It is no secret we are looking for someone to be our Worship Pastor - we have had some great men in the last several weeks leading us in singing praises to our King. Our choir has been phenomenal and the entire body of Trinity has been so gracious as we have had different guests filling in during our Worship. So what should we look for in a Worship Pastor? Is it a wonderful voice? I know many men that have a great voice but I would not want to serve with them. Is it musical knowledge? Certainly one needs to know music to be a Worship Pastor but is that the first thing we should look for? Is it good platform presence? It is always great to be able to stand before a congregation and lead them in worship and in a smooth manner, but a man with the ability to lead a congregation but can’t lead his home would certainly not be our choice. Well, let me tell you how I was convicted not too long ago. If our Ministerial staff is what we consider to be our “Elders,” then I believe we find our primary qualifications in 1st Tim. 3:1-7. Now we have all heard these qualifications preached on, so I will not rehash them here, but I will share with you how I have gone about the process of this search. As we have had the honor of having these wonderful, godly men help us in leading out in worship, in addition I have not only met with each of them and their spouses on a personal level, but I have sat down with, or met over the phone with some other very gifted men with a heart for God. So, how do we know what we need? Well, there is a wonderful book that I am going through as I sit down and write this blog entitled Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin. This dear brother in Christ, is one of the few Worship Pastors I have ever encountered that really “gets it!” He describes the importance of a Worship Pastor as being able to handle the Word of God, to read theological books and being able to understand and articulate doctrine. Well, that would exclude most Worship Pastors I know, in fact it would exclude many pastors of “anything else” I know. We are in a culture that doesn’t want to deal with doctrine at all, but as Kauflin says: “When we are dodgy about our theology, we’re really saying we want our own Jesus. But worship isn’t based on people’s personal opinions, ideas or best guesses about Jesus. Nor should we base our understanding of Him on anyone’s individual experiences.” Guys we base this on the Word of God. So my first qualification is not singing, or what music school or Seminary they graduated from if any - my desire was to spend time with them and try to get to know their heart for our Savior. Then, it was to listen to what books they have read or were reading, what Preachers they enjoy, listen to their theology, see how they were growing their family and only then - to watch them help lead in our worship. I wasn’t looking for a certain age, certain look, certain style - I am looking first for a man who has a heart for God, and will worship in “Spirit and truth” - and if a Worship Pastor can’t articulate truth, he will not know the importance of singing truth, and will have the attitude of “if it sounds pretty let’s sing it.” We must have a man who desires to put God on display, to show Him as the big God that He is. We need someone who understands that our Worship Service should be driven to produce Worship Servants!
So I am only posting once this week. I want this to stay up until Monday. I want as many people as possible to know how the Lord is working in this situation. I am sure of all the men we have had lead us you have picked your “Trinity Idol” and you would text your vote for him several times if that were the way this was working. But we are moving towards a decision prayerfully - asking and expecting God to work and lead. Remember, anyone can have an opinion after a few hours of watching a man sing, smile and wave his hand. But some of the staff and myself have spent several hours with some of these men and their family. We have seen, heard, and discussed the way the Lord is working in their life and listened to their passion for the Lord. When both the potential Worship Pastor and I believe this is what the Lord is leading us to do, I will then let him take further steps – I would want him to spend more time with the choir, I will allow him to speak with our Personnel Team and share with them as well as with our deacons how we arrived at this decision, and then we will share and celebrate with the entire Church family. Regardless of whom the Lord sends, if Trinity is just Trinity and loves this Worship Pastor the way you have loved me and loved Bro. Jeff Summers since we have been here, he will be a blessed man!
