Worship leading and the spiritual gift of teleportation

January 3, 2008

Ok, so we’ve all experienced it… you’re in a worship experience, praying corporately. You open your eyes and… POOF! the worship band has suddenly appeared, ready again to lead us musically. I’d like to a look at the common modern worship tactic of the band entering (or leaving) the stage during prayer. Now, your own church may or may not employ this technique, but I know mine have… often out of my own leadership.

And why not? When the band uses a prayer for entrances and exits, it helps our service flow, and removes awkward pauses that could take our worshipers out of the moment. That said, we have to think about how we design our experiences from the context of what it communicates to the Church body– and I think “worship team teleportation” might communicate some things we don’t want. Here are two important questions we need to ask:

1. What does it communicate about prayer?

We teach our communities, and rightly so, that prayer is important, a time of focus… so meditative, in fact, we’ve created a worship culture where the expectation is to keep our eyes shut and bow our heads. I’ve heard friends describe it as looking like a room of extraordinarily depressed people. But I digress. The question is (particularly concerning the preChristian who worships with us), what they will think when they open their eyes and realize that the band who is about to (or just has) led them in worship has decided not to participate/pray in the expected way, but instead to set up instruments, reposition mics, etc.?

Another real danger is that prayer simply becomes a chance to transition between one part of service to another, which again, communicates something about the sanctity of prayer we might not like.

We also make assumptions when we enter or exit the stage during a prayer… that people won’t hear the footfalls, the bump of a guitar strap against the strings, the rustling of chord charts. If they do (or simply have their eyes open), then we have distracted them from their conversation with God and the reason we’ve snuck on/off of stage is defeated.

2. What does it communicate about creativity?

And here is, I believe, the reason we really transition this way: it is easy. Now we, as worship leaders, teachers, musicians, etc., can find ways to modulate between songs in vastly different keys, make the offering introduction tie in thematically to the message, and partner melody and truth to bring Christ-followers along in their relationship with God. So why can’t we find a way to enter the stage without stepping on the prayer time?

Perhaps it is as simple as the pastor giving a set cue for the band to come out and set up, or even just saying “I’d like to invite the worship team to back out as they pray with us.” Maybe he or she could invite the band back onstage after the prayer but before a reading of scripture in response to the message. If yours is a community that values video and media, elements like these can create a time of transition while still providing meaning. There are solutions out there that retain service flow but don’t communicate the wrong thing about prayer or our own creativity.

So, am I nitpicking? Am I right on? Have you found particularly good ways to transition the band to and from the platform? If so, let me know with a comment below. Now, I’ve got to get up and walk away from the keyboard. Could you close your eyes?…

Posted in Worship Leadership