“Momma, how come no one is doing anything yet?” I asked
“Well, son, it’s not time to start worship yet.” Momma replied
With that, this 4 year old kid walked up to the front of the church auditorium and started leading a song.
That is how I (Jason Hale) began my singing “career.”
I am now 46 years old and have been a worship leader for two congregations. This was on top of being the youth minister as well. There are good and bad aspects with leading singing every worship. Negatives, you end up singing sometimes the same songs over and over again (short-term memory loss), or the consistent strain on your vocal chords starts to happen. However, the positives outweigh the negatives. You have the ability to stand in front of people and sing praises to God. You uplift those in attendance in praising the Lord!
Times have changed since I was 4 in my song leading. I grew a lot in this aspect when I was serving with the Parkview congregation in Sherman, TX. From just saying the page number and singing, to adding readings, poems or scriptures, song leading has become an intimate part of the overall worship experience. That is the goal for most worship leaders now….to help foster a more deep connection with God through the song service.
The first song I lead….Jesus Loves Me….and it is still true 42 years later(or should I say since the beginning of time).
Sing a song, uplift one another!
JaHa