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The Role of the Senior Pastor in Worship

An Empowered Imperative of Leadership

How does the pastor define and fill the role of worship leader? Scripture suggests at least four functions of a pastor that can put this goal within reach.

By J. Lowell Harrup

Since the pastor—as teacher and leader—is God’s gift to the church to equip it for service and guide its development toward maturity (Ephesians 4), he* must not fail in his essential role as spiritual leader. This is not a role pastors assume at particular moments and abdicate at other moments; it is who they are, what they cannot rightfully escape being.

Being a leader, however, does not preclude others from participation through their God-given gifts. Some church members or staff are excellent leaders of congregational music and other components of worship. But these expressions must be extensions of the pastor’s leadership, not independently directed. What Scripture teaches and a church believes about worship, and what the congregation experiences as people worship, should not be incongruous. The pastor has no greater role than to guide that experience.

The challenge: worship wars

According to many church leaders, the single most divisive issue in the church today is style of worship, especially in the area of music. This struggle may not seem to rate with the evils of abortion and other social ills. But to the degree a church is divided and robbed of the incomparable riches and strength available in “together-worship,” and functions at a lesser level, its power and will to address other issues is greatly diminished. When that which should unite separates, the solution has become the pathology.

New terminology has evolved to express this struggle—worship wars. These are not wars against evil, but internecine—brother against brother—or more likely, one generation against another. In their self-assertion, people contradict the nature of the body of Christ, Scripture, and the goal and spirit of worship. Division over worship acts as a reverse alchemy, changing the gold of Christ-worship into the lead of self-pleasure.

A healthy church is not homogeneous; all people are not alike. God himself fashioned these differences and made each person essential and integral to the church. These differences are more than surface illusions. They are differences in structure, expression, ability, interest, background, taste, and experience. The widest possible spectrum of individuals are joined by a singular Lord, faith, and baptism. In all other areas of the church we celebrate our differences and need each person’s contribution toward the completion of the Body. These differences both strengthen and challenge the church.

The struggle over differences is not new. They were present in the followers of Jesus when He was on earth and His followers that comprised the Early Church. First Corinthians 12 addressed that struggle.

In the context of acknowledging differences in giftedness (Ephesians 4:8–11), Paul defined the work of the pastor-teacher in affecting the maturing unity of the church (4:12–16). Part of the challenge pastors face is the inevitable reality of change—change from growth, changes in technology, music appreciation, emphasis, and understanding, and even in music availability. The list is endless. The church is eternal, but its essence is unchanging.

Redirecting the focus of worship: function over form

True worship is the product of neither mechanical nor deceptive manipulation. Worship must first please an all-knowing, holy, self-sufficient God—a God who does not need us, but has chosen to create, accept, and love us. The historic insight of the church was that we were created to worship Him. In the creative act, God created worship. He also energizes worship through the active presence of the Holy Spirit. This is the essence of Pentecost. Manipulation, deception, and their deliberate appeal to carnality—all of which constitute ungodliness—cannot become part of the tools of worship leadership.

How then does the pastor define and fill the role of worship leader? How does he gather the various segments of the congregation into a singular, shared, corporate, cooperative experience that is pleasing to God and edifying to the Body? Scripture suggests at least four functions of a pastor that can put this goal within reach—teacher, shepherd, model, and coach.

The pastor as teacher: laying the foundation

As a teacher, the pastor shapes how the congregation perceives God. It is not the impact of one sermon that makes the real difference; it is the accumulative impact of message after message, lesson after lesson that helps people grow in their understanding. The educational process never ends. Education takes time, overlap, and repetition.

God is infinite in all His characteristics. He is infinitely holy, infinitely knowing, infinitely loving. The insights into God’s nature will increase; and, if the pastor understands his role, the worship of the church will reflect that increase in understanding.

As a pastor addresses God’s attributes through teaching/preaching, he also shapes how people perceive God in terms of their experiences. God is tender and reachable. To the brokenhearted, humble, exhausted, and frightened, He is close, a very present help. But God is not close in our consuming drive for immediate gratification.

