I recently came upon a discussion around the topic of spontaneous worship and how to move in that direction while leading in worship. There was a large variety of opinions, and you get to hear (or read) mine now. :) Can you plan for a spontaneous moment? Should you even have spontaneous worship? If you do, are you still leading worship or are you just performing for the congregation?

Dear worship leader,

I’m so proud of you. I’m so proud of where you’ve come from and where you are going. I’m excited for everything that the Father has laid out for you. I’ve been praying for you. I really have been. I’ve been asking questions, searching articles and blogs, reading books, listening to podcasts, and praying that I could help in any possible way. I’m one of you. I get it. I know what it’s like to sing in front of tons of people, encourage them to worship deeper than ever, and they don’t even budge - they do absolutely nothing...

There are many things that we as worship leaders consider when building our set list from week to week. Of course, we should be praying about it first and foremost! After that, there are many things to consider as we strive to put together something that will be effective in the worship service. As the worship portion of the service should connect as much as possible with the other aspects of the service... and as we should be setting the stage for what the pastor will be sharing to follow... the consideration of the sermon topic or overall theme of the service should be part of your planning process.

Last night, I was at dinner with some other couples from our church. I was sitting across from a couple that has been in our church for about 5 years, and prior to coming, were both unsaved. The only church background at all that they had was in the Catholic church, so coming to our pentecostal church with contemporary, charismatic worship was a completely new experience to say the least! They began asking me some questions regarding worship that lead to their sharing a powerful story that really ministered to us, but also reminded us of a powerful truth about the role we play as worship leaders.

I was born and raised in central Indiana, and while I've spent some of my adult years in other states, I ended up back in Indiana again. "Back Home Again In Indiana" is very applicable to me. If you are remotely connected to the news this winter, you know that Indiana and this area of the country has been in the middle of a pretty rough winter... with record low temperatures and heavy snowfall. This afternoon, while shoveling the snow-covered driveway... again... I had this thought.