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Worship is More Than a Song – How to Lead Without Music

Worship is more than a song—yes, we know that. Still, it fills us with dread when we have to lead worship and the nearest musical instrument is at least a mile away!

Have you been there? If yes, you’d know the feeling!

We depend on music and musicians to fill the worship environment so much so that without them, it feels kinda empty, right!

On the other hand, such sessions are good times to remember and put into practice an important truth: music is just one among the many vehicles available to express our worship.

So how do you lead worship without music?

5 ways to practice that worship is more than a song and engage people without music

1. Songs

Use simpler, shorter and familiar songs—teaching longer and complex songs without a musical instrument is a daunting challenge and I am yet to see anyone do it successfully (myself included).

Use choruses or responsorial songs where you sing one line and the people sing the same line or a different line back to you (E.g. Hallelujah Glory, He is the Lord (Show Your Power) etc.)

2. Scripture

Use loads of scripture—verses from the Psalms work really well as also other ‘songs’ in the Bible like the Magnificat for instance.

Read the verses aloud, designate one verse as a ‘chorus’ and encourage people to repeat it back as a response when other verses are being read.

For example, if we are using Psalm 8, we could fix the 1st (and the last) verse as the ‘response’. ”

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8: 1,9)

The worship leader can then read each verse one by one and pause after each verse for the people to respond with “Lord, our Lord, how majestic…”

3. Praise prayers

In a small group, we can also request quick praise prayers from the people; short testimonial praise/thanksgiving prayers with a few moments of free praising at the end of each prayer.

In case, your group is not too comfortable with shouting out free praise prayers, use one or two lines from a song as a refrain instead —a good example would be “God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You.”

4. Chants

Contemporary Christian songs are not the only musical genre for worship!

There are other types of beautiful music too—like chants.

They are short, easy to learn and you can repeat them easily to create a meditative/reflective atmosphere.

Lookup YouTube for Taizé worship videos to start with.

5. Listen

It’s good to call for times of silence in corporate worship too.

As much we like to do many activities when we worship, waiting on the Lord in silence is also equally important—because it’s in those silent moments that we are able to listen to the voice of our Lord.

So it’s only right that we give Him time to speak to us, right?

The goal for corporate worship with or without music from a worship leader’s perspective remains similar: to engage people and facilitate them to participate actively and authentically.

Hopefully, these ideas will help you become more comfortable to lead worship without music.

How else can we help people stay aware that worship is more than a song? Why don’t you leave a comment and share your thoughts.

2 Comments

  1. Shanita George
    June 11, 2018 @ 5:08 am

    Hi thus is totally new for me as a worship leader, at thus stage we don’t have musicians to assist during worship sessions;please assist with Biblical ways of leading worship with music in a effective manner

    Reply

  2. G. J. Aszmies
    February 3, 2023 @ 12:50 am

    I thought perhaps that it might help or encourage some Christians gathering for worship to investigate a you tube ‘music ministry’.

    My son started a you tube channel to share his ‘new tunes’ for old hymns a few years ago and since he loves playing piano, this channel developed into a source for various churches to use his videos for worship with words on the screen for congregations to sing along. There are lots of old hymns for seniors to enjoy singing alone or in group settings bringing inspiration and refreshment to many during these years of Covid restrictions. A variety of music also connects with music students as well. You can find it by googling “raszmies youtube”.

    May God bless your worship.
    G. J. Aszmies

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Worship is More Than a Song – How to Lead Without Music

Worship is more than a song—yes, we know that. Still, it fills us with dread when we have to lead worship and the nearest musical instrument is at least a mile away!

Have you been there? If yes, you’d know the feeling!

We depend on music and musicians to fill the worship environment so much so that without them, it feels kinda empty, right!

On the other hand, such sessions are good times to remember and put into practice an important truth: music is just one among the many vehicles available to express our worship.

So how do you lead worship without music?

5 ways to practice that worship is more than a song and engage people without music

1. Songs

Use simpler, shorter and familiar songs—teaching longer and complex songs without a musical instrument is a daunting challenge and I am yet to see anyone do it successfully (myself included).

Use choruses or responsorial songs where you sing one line and the people sing the same line or a different line back to you (E.g. Hallelujah Glory, He is the Lord (Show Your Power) etc.)

2. Scripture

Use loads of scripture—verses from the Psalms work really well as also other ‘songs’ in the Bible like the Magnificat for instance.

Read the verses aloud, designate one verse as a ‘chorus’ and encourage people to repeat it back as a response when other verses are being read.

For example, if we are using Psalm 8, we could fix the 1st (and the last) verse as the ‘response’. ”

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8: 1,9)

The worship leader can then read each verse one by one and pause after each verse for the people to respond with “Lord, our Lord, how majestic…”

3. Praise prayers

In a small group, we can also request quick praise prayers from the people; short testimonial praise/thanksgiving prayers with a few moments of free praising at the end of each prayer.

In case, your group is not too comfortable with shouting out free praise prayers, use one or two lines from a song as a refrain instead —a good example would be “God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You.”

4. Chants

Contemporary Christian songs are not the only musical genre for worship!

There are other types of beautiful music too—like chants.

They are short, easy to learn and you can repeat them easily to create a meditative/reflective atmosphere.

Lookup YouTube for Taizé worship videos to start with.

5. Listen

It’s good to call for times of silence in corporate worship too.

As much we like to do many activities when we worship, waiting on the Lord in silence is also equally important—because it’s in those silent moments that we are able to listen to the voice of our Lord.

So it’s only right that we give Him time to speak to us, right?

The goal for corporate worship with or without music from a worship leader’s perspective remains similar: to engage people and facilitate them to participate actively and authentically.

Hopefully, these ideas will help you become more comfortable to lead worship without music.

How else can we help people stay aware that worship is more than a song? Why don’t you leave a comment and share your thoughts.

2 Comments

  1. Shanita George
    June 11, 2018 @ 5:08 am

    Hi thus is totally new for me as a worship leader, at thus stage we don’t have musicians to assist during worship sessions;please assist with Biblical ways of leading worship with music in a effective manner

    Reply

  2. G. J. Aszmies
    February 3, 2023 @ 12:50 am

    I thought perhaps that it might help or encourage some Christians gathering for worship to investigate a you tube ‘music ministry’.

    My son started a you tube channel to share his ‘new tunes’ for old hymns a few years ago and since he loves playing piano, this channel developed into a source for various churches to use his videos for worship with words on the screen for congregations to sing along. There are lots of old hymns for seniors to enjoy singing alone or in group settings bringing inspiration and refreshment to many during these years of Covid restrictions. A variety of music also connects with music students as well. You can find it by googling “raszmies youtube”.

    May God bless your worship.
    G. J. Aszmies

    Reply

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