Balance in a church and its worship begins with balance in pastoral teaching and preaching. God is not just great; He is clearly revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. The glory and position of Christ, His atoning work, His self-humbling, and His exaltation by the Father, must find their place as the core focus of preaching and teaching more than simply seeing God as the answer to felt needs. Our understanding of God is the basis from which we address our needs.

Pentecostal preaching and teaching emphasize the imminence and activity of the Holy Spirit. With that emphasis comes an encouragement to respond to His presence. The balance is brought when we teach, not only what the Holy Spirit does, but who He is. He is God, part of the Trinity, equal with the Father and Son. He is from heaven and is here as willingly as the Son was willing to come to earth. The Holy Spirit is not dependent on our emotions. An encounter with the Holy Spirit should stir everything within us, but our being stirred emotionally is not necessarily evidence of His work. When our emotions become confused and think it is the work of the Spirit, worship may not be taking place, even though we may exhibit worship activity. When we do encounter the Holy Spirit, the pastor who has prepared his congregation with teaching that has built faith and expectation for this encounter, will find it easy to guide and encourage worshipers toward right response and an understanding of what is taking place and what they are feeling.

Mindless worship is an oxymoron, self-contradictory. It implies a mindless God, not the God of majesty whose very creative expression is Word, in fact, whose Son is the Word. If worship demands some degree of understanding, and understanding is the result of teaching, then the first responsibility of the pastor is that of teacher. The worship of the church will flow from that teaching.

The pastor as shepherd: removing all obstacles

The word for shepherd is translated “pastor” in Ephesians 4:11. As a shepherd, a pastor must look to the Chief Shepherd as the pattern to follow. He is the One to whom we will answer.

Historically, the role of shepherd was not an exalted role. David was a shepherd because he had little else to contribute to his family. But David reflected his character when he faced a lion and a bear rather than give up a single lamb. David also had a heart after God, and that was the quality for which God was searching.

When David said, “The Lord is my shepherd,” he knew the potential of his position. With the Lord as his shepherd, he was secure.

The goal of the shepherd is the welfare of his sheep, providing for their needs. The pastorwill see that the overflow of the worship experience restores the soul, rather than produces agitation. The shepherd clears debris from the part of the spring called the cup, the reservoir from which sheep drink. Likewise, the wise pastor clears away those things from a service that impede the flow of the Spirit and the ability of his people to drink from the well of the Holy Spirit. As the worship leader, this is critical.

Each service in a church has a unique, eternal purpose. God has a plan, a goal, a particular blessing, a gift He wants to impart. This does not prohibit our planning; on the contrary, it mandates seeking God as we plan a service to find the mind of the Spirit. The goal is not to determine for God what He needs to do and then make it happen, but to listen to the Spirit.

In many worship services there is a critical moment when God wants to turn the water of our effort into the finest wine. Spiritual sensitivity in a leader, and a holy boldness, equip a pastor to seize that moment—often without the people realizing what has taken place—and lead the people to God’s provision. These are the moments in which we have “Emmaus Road” experiences: “And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him . . . and they said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us . . . ?’ ” (Luke 24:31,32, NASB).

Maintaining unity amid diversity

In his role as shepherd,a pastor addresses the issues that lead to divisions within a church. These divisions may be struggles over music styles used in worship. Most churches have departments divided by age. Each department or subgroup has its own service—the youth have theirs and children have children’s church. It is natural that the style of each service be sensitive to each group.

In biology, there is an idea called genetic drift. Species of animals separated from each other by too many generations—such as those on the island of Madagascar separated from the mainland of Africa—do not form new species. They may, however, lose the ability to breed with members of their own species.

No stylistic preference within any subgroup should be so dominant to cause that subgroup to lose its ability to interact with other believers. It is not a matter of who is the stronger. Scripture teaches that the strong are to bear the infirmity of the weak and not superimpose their preferences on them.

God’s pleasure in our worship is essential. He gives His glory to affect our “oneness” (John 17:22,23). He will honor His appointed leaders with wisdom to guide their church through unity in worship.

