Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family by Parsley Ross

Author:Parsley, Ross [Parsley, Ross]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: David C Cook
Published: 2012-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

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Recently, I spoke to a group of pastors about their relationships with their worship leaders, and I remember the challenge that I issued in answer to a question about how to work with young creative types. I told this room full of older leaders that it was not realistic to hire a twenty-eight-year-old and expect him to know everything that a fifty-year-old would know from experience. In a moment of unexpected intensity, I told them, “Don’t hire that talented twenty-eight-year-old musician unless you are willing to spend the time and the energy that is required to develop him into the leader you want him to be. Don’t just hire talent and throw them out there on the stage to produce for you!”

I got a few “Amens” and a lot of strange looks.

We should take the risk on the twenty-eight-year-old worship leader, but plan for the mistakes, the coaching, and the failures that will inevitably come. The risk is worth the reward!

INNOVATIVE AND CREATIVE

A common problem with the learning-while-leading paradigm is that most of the next generation wants to take risks creatively. They want to look at issues we face in new ways, and they rarely use the old paradigms. This is what David did when he rejected the armor of Saul and utilized a little-known giant-killing instrument called a sling. One smooth stone (although he had five just in case) was all he needed to fell Goliath. Nobody thought it was possible. No one had even thought about the only space on a giant not covered by armor—his forehead. David innovated and got a zero vote of confidence from his older brothers and King Saul. Allowing young leaders to learn while leading requires us to realize our need for their new way of looking at problems. Hopefully, it’s not without help, encouragement, and a safety net.

I remember being thirty-four years old and feeling like I was losing it musically. My creativity wasn’t what it should have been, and I felt stagnated in my leadership. I knew I needed to recruit more young people to help infuse musical creativity into our ministry. I had breakfast with Jared Anderson, who was home for the winter break from college. He was in his last year and wrestling with what to do after graduation. I wanted him to come back to New Life and spend a couple of years building a foundation before he went out to seek fame and fortune in the secular music business. I told him that I needed him to come and inject some innovation and creativity into our worship. This was before the songwriting culture was created. I just knew I didn’t want us to grow stale.

Jared didn’t really want to be a worship leader. He had grown up at New Life. His parents were elders. I remember many Saturday-night prayer meetings with Jared playing the piano and singing while we walked around in the auditorium and prayed. He had been raised up in the worship ministry, playing the

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