Worship Leader Mentoring

The key to mentoring a worship leader is to make it happen from the very beginning. If your only option is a organic, home grown leader from within the body mentorship may be crucial for developing people in a short amount of time.

Much like lead pastors who mentor associate pastors and others who desire to be in the ministry, a new or budding worship leader may need to be mentored by leaders who have a good understanding of the daily challenges, organizational issues, recruitment needs, equipment limits that a worship leader faces.

Giving honest and open feedback on a leaders ability to lead a congregation in worship as well as their musical ability and team leadership qualities is crucial and should be done with care and encouragement, preferably by someone who can relate to the challenges of the role.

Many times people are allowed to be in these roles with little to no feedback because there is a lack of knowledge in these areas by a pastor.

Someone having a "willing heart" does not mean they should not be given feedback and direction.

• Does your worship leader have the ability to give and receive open and honest feedback about their musical ability?
• Do you have the ability to deliver open and honest feedback to them?
• Does your worship leader have the ability to give the same open and honest feedback to their team while building them up and developing them?
• Does your worship leader come to you with a list of things they need to work on, and a plan to address those issues?
• Does your worship leader have a plan in place to recruit and build the team spiritually and musically?

Good questions to ask yourself and your worship leader.

A dry run?

If you do have an internal candidate for the role a good idea may be to have them "audition" for the position by running a mock service complete with the following,

• Communication with the pastor to determine the key points of the sermon and the thought process of aligning the song selection with the sermon points if possible.
• Scheduling of all participants for a midweek rehearsal and services.
• Communication to the tech team of song selection and equipment needs.
• Thought process behind any prayer or scripture reading to happen during the service.
• Performing the service song set live in front of the pastor on a rehearsal night.
• Recap the process in writing with the pastor on what was learned in the process.

The pastor can then decide if the candidate is ready for a service.