Book Review: "How To Lead Worship Without Being a Rock Star"

Welcome to Digital Worship News, Edition 77. This issue focuses on a review of what I think is an important book for worship, worship leaders and pastors. "How To Lead Worship without Being a Rock Star" speaks to the core points of development that are essential to modern worship leaders- covering both values and practices. This book has some great things to say to both those beginning the journey and those of us who've been on it for a long time. I highly encourage you to check it out!

[note: this email is a correction from the previous email sent--it now shows the proper book and title.]

lessings,
Kim Gentes

I've spent the last 15 years evaluating and recommending resources for worship ministries, churches, leaders, musicians, vocalists, audio/video techs and pastors. I've even written a book highlighting the best of those resources that I've found relevant to worship and music. But in that time and search, I've yet to recommend a resource that completely covers the topic of how to lead worship. There are several books and DVDs and resources that drill down on specific details, skills, issues or ideas- all of them good and needed. But what I was looking for was the one book that could serve as the manual or textbook for those with a calling to leading worship. My search has ended.

In "How To Lead Worship Without Being a Rock Star", Dan Wilt has crafted a values-based approach to the calling, development and practice of worship leading. As the title indicates, Wilt is as concerned with answering the question of why to lead worship as he is to how. Right from the start, the author identifies the 800lb gorilla in church music: the fact that leadership of sacred worship has collided with the "American Idol" pop-culture on the Sunday morning music platforms of churches around the world. Wilt's pithy phrase brings these tensions into crystal clear focus in his introduction:

Excitement and danger - that is the privilege of worship leading.

From that place, the book takes the reader on an eight chapter course that will engage all the necessary components of development to bring a person through detailed information, study, evaluation and questioning- all as a means to growth into worship leadership...

Read more here...