Converations with a worship leader (video)

[flaglady]

This set of videos is a must! The worship leader, of course, is the man himself from Brownsville, Pensecola. He has some canny things to say about the do's and don'ts of leading worship, things he does and won't do and the many traps its easy for a novice to fall into!



I was most interested when he was asked about members of the congregation bringing tambourines and such to use during worship. He said a vehement no to that and that he had the stewards tell people not to use them nor bring them another time and even confiscate them if they insisted on using them. Yes - I know that seems a bit draconian but his explanation was most acceptable in my opinion.



He explained that he had a big worship team at Pensecola and they spent many hours rehearsing and getting things just right. But a tambourine in the hands of someone unable to keep rhythm would easily destroy all that hard work so, out of respect for them, he wouldn't allow it. I thought that quite good enough a reason in my book.



However - it gave me pause for thought. I would sometimes go upfront of the podium, using my flags right in front of the band! I had the pastor's permission, encouragement even, to do this of course, but it had never occurred to me to ask the worship leader!! So I made it my business to ring him at the earliest opportunity to correct that omission and was charmed to find that he was rather bemused to consider he was worth seeking permission from!!! Such humility! Plus, he said, he found the flags very inspiring and stimulating and missed them when I was working and couldn't attend church! Since then we've had a great relationship where the flags are concerned. It was definitely the right thing to do! I ended up giving him the set of videos as he was intrigued by what I had told him of them!



So I would heartily recommend these videos as a great developmental tool whether you're a worship leader or not. They're still interesting and educational.

[HelenaZF]

It was fun reading this review, flaglady....it reminded me of something I heard Ray Hughes say when giving advice about the tambourine dilemma: "Shoot 'em or defang 'em."



The other problem with tambourines is that, even if the tambourine player is not rhythmically challenged, if they are a distance from the band, the time lapse for travelling sound comes into play, and they just CAN'T be in sync with the musicians.