Soapbox Time…
One of the sins of the American church is ageism. I’ve seen it take a couple of forms. The most common is the mid-20’s to early-30’s young hipster worship leader, surrounded by a band of similarly young and hip players and singers. Less common, but also there, is the aging worship leader that only draws similarly aging team members (or has been playing with the same team for so long that it has become an exclusive club).
I would suggest a middle road – a team that reflects the entire body of Christ. We work hard to be intentional about having diversity on the team. Many churches get the importance of racial diversity, and many get gender diversity, but not that many (in my experience) get age diversity. I love seeing a 60-year-old percussionist standing next to a 22-year-old guitarist. Maturity and energy meet in a really good way. And don’t mistake me – I’m not pushing diversity as a politically-correct buzzword. I’m pushing it because God created us in diverse ways, and at diverse times, and that should be celebrated!
Or maybe I’m just getting older… : )
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Published by creativeworshipideas
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I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
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creativeworshipideas 
This is so true! Luckily there’s about a 22/23-year difference between the youngest and oldest person on my church’s worship team. It’s really cool seeing how God’s love has no boundaries.
Absolutely! We enjoy having a music team that ranges in age from 14 to 63!!