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6 Things That Will Capture and Hold On to Your Worship Attendees
David Crowder teaches us about worship engagement...

Can a Christian rock star help us understand how to keep our worship attenders from floating off? I'm pretty sure he can. Churches have turned into revolving doors for our congregations. Folks come and go, and it's sometimes hard to keep them engaged long enough to really become part of our communities. They're shoppin'!

This last spring I was directing the main sessions for about 4000 folks at the Hawaiian Islands Ministries yearly conference in Honolulu. I've been doing that for over 20 years (yeah, I know, tough job), and each year we feature a concert by a prominent Christian artist in the worship concert world. This year it was the Dove Award-winning David Crowder Band. 

Now, if you think you like David's music, you're in very good company—for more than a decade he has helped change the face of Christian music, and he is one of the most popular recording artists in that genre. While I watched him set up and then directed the concert itself from the production table, I learned some really good worship lessons.

1. David doesn't seem to think there is such a thing as too much preparation.
I have never seen an artist (worship leader) who fusses over the details more than Crowder. He had been assigned a 2 hour sound check, but it took him 3 hours. He could have left things to chance, but instead, worked through every single detail, including taking his long, long body to the floor to check setting after setting on his FX boxes. He was down there for 45 minutes! Because he never had to focus on fixes during his concert (thanks to his careful preparation), we could all just enjoy it.

2. David looks...well, somewhat unorthodox (maybe edgy is a better word), so the attention is never on him—well, not for long. 
If you've never seen David, take a look at this video where he promotes an upcoming conference. I'm not going to say that he doesn't care how he looks—he just doesn't care if you think he's beautiful. Because I don't focus on his flawless presence, I'm free to actually worship. Whoa, what a concept! 

3. David enjoys himself and doesn't feign piety.
There's nothing in David Crowder worship sets that implies that he, himself, is a holy person. He just worships a holy God—very refreshing.

4. David is a lover of music and God, but he never messes up the order as I just did.
David is the Béla Fleck of Christian artists. He is an incredible musician and artful player. He's fabulous, in a word. But when he leads worship it's never about him, ever!

5. David is a professional, like it or not, he's really, really good at what he does.
Is it bad that David is a really competent musician? Hardly! In a day of garage band worship leaders, it's nice that there are people out there who know what they're doing. No, you won't be able to find another David Crowder probably, but you can find, train, and figure out how to pay (horrors) people who have decided that worship leadership is their calling.

6. David encourages people without scaring them off.
One of the very first things you notice in a David Crowder worship set is that he is willing to change it if people don't seem to be participating. If I had a nickel for every time a worship leader has said to me, "Boy, they really seemed to be worshipping this morning...," when, in fact , nobody seemed to be participating because they didn't have a clue about any of the music being sung, I'd be a very wealthy man.

O.K., read through these again in the context of your worship services. I wouldn't mind going to a David Crowder worship concert every week, but would I want to come back to your church? Are the worship sensitivity values and skills of your leader in place?

Blessings,
Doug

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—Doug Lawrence, internationally recognized speaker, author, and advisor, helps churches assess and improve their skillfulness in creating engaging worship experiences by utilizing his more than 35 years of "deep trench" worship leadership in prominent mainline churches. You may reach him at dlawrenceconsult@mac.com. Or, if you wish, call 1-650-207-8240 for assessment information and scheduling. Doug now teams with the slingshotgroup.net to place extraordinary worship leaders in extraordinary churches.