Rich Worship Leaders....hmmmm

Hey all

Hope this finds you all well.

A while ago I was at a wedding where I bumped into some old friends. We spent a wee bit of time catching up and during the conversation it came to light that they thought I was a full-time worship leader worth at least a million pounds. I was subject to quite a bit of ‘banter’ during which time there were quite a few negative comments made about worship leaders and money. It got me thinking about what people really think about worship leaders as it seems to me that there are a few myths!.

We are not all rich! In fact, it is probably important for me to state that myself and the band take no money from what we do. We’ve spent the entire year leading worship across Ireland, the UK, Canada and the USA playing songs from our new album (and other songs). This is the third album that I have recorded with a record company (Survivor Records). And throughout the entire year, we have taken absolutely no money. Not a ha’penny! We have earned some money through selling CDs and honorariums however every penny of this has been reinvested back into what we feel called to do….leading God’s people in worship, encouraging other worship leaders/musicians and supporting local church (particularly our own).

I have heard about how some worhsip leaders have made a lot of money from writing songs that are sung across the world. And I have heard them be criticised for this. However, I want to state that the worship leaders that I know do this because they love God and love the church…not because they want to get rich.

I remember writing my first worship song. I didn’t know it was called a ‘worship song’. I didn’t know there was such a thing as ‘worship album’ let alone a ‘worship industry’. I wrote the song as an expression of my love for the Father. It felt really natural…not forced or contrived. We sang it in the wee church that I was going to at the time and there was no other agenda.

The songs that we write now come from the same place….a personal, intimate desire to please and glorify the father. Some of them remain in the living room and some of them get sung at our church. They are all significant. We desperately want to obey and worship God and we are committed to edifying the local body. This is why we do what we do…(plus we love playing and listening to music!!)

We don’t do this to get rich. If we did we would have stopped many many years ago. We do it for the Father. We do it to see His people encouraged, stimulated and challenged. We all hold down jobs. That’s what pay the bills. We do this in our spare time and take no money from it…because we love it and feel called to it. And we don’t want to stop. And you know what….it’s actually tough sometimes because we would LOVE to be fully realeased into this. We would love to be free to fully invest our time into our gifting. However just because that isn’t possible right now, it doesn’t mean we love the Father less or are less committed! We will still be faithful and do what we are called to do.

And even as I am typing this now, I have a smile on my face because it still excites me. I still love the Father and I love leading others in worship. I feel free doing what I do.

I would really encourage you to continue to pray for us….for our protection, guidance, courage etc and that we can continue to remain faithful to the calling God has on our lives in times of plenty and in times of need.

Bless you

Johnny