Perspectives: Worship Team Vocalist

This past weekend I was a vocalist on our worship team. Allow me to share some thoughts about this important but misunderstood role.

The other musical elements of a worship team are pretty clearly understood. The piano, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums, horns and even a choir seems to have a fairly well-defined role on the worship team. But there seems to be a wide range of opinion about vocalists and what they are supposed to accomplish.

First of all, we should ask the obvious question: Do you even need vocalists on the worship team? They answer is a definite “maybe.” It depends on a variety of factors, not the least of which is whether you have people who can actually sing. But most churches seem to be using the “worship team” format these days (worship leader, band and vocalists) so if you are doing contemporary music, you will definitely benefit from good vocalists. A vocal team can range in size from 2-6 singers or more. (Anyting over six seems like overkill to me.) But overall, I think a vocal team can make a very positive contribution to the worship team, and not just in a musical sense.

The purpose of a vocal team is simple: to lead and model authentic worship. Let’s break this down:

• “Leading worship” means to lead the congregation musically. A worship team will almost use harmony in its vocals to help fill out the sound and make the music more aesthetically pleasing. Ever sing unison in a big group? It’s kind of boring. Not every person in the congregation can sing harmony, but for those who can, the worship team gives some leadership here. It goes without saying that the vocalists should be good enough singers to lead musically. However, I’m still saying it because there are some singers out there who are serving in the wrong ministry. And we do them a disservice by letting them continue in a role for which they aren’t gifted.
• “Modeling worship” means they are setting the example of what the congregation ought to be doing. The congregation will tend to reflect what the worship team is doing. If you are engaged in what you’re singing about, people will more likely engage in worship as well.
• “Authentic worship” means worship that is real and sincere. However, “authenticity” doesn’t just mean we do what we feel. I don’t always feel like worshiping when I’m on stage, but my responsibility to the congregation and my commitment to Christ supercedes my feelings. For this, this sometimes mean that I raise my hands whether I feel like it or not. If I’m singing on the vocal team, I will sometimes force myself to physically model what I want to feel. We have one Sat. night and three Sun. morning services, so by the third one Sun. morning I’m pretty tired. But I find that my “feelings” of worship almost always follow my “physicality” of worship when singing. I hope this makes sense. I’m not suggesting that we pretend to be something we’re not, or that we only “go through the motions” of worship. But the honest truth is that sometimes we don’t feel worshipful at all, and our authenticity in leading music come from our commitment and responsibility, not just from happy feelings. But the irony is that when we follow through on our commitment to lead, our feelings usually follow. Marriage works the same way, does it not?

How does a vocal team work with the worship leader? It depends on the worship leader’s style and preference, mainly. Our worship leader puts the vocal team in a very up-front position and expects us to help lead the congregation in a very real sense. Other worship leaders put the vocalists in more of a background role, and they are basically “doo-wops” whose main role is to add vocals to the music. I like the first option music better for two reasons: 1) It models team leadership instead of putting a “celebrity worship leader” up front. 2) If several people are placed prominently on stage, and it’s a diverse group, there is more chance that people in the congregation will find someone with whom they can relate. I have been impressed with our worship ministry because they have routinely let high school kids sing as vocalists in adult worship. There are all kinds of reasons this is a good thing.

But having a group of singers on stage doesn’t mean anything in itself. Rather, those people must be able to lead the people musically and spiritually. I believe this even applies to the way vocalists dress, particularly the ladies. Men and women in their 40′s and 50′s shouldn’t dress like they’re teenagers. I have a really funny story to tell about this but this probably isn’t the right place…

At our church there has been a lot of talk about whether vocalists should color-coordinate their clothes.  I have wavered back and forth on this. I think it depends a lot on your setting. Ours is a suburban megachurch, and people seem to be very concerned with dress codes. (I am personally not that concerned about dress, but since I have agreed to serve in our ministry I feel it’s my responsibility to submit to the leadership on this issue. Whatever you wear, it should honor the Lord in the culture where you serve.) It’s very easy to get too wrapped up in the way people look, to the point where people’s accusations about worship being a “show” become true. On the other hand, if the vocalists have a chance to be visually appealing, why not take the opportunity? If the choice is between looking good or looking bad, the choice is obvious. You don’t need matching outfits, but it can be really helpful to agree on a color palette, such as “earth tones,” “red and black,” etc. The dress of the worship team serves the same purpose as makeup on a woman: it should enhance but never distract.

One of the challenges I have faced over the years is learning how to be a singer without a guitar. In my whole adult life I have almost always led worship with a guitar. But on the vocal team, I have nothing to hide behind. When there are hundreds of people in the congregation and you’re standing in the stage lights with only a microphone, you can feel almost “naked.” But for me, that has been a good thing, and has helped me be more free in worship to raise my hands and be more expressive. And as silly as it sounds, I have recently changed my physical stance while singing on the worship team — one foot in front of the other, in a more “aggressive” posture. Without a guitar in my hands I have had to learn to help lead the congregation through my posture, gestures and physicality. I also don’t wear glasses when singing on the worship team because the reflection will probably be distracting to some people.

Singing on a vocal team does have its challenges. In our setting on of those challenges is learning your parts very quickly and singing with a group that may be unfamiliar. I would prefer a set rotation of singers, but I do enjoy the challenge and excitement of singing with new people sometimes. Another challenge is the vocal stamina required for multiple services. You can get really tired, even with only 25 minutes of total music per service. In my experience, vocalists have a different kind of pressure than the musicians because they’re “out front” more. The instrumentalists have the advantage, most of the time, of focusing more on the music and not having the pressure of “modeling” worship for everyone (although the instrumentalists should model worship as much as they are able through their playing and demeanor).

Almost everything is harder than it looks. Worship team vocalists have a role that may look very easy, but in reality is very demanding both musically and spiritually. Here’s to all those who step up to the plate week after week and dare to lead and model authentic worship.