Alex Duke: 9 Marks of a Healthy Worship Leader

My local church is in search of a worship leader.^[1] To that end, our senior pastor cobbled together a group of 12 members for a Worship Leader Search Committee. Despite my musical ineptitude, I was among those asked to serve.

I suppose I’m equal parts grateful and terrified. After all, the title “worship leader” is nowhere in the New Testament. This fact tempts even the most levelheaded toward the subjective and superficial, where already drawn lines and white-knuckled commitments merely evidence what we’ve previously seen, known, or been comfortable with.

That’s me, too, by the way. I like hymns, the old stuff saints long dead have been singing since before my last name existed. And I prefer what some would call melancholic confessionals over what I’d call relentlessly upbeat hallelujah choruses. This is a real difference because we both are on to something: the church’s need and the individual Christian’s right to sing to God with a certain emotional polyvalence.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I wanted to pass along a few thoughts I’ve developed as I’ve prayed through what my church is undertaking in the coming weeks, and what your church may be going through right now. I’ve unoriginally titled them “9 Marks of a Healthy Worship Leader.”

I’m convinced these nine things are must-haves for anyone leading a congregation in song week after week after week. Far from exhaustive, they are a set of traits, postures, and characteristics I believe are informed by Scripture and ought to transcend culture and denomination. Keep reading