and worship leader remain on the same
page, being of one mind, the results could
be endless.
Kurt Lykes serves as a worship leader for Faithful
Central Bible Church in Los Angeles, California.
His worship songs can be heard on the gospel music
CD The Compilation Masterpiece as well as
the church’s live CD.
lenn ackiam
What do you feel is the best way
to foster a good relationship with
your pastor?
Talk. As often as possible. About work-related stuff, about personal stuff, about
marriage, family, dreams, fears, favorite TV
shows, the Denver Broncos. Relationships
don’t happen without talking. And talking
just about church or work builds a pretty
thin relationship.
What traits are the most important for a
worship leader to cultivate in order to be
successful at their position?
It’s hard to get away from core spiritual things that lend themselves to more
practical points. For example, I think of the
kind of humility that leads to clear, honest
and frequent communication with your
team. I think of the kind of identity that
is so secure in Christ that you are free to
truly empower others and not just unload
unwanted tasks on them.
What are some ways you feel worship
leaders can become sidetracked in their
primary role on staff at a church?
I recently read Eugene Peterson’s book,
The Contemplative Pastor. In it he describes
two chief sources of busyness in his pas-
toral life: vanity and laziness. As a worship
leader, you can take on more responsibilities because of vanity, a desire to be or feel
important. You can also find yourself running around in a frenzy because you were
too lazy to determine for yourself what
things were essential for you to do, first and
foremost. It’s all too easy to be the worship
leader that only worships when you’re on
stage or only opens your Bible to prepare a
talk. Carve out the time during your work
week to study for the sake of soaking in
truth, from the Bible or from any book. Enjoy music for its power to move your soul
not merely to plan the Easter musical. Keep
the poetry fresh and the love alive. Those are
usually the first to go and the earliest signs
of a life without Sabbath.
What type of person excels as a
worship leader?
Ah, a very rare breed. When you find
one, pay him or her well. Just kidding.
Someone full of life and energy, someone
who has a living relationship with the
living Christ, and a person committed to
learning and reading. Everything else can
be taught more easily. You can learn how
to manage a staff, organize a team and run
auditions. But the habits of a profound intimacy with Christ, that defines who you
are as a person, and a humility that leads to
a healthy desire for growth—those traits
are not as easily taught.
What is the best way a pastor can
partner with you to encourage worship
in your congregation?
Worship like crazy in every service. A
close second would be to teach on worship. I love how our pastor teaches that
hypocritical worship is when our actions
don’t match our convictions. Most people
think hypocritical worship is when our
actions don’t match our feelings. That can
mean that we are being a less honest worshiper when we act like God is not all the
things that we believe He is. The Psalms
model how every emotion can and should
be used as a springboard for connecting
with God. That’s part of why it’s important
for a senior pastor to model open worship.
We all know how joy leads to worship. But
what about sorrow or confusion or anger?
We need to see our pastors using every
emotion to propel them to connect with
God in worship.
Glenn Packiam is the Director of the New Life School
of Worship as well as an Associate Worship Pastor at
New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He
recently released his first book, Butterfly in Brazil,
about ordinary lives making extraordinary differences
in the world.
o h o e
What do you need from your pastor
in order to feel successful in your job?
Open communication is the first
thing. When I have clear communication on what I am supposed to do,
I can do it with more confidence and
excellence. My Pastor and I talk about
each service on a weekly basis. What
went well? What went bad? This helps
me stay on top of things. But, one of
the most important things is trust; this
encompasses so many other areas. It can
be shown when my Pastor trusts me
with an idea or song list for a Sunday
service, my pastor trusting me with a
budget to build the best worship department. Trust is definitely one of the
greatest things that I value, and I aim to
build on every week.
What traits are the most important for a
worship leader to cultivate in order to be
successful at their position?
Be a true worshiper. The sad reality
in the Church today is that many worship
leaders are just going through the motions. The true worship experience starts
when nobody is watching, no lights, no
big sound, just you and God. I have been
in seasons in my life where I was just going through the motions, and God in His
