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The Pastor as the REAL worship leader

I mentioned this in another post but it struck me that it might be fodder for a discussion on it's own.
Do you agree or disagree that the Pastor should be the example to the whole church as far as worship is concerned. I am not talking about in the musical sense but rather in the sense of what posture he or she takes during worship. All eyes at one point or another focus on the pastor as they worship and I feel it sets the tone for the congregation. If the Pastor stands then generally the whole congregation follows. My guess is if the Pastor starting dancing in worship it would give license to the rest to do the same.
What do you all think?

Tags: Pastors

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Permalink Reply by Rick Cogbill on February 25, 2009 at 11:01pm
Okay Bizzy, give us the name and address; we'll have a mass infusion of hand-raisers attend next Sunday just to get things rolling! (Just kidding...sort of)

I can see asking some folks to quiet down if they're being very vocal and disturbing what's going on (seen it happen before), but telling people to put their hands down? Just too weird.
Permalink Reply by Bizzy Bender on February 25, 2009 at 11:15pm
they are a really uptight bunch and very fearful about what some people might think and it was the wives of the worship band that were the offending ones. So they asked them not to be so demonstrative and they never came back.
Permalink Reply by Olive Dempsey on February 26, 2009 at 2:41pm
OucH! I heard a good line in a video I was demoing yesterday. Good enough to write it down and now I know why:

"True worship requires that you let go of what people think of you in order to let God know what you think of Him."

Off topic to your main thread, but I know I needed to share this with you.
Permalink Reply by Bizzy Bender on February 26, 2009 at 6:27pm
Wow that's a great thought! I may use it next time I am leading worship. Who should I quote?
thanks
Permalink Reply by Olive Dempsey on March 4, 2009 at 3:28am
It was in a video I listened to on "SermonSpice.com" I think the video is called "Worship, it's not rocket science" I don't remember who produced it.
Permalink Reply by Dave Eden on February 27, 2009 at 4:04pm
GREAT QUOTE!!!
Permalink Reply by Rev. Carmen Butler (the one with the moustache) on February 25, 2009 at 10:39pm
Hi, I think the pastor should be the example to the whole church for EVERYTHING. I'm the pastor, and the worship leader most of the time. It was a learning process, the importance of worship. There are others who do it on Wed and Sunday nights, but right now I'm the Sunday morning guy and have been for quite some time. On those evenings I relish the chance to just sit or stand in the pew with my eyes closed and hands raised and let someone else choose the music and concern themselves with key signatures and harmonies and the leading of the Spirit. I'm certainly not perfect, but I am always aware that my people look at me in every aspect of my life. I am aware that my worship is worthless if not coming from a pure heart and I try to model that for the flock the Lord has entrusted to me.

I am not a dancer, but I encourage those with the heart for worship in the dance to do so without inhibition. (Well, you know what I mean.) I am not an overly emotional person, but I encourage all to express themselves in whatever way they feel necessary. I am blessed to have a congregation of folks who are willing to accept different expressions of worship, as long as they're Spirit led. I know I have to be an example of one who wants to connect with God with a heart of worship.
Permalink Reply by Rick Cogbill on February 25, 2009 at 11:03pm
At one church I served at, there were a couple of young children who would dance in the aisles during the worship set. This was very unusual for this church, and I was glad to see it. Fortunately nobody tried to stop them.
Permalink Reply by Junjie on February 26, 2009 at 3:05am
One thing that results from this: the pastor is sometimes a lousy gauge of who is an effective worship leader and who isn't. Because he or she ought to engage in worship anyway, And because the pastor engages in worship, the congregation is more likely to do so, even if the worship leader may be ineffective. So the worship leader thinks everything is fine, the pastor thinks everything is fine, but things can just be so much better!

Then again, if everything is working, why rock the boat? :)
Permalink Reply by Jerry Oldham on February 26, 2009 at 2:58pm
My pastor is a worshipper and I believe a great example for us. He gets involved during the worship time and claps his hands, sings, praises and even will bow down on his knees or prostrate himself before the Lord. There was a time not too long ago that his wife of 30+ years passed away. Through the difficulty of his wife passing, he still chose to worship and praise the Lord and it also brought the congregation into a deeper sense of worship in the midst of great sorrow.

One of our church's lay leaders made a statement last night that I really loved and appreciated. He said that when he comes in and begins to worship that the rest of us cease to exist for that moment. He has learned to not let everyone and everything around him distract his focus off of the Lord. He has learned to get right in to that secret place with the Lord, even in the midst of the congregation, and just lavish his worship on the Father.

I do see what you mean about the pastor clapping and everyone following or stopping when he does, they do it at my church as well.
Permalink Reply by Diana Jurss on February 28, 2009 at 2:27am
I guess we have a bit of a unique situation at our church. We have 3 services, an 8:30am small
early service, 9am contemporary in the gym, and 11am with organ and choir in the sanctuary.
Since the 8:30 service isn't over by the time the contemporary service starts, we go about
20-25 minutes without him. We play/sing usually 3 songs, do announcements and prayer
before he comes in to give the sermon. I think it has both pros and cons doing it this way.
The praise team can lead the first half of the service and the folks who didn't want to give up
their early worship service still have it. So it was the best solution to keep everybody happy.
Our poor pastor has to preach 3 times but he doesn't seem to mind. And the people who
come to the contemporary service have never complained they feel slighted because the
pastor isn't there the whole time. I guess that means the praise team is doing a good job!
Permalink Reply by Esther Mui on February 28, 2009 at 3:28am
My pastor has a loud voice (I hope he never reads this!) and when he raises his voice during worship or high praise, somehow everyone else is also encouraged to raise their voices, and the worship atmosphere changes and is taken up a level. However, there are times in worship when he would just kneel and be silent, but I notice that the rest of the congregation continues singing, unaffected by his silence. There are times when he would just exhort the congregation in the midst of worship, or even lead in a song as led by the Spirit. I see him as a co-leader in worship leading. In answering the question of the discussion, I'd say yes, the pastor should be an example to the church as far as worship is concerned (and in all other areas of our christian walk!). Most often times, if the pastor is a passionate and expressive worshiper, you can be certain the congregation is too. (This was also true in my previous church). And yet, I also think the congregation should mature to a place whereby their worship unto God is not dependent on the how the pastor worships. I like what Jerry Oldman's lay leader say about how in times of worship, "he has learned to not let everyone and everything around him distract his focus off of the Lord...".

One of our worship leaders once had the congregation remove the chairs and got everyone to dance before the Lord. Our pastor, who cannot dance, did not dance, but smiled ear to ear. It did not stop the rest : )

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