In Tune with Leading Worship
George Williamson Jr. is director of worship ministries at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego and also serves as worship leader at Las Flores Church of the Nazarene in Carlsbad, California. Born in Glasgow, he was raised in the United Kingdom. George and his wife, Tanya, have two young children. He was responsible for planning and leading the worship for the M11 Conference in February 2011 in Louisville, KY. Holiness Today sat down with George for a closer look at this inspiring musician.
HT: Is there an 'art' to leading worship?
GW: Obviously it needs to be couched in prayer, but it's a wonderfully creative process. If beauty is meditated on appropriately, it can turn our thoughts and faces toward God. Creating a worship experience through music is certainly more than nuts and bolts.
HT: What goes into the planning process of worship leading?
GW: I like to work with a theme. If I know that someone is speaking on a subject, for example, I'll work around that subject. If there is no sermon subject I try to have some sense of continuity throughout worship and create a theme for that. I want the time of corporate worship to involve lyrics that unfold into each other with one song idea moving quite clearly into the next, rather than just several songs that go well together because they are in the same key.
My next step is to heavily root the set in scripture. That comes before the song choices. I want to allow scriptures to take us on towards God. The songs must give us an appropriate understanding of who God is and who we are in Christ.
Therefore, lyrical content is crucial. Songs have a variety of ingredients that give them worth, but the most vital is the lyric, and whether it's doctrinally sound.
HT: How do you draw people from various lifestyles, ages, and interests into a shared worship experience?
GW: For me, scripture is most helpful to create unity in our worship. In every service I lead there are times when I speak God's word over those gathered, times when we read it corporately, and times when we simply meditate on it.
In my musical approach, I like to draw on a variety of instrumentation and musical styles. Our hymn tradition is filled with a wealth of beautiful poetry that forms us deeply, but there are also amazing new songs being birthed each year| many will last a long time. Because the scripture I weave in has the central place, I find most people aren't as adamant about how old or new the song is. It's just about what song best helps us express the themes of the scriptures. I certainly love to weave a variety of songs from across the decades and centuries together to keep us reminded of the great cloud of witnesses that have sung them before us.
Some songs have an excellent verse or two and some have excellent bridges| I don't want to give a song four minutes of 'air time' when it only warrants 30 seconds.
HT: Explain why scripture is so important in the worship experience.
GW: Everyone has a musical preference. But, as believers, we're united in the Word. It contextualizes our songs and brings validity to them. Here's what I mean by contextualizing: 'Here I Am to Worship' can mean, 'Here I am, in this place, to worship God through this song,' which is not a bad thing.
But when we spend time, perhaps prior to or during the song, and reflect on 1 and 2 John and passages on love, singing 'Here I Am to Worship' becomes a costly lyric because the context of our 'worship' is now framed in the call to be obedient in loving even the most unlovable person.
When God's word confronts us, the lyric is often harder to sing.
When we worship through song, scripture is the crown jewel. It can say things that I can't say because it has such authority and always bears fruit in our lives. Take Ephesians 2: 'By grace we are saved.' For some who come to our church broken and ashamed, that scripture might lift them up, dust them off, and remind them of God's great love for them even in the midst of their shortcomings. For others, coming to church with self dependence and self righteousness, the Spirit might rebuke them through that verse, reminding them afresh that our salvation is a gift from God, not by works so that none can boast.
Scripture gives me permission to select whatever songs speak best about what I feel God wants us to communicate to Him through our songs, and what He wants to speak back to us.
HT: How do you deal with some would-be worship helpers whose musical talents are obviously lacking? Should everyone have a chance to participate, even if by doing so they may be a distraction?
GW: One of the greatest responsibilities and challenges of worship leaders is to remove as many distractions as possible from an already incredibly distracted people. Whether it feels harsh or not, bad singing is a distraction to anyone with even a slight musical inclination. We've all found ourselves praying at times in the midst of worship, 'Lord, would you help me not to be critical and just to focus on You?' But it's hard, and I'm not sure why we would willingly put those obstacles in front of our people.
I am an advocate for getting people involved, finding places of service where their passions and abilities meet. But we need to have both-passions and abilities.
Someone who has great heart, but little musical talent, can be a great distraction. Likewise, someone with great musical talent and major integrity issues or motive issues, can be a huge hindrance to the corporate expression of worship.
Holiness Today, January/February 2011
Please note: This article was originally published in 2011. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.
