Ray Jones: Raising Up the Next Generation of Worship Leaders

Part 3 of the series: Building Strong Worship Leaders

Almost every week, I hear from pastors asking if I can recommend someone to lead worship for their congregation. Most of these are smaller churches or new church plants with limited resources. Most of the time I do not have anyone to recommend, and it saddens my heart knowing there are people who need a leader but have no options. I feel strongly that we must take seriously this opportunity to invest in the future of worship ministry for the sake of building the Kingdom.

About 18 years ago, I had a meeting with my worship team that changed the DNA of the worship ministry at Community Bible Church in San Antonio, TX. We decided that we had two purposes as a ministry. First, we wanted to provide an environment in our worship experiences where people could encounter a Holy God. Second, we wanted to invest in our young people and train up the next generation of worshipers. Since that day, we have made the training of worshipers a priority.

We created a system of training that has produced many worship leaders and worship musicians that are serving at our church and in many other churches across the country. This did not happen overnight and everything we do in our church will not necessarily work in your church. My deepest hope is that something you read here will stir you to begin to disciple people in your church to become leaders of worship instead of mere musicians. Keep reading