85 – Identify your skills: Starting to Lead Worship series
A weekly blog of Creative Ideas for Leading Worship
1 – Identify Your Skills
Starting to Lead Worship
This is the first of 10 updated posts that aim to give people new to leading worship the tools and confidence to get started. Experienced worship leaders will also find useful information in these posts.
The first 3 posts explore What’s in Your Toolbox? The last 7 posts provide guidance for Constructing a Service.
Introduction to the Starting to Lead Worship series
The series gives you a framework for your worship-leading craft – principles, methods, and habits that give your creativity the best possible chance to flourish.
The more you develop these skills, the more freedom you will have to adapt, innovate, and respond to the Spirit in the moment. Once we have laid this groundwork, you will be ready to explore the full range of creative ideas that can make worship truly come alive.
This post encourages you to take stock of your life skills – both professional and amateur – that can contribute to leading creative worship. I share my own “toolbox” of abilities, ranging from music, publishing, and public speaking to sound/video production and online marketing, highlighting the importance of acknowledging and valuing our talents. You are then tasked with listing your own skills in preparation for learning how to develop new ones in the next post.
Introduction
This is the first of three posts focusing on how to assess, acquire, nurture, and use your talents and skills when leading creative worship services.
In New Zealand, we often have a cultural habit of downplaying our skills. We’re modest about our talents and achievements because we don’t want to seem as if we’re putting ourselves above others.
When it comes to leading creative worship, that attitude isn’t helpful. We need to shift our mindset and acknowledge the abilities God has given us.
Below is my own “toolbox” of skills that help me as a worship leader. Some I’ve developed over decades; others are more recent. Some I do at a professional level, others just for fun – but all are useful.
Sound Recording
I’ve been recording sound since my teens, starting with transferring 45s and LPs onto cassette tapes – “mix tapes.” My tools back then were analogue turntables, amplifiers, radio cassette players, and tape decks.
When home computers arrived in the early 1990s, I began recording and editing audio digitally, starting with Goldwave and now using Audacity. I also use a Tascam digital audio recorder to record our choir concerts and my son Chris’s jazz band sessions.
Video Recording
In the late 1980s, I was recording TV shows onto VHS tapes. Today, I can shoot video on a smart phone or digital camera, edit it on my computer, and upload it online. Recently I learned to create square promotional videos using Canva.
Singing & Playing Musical Instruments
Music runs in my family – my parents were good singers, and my mum was a piano teacher. In my late teens and early 20s, I took guitar, piano, and flute lessons. Music even played a role in bringing my wife Heather and me together.
These days, I’m good at finger-picking guitar to accompany myself and capable of backing others. In the 1980s, I sang in our church choir, gaining fantastic training through weekly rehearsals and Sunday services. I’m an average sight-singer, but I’m loud, generally in tune, and I love singing in harmony.
Composing & Typesetting Music
I can write lyrics and melodies, adding basic guitar chords. About 20 years ago, I learned how to typeset music for our congregation’s Singing Group, and I still use Noteworthy Composer for this work.
Publishing
Since publishing my first book in 1999, I’ve produced more than 80 titles. My process involves editing authors’ manuscripts, designing and typesetting, arranging printing, creating eBooks, and listing editions for sale online. I use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign for print, and Jutoh for eBooks.
Reading
I read 70 or more books a year – mostly thrillers and spy novels, but at least 10 theological or Christian works as well.
Writing
In the 1990s, I wrote and typeset instruction manuals for Bank of New Zealand and later trained further in technical writing. This taught me to write clearly and logically so readers can understand information easily.
Public Speaking
I joined our church’s theatre group Drama Christi in 1979, moving from non-speaking roles to speaking and even leading roles as my confidence grew. This experience helped me become comfortable speaking in front of people – though I still get a few nerves.
Websites, Facebook & Online Marketing
I built my first website in 1997, learning through books and experimentation. Since then, I’ve explored Facebook and other marketing tools to promote books, recordings, and concerts. Recently, I created an e-commerce site for my business and have been learning more about email marketing and interpreting customer data.
People Better Than Me
For every skill I’ve listed, I know someone who’s better. I’m the second-best sound and video editor in my family, the third-equal best musician, and the second-best singer. Heather outshines me in harmonising songs and setting guitar chords.
In publishing, Roger Steele – my mentor – will always have the edge.
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Your Homework
Make your own list – on paper or computer – of the skills and talents you have that could be useful for leading creative worship. Think broadly, just as you would in a brainstorming session.
In the next post, we’ll look at how to learn new skills.
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The full content of this series and lots more worship ideas are included in my book The Creative Worship Leader’s Toolbox, available in print and eBook formats.
Ngā Mihi
Philip