National Worship Leader Conference Recap

Posted by Jimi Williams on Jul 26, 2010 | 1 comment

I was in Kansas City last week for the National Worship Leader Conference – a gathering of 1,600 worship leaders from all over the country. I was there in a business capacity, not an attendee, but I always learn some new things.

1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. It’s a bit ironic that most worship leaders attend conferences to learn new things or to find solutions to problems they face. But most of the speakers re-focused the attention on Jesus, who should be the center of our worship. When Jesus is the center, nothing is as bad as it seems.

2. There’s a new generation coming up. I am so encouraged by the increasing amount of young people at worship conferences. During one of the evening worship sessions, we even had a worship mosh pit form around the stage. Worship style is going to change no doubt. We need to be an encouraging older generation and not another nay-saying bunch of grumpies.

3. Dogs shouldn’t be allowed at conferences. Come on people. Really?

4. There’s power in exhortation. I can’t tell you how the energy level in our worship times elevated as the leader began to exhort the crowd to worship our awesome God. I need to do more of that.

5. An anointed speaker and worship leader are a powerful combination. Straight from the Bible as the model for worship: musical praise and the proclamation of the Word of God.