I hear this question a lot – “How can we modernize our worship?”

And I believe that’s the wrong question.

“Modernize” can be a dangerous word. When you “modernize” something you make it current, new, follow the trend. But that actually may be the opposite of what you really want, especially if your efforts at modernizing alienate the people you serve.

Modern doesn’t always equal better.

I’ve noticed this at my church over the last year. As we’ve added more production elements and pushed the boundaries of our sound, not everyone has been on board. It’s an interesting test. We could do the same song in two different ways – one garners a lot of congregation engagement and the other produces blank stares.

Your goal as a worship leader isn’t to be creative to the exclusion of engagement. Participation will always win the day. Always.

A better question is, “How can we make our worship fresh?”

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