Play songs that the congregation knows. As worship leader you are there to lead them. You are there to get help them engage praise and worship. I can not stress this enough. You are not there to perform a song because you think it is cool. There are high energy songs that are heavily produced that the congregation is just not able to sing. Make sure to sing songs that are singable by the congregation. You are to lead the congregation.
Make sure the lyrics of the songs that you are playing are doctrinally sound, lyrics focusing more on God and His greatness, and less on lyrics that focus on “me”. Also, there are many songs that are overly emotional, and that emotion can be confused for the Spirit. You need to be careful. We are told in Acts that God will send “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord”. Acts 3:20.
Make sure the key you are playing in is suitable for the congregation. I personally try not to have key changes, but I know that is not always possible. I may have a set of songs in the key of G so that the transition between the songs flow better, allowing for more spontaneity during times of “free praise and worship”. Again, the congregation is part of the reason that I do that. You must remember that there are a lot of people who have no musical talent or even have an ear for music. There are many who can’t sing very well at all. Avoiding key changes makes it easier for the congregation. I may start the service with a couple of faster songs in the same key and then switch to a longer set of songs in the same key. For me, I try to make it flow better between songs.
If there is a “free time of worship and praise”, I do not play a chord progression. If I am playing a set of songs in E, I will just simply play full measures of E to Esus, back to E to Esus, etc. Stay in that simple mode. If you play a progression of chords, again you will lose the congregation. Doing a simple E to Esus repeatedly will keep it simple for the congregation. Again, you are there for the congregation to help make it easy for them to engage in “worship and Praise”.
Modern churches have created a huge problem; they have brought in musicians just because they can sing and play an instrument and they just end up performing. Many churches are satisfied because they have a really good worship team, even though they are devoid of the spirit. I have seen it repeatedly, congregations just standing not engaged because they don’t know the songs or the songs are hard to sing.
Again, this is all about the congregation. What can I do to help encourage the congregation to be engaged in praise and worship. I hope a few of these tips will help.
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