There is a potential musical element and a visual element to praise team ministries. Should the team stand up front with the worship leader or remain “seated” with the rest of the congregation? (Some call this the “stealth team” approach.) Let’s look at the options.
Pictured: Jerome Williams, Acappella & Free Indeed at Garnett (Tulsa)
If a praise team stands up front, the responsibility to “model” worship greatly increases. (This reminds me of the New Testament admonition that not many should be teachers.) Of course, this is important for any worship leader to consider. How many times have you seen a song leader singing a song and his facial expressions and emotions seem unrelated to the words he is singing? How can an expressionless person convey the extreme joy that some of our songs exude? Or worse yet, what about a scowling facial expression that blatantly contradicts a song of peace, joy and love? I am saddened when I witness a very demonstrative person (animated and enthusiastic in other settings) transform into a completely unemotional leader.
This principle is important for all worship leaders, not just in considering praise teams. Okay, to get the negative analogies over with, I admit that I have seen praise teams standing up front who really distracted my worship. At the risk of sounding judgmental, I could easily see how they could be interpreted as appearing dead, unengaged, or worse, exuding a “prideful” attitude – a sort of “I’m a great singer and you’re not” impression. We must prevent the praise team ministry from becoming an avenue for skilled musicians to display prima dona abilities in a prideful manner.
Of course, our emotions should be genuine and a natural expression of our respective personalities. There is something very engaging in seeing people who are “caught up” in worship, displaying the wide range of joy and jubilation, gratitude, peace, reverence, brokenness and humility. When the team models heart-felt worship, the atmosphere becomes conducive to truly experiencing God. There is nothing like the assemblies where God is honored with everything we have to offer, in contrast to a “check-list” mentality of going through stale motions in a feeble attempt to seek God’s approval.
I believe the Zoe Singers set the standard for praise team excellence. No doubt, they are highly skilled musicians with a stellar musical blend who take their craft seriously (doesn’t God deserve our best?) But, when they stand in front of a group to lead worship, it is obvious they are serious about leading people into the throne room of our Creator as they pour their talents and individual personalities into the worship – thus providing an ideal atmosphere for everyone to make the worship journey together.
Another consideration is the women’s issue. Are women usurping authority over the worship leader when they stand with him? If women are to remain silent in the assembly, what gives them the right to sing in the first place? Are the sopranos and altos leading the other women or leading the entire church? These and other questions are prayerfully discussed every day in light of the Holy Scriptures. Some congregations are more comfortable with the “seated” model.
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Every Sunday, I post a new worship survey. Some polls inspire lengthy discussions (nothing to calculate per se), as was the case with last Sunday’s survey. Tomorrow’s survey deals with this topic and will allow for a one word reply. We’ll ask Jonathan to post the results on Saturday. Thanks for participating.
