The Worship Leader Crisis in Smaller Churches: part one

Over lunch recently, a church planter in my region described his difficulty finding a worship leader. They use YouTube videos after two years of gathering because they can't find someone to lead them. At his previous church, they also had trouble finding a worship leader. He told me that students at the nearby Christian college were either too busy or were interning at the larger churches in the area. We talked about why it is so hard to find a worship leader: fewer people play instruments, etc. He's not the first planter that I know of who used videos for worship leading. Smaller churches and rural churches too have a hard time finding a quality worship leader.

I grew up in larger churches with multiple pastors and staff members. There were always multiple talented instrumentalists and usually a full-time worship leader. Quality was never an issue. I grew up in the time of the worship wars when churches were trying to figure out their musical style. Whatever style was chosen, it was done well. In a small church or a rural church, that is not always the case.

I never saw a pastor sing or play an instrument growing up in larger churches in the South. Only recently did I learn that pastors used to always lead the singing--even in larger churches. My wife's grandfather was a pastor and took singing lessons in seminary because that was a part of culture of  ministry.

Our church is blessed with a talented and mature volunteer worship leader. He grew up in this church and combines formal music training with experience, the willingness to learn new skills, and the humility to work with others. If we didn't have him, we could not afford to replace him. When he is out of town, then I step in to lead worship on guitar.

I wonder if it is time that churches and pastors train or become the worship leaders that they need. Again.