOD writers with depth to get out there and write good songs. Also, my church has a nice blend of hymns and contemporary. Hymns on a guitar are pretty awesome. Sometimes, I prefer them more. If you're a worship leader or songwriter, a few books to pick up would be: Worship Matters by Bob Kaufflin, The New Worship by Barry Leisch and Contemporary Worship Music: A biblical defense by John Frame.

I actually have this one on my bookshelf! I think it was recommended by one of the two books I mentioned in the original post. Or it may have been from a southern Californian worship leader that I know. I completely forgot about it until I looked it up and Amazon reminded me. I'll have to dig it up tonight!

What was it about this book that makes it your favorite?

As someone training to be a worship leader, let me try to explain Christian music:

Our goal as Christian musicians is to draw both the minds and the hearts of the listeners to worshiping God. This has two interesting ramifications:

• Some songs are lyrically repetitive or simple because the songwriters are trying to teach a congregation specific doctrines embedded in the lyrics.
  
  
• We, as musicians, should not be trying to draw attention to ourselves. This means that we need to play and arrange our music such that it's exciting enough to elevate the emotions, but not musical to the point where we're showing off.
  
  The second point is interesting to me, because I know lots of incredibly talented musicians in praise bands who intentionally tone down their musicality so that it doesn't distract the congregation.
  
  TL;DR: Sometimes Christian music is intentionally simple so as not to draw attention to the musicians. Repetitive lyrics call attention to the words sung.
  
  On the other hand, I do like to listen to musically and lyrically complex Christian music on my own time. Some examples that I hope you can enjoy:
  
  "Down to the River" by Enfield, the praise team at Grace Community Church. All the members of the band are music majors, and the guitarist is close to earning his Ph.D.
  
  "By Faith" by Keith and Kristyn Getty, an Irish couple who have written a lot of new hymns we sing in the church these days.
  
  "The Answer" by Shane and Shane; their lyrics are less doctrinally rich compared to the other songs I've posted, but the guitar is some of the best I've ever heard.
  
  Also, this is a book I'm currently studying--Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin, in case you were interested in learning more about the subject.
  
  If anyone has any more questions, feel free to ask.