What is Worship Leader Academy, and Who is it For?
I’ve been asked the question several times, “What does a worship leader do all week, anyway?” If your mind races with the right thing to say, because you know there is so much more to it than people realize, this site is for you. You know that there is a never-ending to do list of planning things out, working with volunteers, trying to engage a congregation, and dealing with all sorts of things that just pop up out of nowhere..
Hi, I’m Stephen, and my goal is to provide the best resources for your “week to week” so you can revitalize your ministry, top to bottom. More specifically, I want to help you:
Improve your leadership
Improve your planning and processes to create free time
Work with your leadership well, so that you are empowered to lead
Help define your ministry vision
Inspire your volunteers toward being prepared and committed
Avoid the snares of burn-out so you can love what you do
Engage a congregation toward worshipping whole-heartedly
About Stephen
I love to help others, and I love leading worship! In fact, I’m currently a Worship Arts Pastor at a church of around 2,000. Over the past 20 years, I’ve led worship and developed teams for several large churches, several church plants, over 35 youth camps, worship development conferences, mission conferences around the US, and international conferences in Europe, Asia, and South America.
More recently, I’ve had some really fun opportunities, such as organizing a choir for a Chris Tomlin concert and being the go-to worship leader for the driver’s chapel at Bristol Motor Speedway on race day!
You may have come across some of my Worship Guitar Lessons, which have been viewed over 4 million times now!
I’m sure I haven’t seen it all, but I’ve seen a lot! As a pastor’s kid, I grew up in the church and started leading worship for my youth group in the mid-nineties. While I was getting my feet wet with leading worship, I was also performing with the band that was the predecessor to Building 429 and Adam Cunningham (recent Voice finalist).
However, after college, I knew that my calling was to lead worship in the local church. Since then, I’ve worked directly with 7 churches. That means, I’ve worked with a lot of lead pastors, all sorts of volunteers (whew!), and all sorts of congregations!
When I started full-time at my current church 8 years ago, I thought I had it all figured out… I was wrong! I inherited a staff culture, a volunteer team, and a congregation! I learned the hard way, having a good vision wasn’t enough. Being a good musician wasn’t enough. Having a servant’s heart wasn’t enough! I had a lot of work to do.
However, in time, I discovered that there is a science of great leadership, fantastic volunteers, and a worshipping congregation. Today, I can honestly say that I don’t worry at all about my volunteers showing up ready. I haven’t had a no-show in years (and I don’t even send reminders)! My lead pastor and I have a great working relationship, and my church ranked “God Exalting Worship” as the top key strength of the church in a spiritual survey 2 years after I arrived.
I’ve turned that “science” into tools that I want to share with you to help you become a better worship leader, and I hope you always continue to grow yourself and your ministry!
-Stephen Mann
