Worship Leader vs. Lead Worshiper

I have heard this term before, but I just read a post linked to one of the blogs I sometimes read that really caused me some thought, some uncomfortable thought actually. The worship leader is the one who gets up and leads the congregation in corporate worship as we know it in most contemporary churches in America. However, Steve Corn in his post here points out that the most effective worship leaders are the lead worshipers, and how he feels like in his own life, he has become less a lead worshiper and more of a worship leader.

I can very much relate to this, as over the years I have struggled with getting more wrapped up in all that goes into leading worship, than consumed in my heart with worshiping the one true God in Spirit and in Truth, which was the whole point in the first place, and something I feel I used to do so much more. I am grateful that I stumbled across this post that reminds me that first and foremost, I am a worshiper of God, and when I am worshiping him, I will be far more effective in leading others to do the same!

I have been a fan of 722 for a long time. If you are not familiar with it, it is a "worship event" to young singles in the greater Atlanta Metropolitan area. It is not a church, but a ministry for all churches and unchurched alike to reach and encourage young singles. For many who know of Louie Giglio, it was something that he and Bill Willits started 12 years ago, that eventually was hosted and supported by Northpoint Community Church in Alpharetta, GA.
A couple of years ago, my friend Ryan and I had the opportunity to visit 722 and attend a backstage pass event to see how it works and to connect with some of the individuals that made that ministry happen each week.

Though it wasn't a traditional church type mentality, their goal was to reach and encourage young singles from across Atlanta, and then send them back to their churches to encourage and invest. It was also a very forward thinking musical and teaching environment that is really the roots of the passion music ministry today.

All this is to setup what I just read, that they will be having their last 722 gathering this Tues. night. Jarret Stephens, the lead teacher of that ministry spoke about it here:

Long ago, I was part of a ministry that I had helped start called Oasis, a student worship service that was targeted to Jr. High through College age people, but was really open to everyone. It was a fun service and I think that many people really grew to love and appreciate it. We really tried to do a lot of creative things and experiment with our limited resources, and a lot of people were effected by it. But we too came to the decision that it was time to make a change in order to be most effective at our primary goal, which was to reach and disciple Jr. high - college age students for Christ, and as fun and cool as Oasis was, it was not the most effective in accomplishing it.

I still miss Oasis sometimes, but I do not regret the decision to discontinue doing it in order to try and figure how to do ministry more effective. Many people disagreed, and it took us a while to find out how to accomplish the goal, which is always an ever changing thing, but it was the right thing to do.

So, I applaud the 722 leadership for recognizing what their mission is, and being willing to stop, step back, and prayerfully and intentionally go after how to reach the young singles of Atlanta for Christ in a way that nobody else is. And I praise God for the tremendous impact, both globally and very personally of those who have poured themselves into this ministry for so long! Thanks.

I came across the cool little tool that lets you make videos out of pictures and it is pretty cool. Thought I would put one together from our trip.