In the last ten to fifteen years, a number of colleges and seminaries have responded to a perceived need for training worship leaders. Most of this effort is focused on contemporary leaders, where in the past the majority of church music programs were more traditional in nature.
I’m not sure if the market is glutted or if demand has been satisfied, but I do wonder if we need some different types of training programs. The internet makes it possible to deliver content through webinars and video conferencing, or by storing videos and transcripts on protected sites. People can develop cohorts and mentoring relationships with students and professors all over the world. Given that money is tight and time is limited for the busy worship leader, I wonder if we need models of education that allow for virtual worship schools? You could do a virtual bootcamp.
The things you would miss are the character component, but most seminaries and colleges don’t do real well at that anyway–it’s the churches job. You can’t help someone master their instrument, but you can demonstrate and even give feedback through videos.
I’d be interested in hearing from folks about this.
Hi Phil,
I just stumbled across your blog today (from Makoto Fujimura’s tweet).
I believe WorshipTraining.com is a place to go for worship courses, training, and a community of worship leaders/pastors, musicians, and worshippers. They have some free resources and also many paid ones (including several online courses). (I haven’t tried the paid options/courses myself, so unfortunately cannot give feedback there.)
And I see from a recent post that you already follow Bob Kauflin’s “Worship Matters” blog… an excellent resource for worshippers and those who lead worship!
Hey Joyce,
Thanks for your response. I haven’t looked at WorshipTraining.com, so am glad for the referral. Most of my experience is in reformed churches (PCA to be specific) and the pastors I work with find themselves looking for worship leaders who, in addition to understanding the logistics and sensibilities related to worship leading, have a solid musical, theological and spiritual/relational (character) grounding. It’s rare to find all these. That’s why some friends have been discussing the best methods for equipping the next generation of worship leaders.
I think it must be a combination of books, courses, mentoring and community involvement. What I would love to see is a network of worship pastors/leaders who band together to create a virtual community for equipping worship leaders. I’ve discussed the idea with some friends in Denver, but the challenge is funding.
Worship leaders don’t necessarily have the funding to relocate as many of them are part-time, if they are paid at all. Churches aren’t finding lots of extra funding these days, even though an investment in the future is wise. In fact, I’m seeing a lot of churches cut back in the area of worship leadership. I can’t count how many churches have reduced full-time positions to part-time, going from highly-trained worship leaders/directors to younger, less-trained gifted musicians (in the hopes of training them). That’s cause for another post.
Looking to find people who might share a similar passion and see if we can find the horsepower to bring this together, if this is in fact God’s vision!