Category: Pastoral Care

Harbor Genesis Christian College
Bible Classes for the Worship Pastor can mean church growth
Being a worship leader or worship pastor is no longer about being a great singer or musician.

It goes without saying that the worship and praise aspect of a church service is highly important; it’s supposed to help create an ambiance that ushers in God’s presence. With that being said, it necessitates that worship leaders be highly sensitive to the Holy Spirit. This allows for the worship team to be more in-tuned with what God wants to do in a service. 

However, just being spiritually sensitive isn’t going to help transition from the beginning of the service to the preaching of God’s word effectively. Anointed worship leaders and worship pastors are aware that there are ‘in between’ moments between songs, where the right word from the worship leader can shift the service. If the worship pastor says something led by the Holy Ghost, he or she can create a moment for lives to be changed.

Intentional Growth in Music Ministry

This doesn’t happen by chance. This comes from studying the word, spending time in prayer, and of course, heavy preparation. Some senior pastors have decided that the worship pastor should take Bible Courses in order to make sure their worship pastors and leaders are giving their best spiritually. Sending a worship leader for Bible college courses is definitely an investment for your church. If your worship leader is on staff, it is no different than if a mid-level manager was sent for professional development courses. 

Christian colleges offer various courses that could be beneficial to a worship leader who wants to be anointed and theologically sound in what they say as they usher in God’s presence. Here are some courses offered by Harbor Genesis Christian College that will not only enhance the worship pastor’s time in front of the congregation, but also help his personal life as well. 

Some may even find that they have a calling to beyond worship leading and take steps towards other aspects of pastorship. Taking courses with an online Biblical college will help students take courses on their own time, which is especially helpful when they have hectic schedules. Consider this investment in your music ministry as an investment in your church growth. 

Top Four Classes for Music Leaders

  1. Introduction to Public Speaking
    While this course seems trivial, or even secular, being someone who is comfortable in front of large crowds is important. While some worship leaders are naturally able to do this, taking a course that helps individuals develop this ability is important to helping them connect to new individuals visiting the church where they lead worship.

  2. Music and Worship
    This is vastly different than a traditional music course, where music theory for all genres of music is discussed. This type of course allows students to learn why certain religions and denominations use certain styles of worship. The worship pastor and lead pastor can then collaborate, and determine what types of music they can introduce into their services to grow their church demographics. Understanding why a young person likes the music they do will help a worship leader incorporate more than just what they personally like to sing; they will be able to reach generations.

  3. Administration
    Any time a leader has to delegate authority, he or she should have a firm grasp of what a good administrator looks like. A worship pastor has various departments under their care — singers, musicians, technicians — and they need to be able to have each group feel heard, needed, and appreciated. By learning how to administer people’s gifts, the worship leader will have a happy, thriving team.

  4. Bible courses – as many as possible
    As aforementioned, having someone who truly understands the Bible is fundamental. Having a deeper understanding of all aspects of God’s Word will give a worship pastor the deeper understanding needed to connect music with God’s word for his people. For some, what the worship pastor says is the first thing they hear about God’s love; it makes sense that what the worship leader shares be something truly meaningful and based on God’s word.

Harbor Genesis Christian College
Going back to School is also for pastors

We may be in the middle of summer, but some individuals are considering their academic futures. For some high school students, starting college right after graduating high school is the plan. For others, they plan to take a gap year, then will consider their options for college. However, a large portion of individuals are going back to school as an adult. 

This does not necessarily mean that they are going back to college because they want a career change. As a matter of fact, many adults going back to school are looking for a degree that matches the work experience they have already. This happens regularly in the professional workforce, so why should it be a surprise that many pastors are also finding themselves going back to school after 10 years, if not more?

Why is it that pastors, who seemingly have an already established career path, would want to go back to school? In a recent interview with Christianity Today, Pastor James Meeks, who leads Salem Baptist Church in Chicago, shared why he felt the need to go back for a master’s degree.

“In all honesty, the master’s was always something that I thought I would quickly get back to, and 40 years later I happened to look up and discover that I had never gotten back to it,” said Meeks. “I knew right then that this was the right time and a good time to start that pilgrimage again.”

When Meeks began pastoring, he had recently gotten married and had a baby. He felt that by going back to school, he was adding on too much pressure to his already busy life. 

“I couldn’t drop any of the responsibilities I had on my plate and that meant school had to be the thing to go,” he said.

The benefit of going back to school as an adult

While some might find the act of going back to college to be an embarrassing thing, it can huge benefits. Adults going back to school have a completely different mindset than a teen or young adult, and that mind shift can help with academic success. 

“Once you’ve already lived your way through a large chunk of life, you are much more aware of how high or how far you’re going to go,” said Meeks in the interview. “Right now, as an adult learner, I’m mostly focusing on improving the knowledge and abilities that I already have.”

For some, the opportunity of going back to school online or in person jumpstarts the passion they used to have in ministry. 

“To be pushed and pulled at 45, after 20 years of giving myself to learning, gets me really excited,” said Pastor Matt Chandler in another interview with Christianity Today. “I’m actually eager to hear what’s out there and to see what good is in there that I might be able to consider. It might further and form what I already believe even as I look at it from a different perspective.”

Chandler found that taking courses with other pastors and Christian leaders from different denominations has helped him expand his understanding of how leadership can work. 

“Whether I agree with everything or don’t agree with anything, I can talk about it,” said Chandler. “I can critique it, apply it, take it apart, and put it back together. Now I get to interact with different ideas than my predominant stream, and that’s a plus.”

For a chance to see how going back to school can work for you, check out the academic programs, classes for pastors and other pastoral training options that are available with Harbor Genesis.