Worship Committee Leader

What is my job?

Lead the congregation in providing opportunities for worship celebrations that focus on God, help people of all ages grow in their understanding of the gospel, and become better equipped for daily living as faithful disciples.
Work with the pastor and others for vibrant worship of God

Spiritual Gifts and Skills for this leader
Spiritual gifts: servanthood, teaching, exhortation (encouragement), leadership, wisdom, knowledge, faith, discernment, administration, evangelism, and shepherding

Experience, skills: Show evidence of passion for worshiping God and helping others worship through music, liturgy, and in personal and community practices. Useful skills for this position are the ability to listen to and communicate with people of all ages, interest in a wide range of worship experiences, interest in music and other worship-related arts, skills for researching worship issues, and sensitivity both to what makes worship effective and ways people relate to God.

What does this leader do?

• Maintain a growing and healthy spiritual life and lead others to do the same.
• Know the goals of the congregation in order to support and expand the ministry goals through worship. Learn about worship and the people in your congregation and community so you can develop with others worship opportunities appropriate to the community. The worship team must be sensitive to new worship styles and to congregational traditions.
• Coordinate with the pastor and other worship leaders. Support worship by identifying, training and supporting worship leaders such as acolytes, scripture readers, ushers, greeters, artists and others.
• Explore resources (United Methodist and other) for worship in order to recommend their use with children, youth and adults.
• Promote individual and family worship and opportunities for spiritual formation.
• Work with other ministry leaders so that worship celebrates the whole life of the congregation and community.
• Encourage a team approach to worship planning led by the pastor.

Where can I get help?
Getting started

• Convene a meeting of interested youth and adults, including pastors, to plan for your work. Coordinate goals, projects, and calendars with other church leaders.
• Build a congregational expectation that a vital Christian faith includes regular worship, both corporately and individually.
• Learn about the lives of people in your community and consider the ways worship can address personal and community issues. With other leaders in your congregation, look for opportunities to connect people and resources in the community and congregation for worship. Share the ministry with others by delegating projects to people in the congregation and community who have a passion for expressions of worship.
• Attend worship in other congregations, especially as you travel, and bring insights gained back to your congregation.

People and Agencies

• Your pastor and lay people in the congregation and in the community.
• InfoServ, infoserv.umc.org, answers questions and provides current information about United Methodist resources, programs, and staff services.
• Discipleship Ministries, P.O. Box 340003, Nashville, TN 37203-0003; (877) 899-2780; www.umcdiscipleship.org.
• Worship Resources team, Discipleship Ministries: Taylor Burton-Edwards, Director of Worship Resources [email protected]; Dawn Chesser, Director of Preaching Ministries, [email protected]; Dean McIntyre, Director Music Resources, [email protected]
• Discipleship Ministries worship website.

Web and Print

Africana Worship Book, Years A, B and C by Valerie Bridgeman Davis, General Editor and Safiyah Fosua, Associate Editor
By Water and the Spirit: Making Connections for Identity and Ministry by Gayle Carlton Felton
Come to the Waters: Baptism and Our Ministry of Welcoming Seekers and Making Disciples by Daniel T. Benedict, Jr.
Living into the Mystery: A United Methodist Guide for Celebrating Holy Communion
Patterned by Grace: How Liturgy Shapes Us by Daniel T. Benedict, Jr.
Sacraments and Discipleship: Understanding Baptism and the Lord's Supper in a United Methodist Context by Mark Wesley Stamm
The Work of the People by Marlea Gilbert, Christopher Grundy, Eric T. Myers, Stephanie Perdew
The Worship Workshop by Marcia McFee. More helps at www.marciamcfee.com.
This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion by Gayle Carlton Felton