Many struggles in a service or church result from differing agendas. A pastor guides the worship of a church, not by personally doing everything, but by making sure all leadership is following one agenda, both for a particular service and for the church as a whole. If all staff members have the same agenda, then whether a service is being led by a music professional, a praise team, or the pastor himself, all share the same goal. This is not true only in relation to music. The pastor cannot do all the teaching. In fact, he will do only a minority of the teaching that takes place. But all curricula that are used must support one agenda. If what is taught ultimately finds expression in worship, there is obviously no room for conflicting efforts.

The pastor as model: exemplifying a life of worship

A church will not only follow the teaching and leadership of a pastor, it will interpret all that is said by the example it sees. If the pastor is the worship leader, he must be the lead worshiper. This does not mean he will be the most physically active or vocal; it does mean that the real worship of the pastor will be sensed by the people—whether or not he is the one standing in front at the moment. Times of congregational worship are not times to send notes about the direction of the service, talk with associates, or watch. The pastor will flesh out his teaching about God in those moments before God in the eyes of the people. They will soon emulate his attitude and spirit, even if they maintain their own styles.

A two-way channel exists between corporate worship and individual worship. Our response to daily experiences will bleed into our public worship. If we do not worship through our daily experience, something will be missing in the shared, public experience (1 Corinthians 10:1–11).

If the pastor is to be the example, he must approach God in absolute humility, realizing the holiness, the otherness of God from one’s self, and one’s own inescapable commonness and likeness, with those he is leading. This will not diminish one’s leadership, nor make one less effective. It allows for the activity of the Holy Spirit through one’s personality, mind, and skills. It will make the pastor careful in relation to how he handles the emotions and responses of those being led. It will keep the pastor sensitive to the direction of the Holy Spirit and preserve him from the powerful, but subtle, temptation of any form of self-aggrandizement. Having led others in worshiping God in the power of the Holy Spirit, one should walk away trembling and humbled, not self-satisfied.

The pastor as coach: moving from understanding to action

While the term coachis not biblical, its function is. The connotation of coaching is taking one through an experiential learning process. Paul told Timothy that Scripture was effective in that process (2 Timothy 3:16). Training assures there is no disconnect between idea and action. It repeatedly takes one through a correct set of actions (whether math, sports, arts, or anything else) until the correct way of doing something is the norm for the one being trained. Training cannot be done without correction, even rebuke.

Successful trainers create in their followers a desire to do something right. The standard will not be higher than that set by the coach. If he approves a lesser standard, no learner will rise higher.

How a church worships will ultimately reflect its training and teaching. Our worship should conform to standards and biblical norms. We are Pentecostal. The Holy Spirit frees us from the chains of fad and transcends tradition, even our own.

Spiritual worship is prophetic in nature. The alternative is pathetic. Pentecostal worship is based on understanding the mind of God, His desire, and His expression. It must be done with an appreciation of others who are present (avoiding the cliché “forgetting those around you”). We encourage each other and do not intimidate or discourage one another.

Pentecostal worship answers to the standard of unity in diversity, of the privilege of shared experience, community. It is spiritual synergism at its best and powerful, the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. It is taught; it is led. It is demonstrated by example; it is trained into a congregation.

Conclusion

God has given pastors to the church. As pastors, our role and function must begin with that premise. God has clearly stated our goals. We equip the saints, the holy ones, for service.

There is no greater service to God than that of worshiper. From our worship of God flow other expressions of service. We guide our people to unity, maturity, and the fullness of Christ. We establish and stabilize. We recognize the unique value and contribution of each individual. In corporate worship, all these factors come together and find expression. Christ is exalted. The spiritual nature of the church, often unseen, takes precedence over the institutional nature. The pastor who has waited on God, faithfully taught, fearlessly led, lovingly corrected, and carefully demonstrated Christ, will be looked to as both the lead worshiper and the worship leader.

J. Lowell Harrup is senior pastor, Northland Cathedral (Assemblies of God), Kansas City, Missouri.

*No gender bias is intended by use of the masculine pronoun.