"Why Do Worship Leaders Do That?" 10: Why Do They Cater To The Congregation's Tastes?

Welcome to the concluding post in our 10-part series on complaints people often express about the job that worship leaders and ministers of music do in churches around the globe each week.  As always I’m joined by Lorie King of Louisville, a worship leader at Sojourn for the last eight years, and a leader in many churches and missions around the world at other times.  Lorie also completed a Master’s in Worship at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Professor Carl “Chip” Stam’s School of Church Music and Worship.

Read the articles where these “pet peeves” were originally discussed at ragamuffinsoul.com and churchrelevance.com. Today we tackle Pet Peeve #10:Why do worship leaders cater to their congregations’ tastes.  I ask Lorie about these common complaints:

• When worship leaders “hold back because they are obviously conscious of what the congregation and/or pastor will think.”

• When “worship leaders/pastors play to people who think the worship somehow revolves around what they like and what makes them feel good”

• When the worship leader risks “being a cheerleader because the people that claim to love God exhibit no sense of joy when singing about Him.”

Click the player below to hear this short discussion now, or download it from our free podcast, Sojournmusic.com Radio, at iTunes and other podcast directories.

Discussion of Pet Peeve #1: Why Do Worship Leaders Ask People To Do Things Instead Of Just Singing?

Discussion of Pet Peeve #2: Why Do Worship Leaders Talk So Much In Between Songs?

Discussion of Pet Peeve #3: Why Do Worship Leaders Act Life Church Service Is A Concert?

Discussion of Pet Peeve #4: Why Are Worship Leaders So Unprofessional?

Discussion of Pet Peeve #5: Why Can’t Worship Leaders Sing Very Well?

Discussion of Pet Peeve #6: Why Are Their Clothes Or Body Language Distracting?

Discussion of Pet Peeve #7: Why Do They Mess Up Prayer Time?

Discussion of Pet Peeve #8: Why Are Transitions Between Songs So Bad During Worship Services?

Discussion of Pet Peeve #9: Why Can’t They Walk The Talk In Their Personal Lives?

photo above from a Sojourn worship service: Lorie King sings, along with fellow worship leader Jeremy Quillo.  Photo courtesy of Dan Canales