I’m not sure if it was Paul Zahl’s “Rev. Mr. Warmth” idea or Joe Horness’ “truth is only half way” guy, but I’m uncomfortable with the term “worship leader”. It seems to connote two things: the first being that worship is only the time of singing, and the second being that worship is initiated by one man. This latter point is what concerns me most, because it seems to be part of a greater problem.
It seems like singing monophonic, syncopated songs without written music (or without literacy) seems to favor a leader-centric understanding of corporate singing. Using a hymnal or other written music for songs that are simple (dare I say easy) relegates the role of the worship leader to essentially a “song beginning coordinator”. It steers the music session away from a performance by the group or leader and back to a participatory practice.
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ReplyDeleteI'm also feeling increasingly weird about using worship leader lingo. It tends to relegate worship to merely a single activity facilitated by a talented personality. “Leader-centric” – Wow! Cool! Right, a text-based emphasis [hymnal or a Bible] tends to bring everyone around the centrality of what is being read rather than emphasizing how the content is being presented or who is presenting it.
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