Day 6 of “12 Days Of Weekend Service New Year’s Resolutions!” Today’s resolution is “Make Eye Contact!” There are times that a worship leader should have eyes closed in a prayerful posture – however, that should not be ALL the time [or even most of the time]! Inherent in the title Worship Leader is the concept of leading – you are not singing “at” or “for” the congregation, you are leading and helping them to express THEIR worship to God. That requires a connection, particularly on songs where the lyrics are encouraging each other or marveling to each other about the goodness, holiness and merciful nature of God!
On those songs, look people in the eye. Don’t “scan” the crowd – chose a person and lock eyes for at least a few seconds at a time. I get it – stage fright is real, even in the church world. However, it can be lessened a bit by realizing that the vast majority of the congregation actually do want you to win. For every “griper” or congregational member with crossed arms and scowl, there are 10 [probably more] people who are worshipping, at least in their hearts.
Eye contact is a critical piece of solid worship leading.
Hmmm - well, let's see...
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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