AUTHOR’S NOTE: The following is a recap and summary of the Summer events that I led worship for this year. My opinions and thoughts are my own and do not necessarily align with the experiences of other worship leaders, ministries, and camp staff. This is a non-exhaustive summary of events cut down for length.
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This summer was FULL of incredible opportunities for me to lead worship around the Midwest. A quick summary of places I was invited to lead worship:
-Revival Night of Worship for the Salvation Army Adult Rehab Center in Omaha, NE
-Sunday morning gatherings at Citylight Church West in Omaha, NE
-Sunday morning gatherings at Calvary Church in Muscatine, Iowa
-Sunday morning gatherings at Christ Community Church in Omaha (my church)
-Kids Camp at Camp Rivercrest in Fremont, NE
-Sunday morning gatherings at Stonebridge Church Fremont in Fremont, NE
-Pastor’s Retreat for the Wesleyan denomination’s Northwest district in Rapid City, SD
-High school camp at Covenant Cedars Camp in Hordville, NE (near Grand Island, NE)
-Middle school camp at Camp Rivercrest in Fremont, NE
-Sunday morning gathering at Westside Church Fremont in Fremont, NE
Personally, I consider Summer everything from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day from my time as a touring artist (usually “Summer Festival Season” was this same range of time in the calendar), but we can summarize what has happened so far and include a part two later if necessary. In this range of time, I’ve been blessed to be invited to lead worship for five different congregations (one of which I belong to) on Sunday mornings. I was also invited to lead worship for five incredible events: three summer camps, one pastor’s retreat, and one “revival” night of worship. Wow!
My heart in this post is not to brag on my accomplishments, however. It’s to look back and see all that God has done this summer, but even more specifically I want to share some of my observations about worship and how people reacted and received leadership from my team and myself between each of these events. I have a few major themes that seemed to overlap this summer.
nobody is impressed
Over my decade-plus of leading worship, I’ve been given more than my fair share of encouragement and words of affirmation. It’s really one of the major benefits of being a guest worship leader is that you only ever hear positive responses! But one thing that was different this year than previous years was how little I heard remarks of being “impressed”. In years past it’s been around my “talent at such a young age” or appreciation for a song I wrote and led over the course of a camp or retreat. Don’t get me wrong, I still received plenty of affirmation! But this was the first year that these remarks came irregularly enough for me to notice.
My gut reaction to this sounds a little negative: nobody is impressed. However, I actually think this is a great step that has been taken! This has taken the pressure off of me to “outdo myself” and instead guided me to simply lean on God. I don’t need to impress anybody anymore. I don’t need to hear words of affirmation every time that I lead worship. All I need to do is serve God and trust that through the fruit of the ministry I’ll hear the affirmation that God is pleased with what I am doing. What’s actually been an incredible change of pace for me this year is how much my friends who I brought with me to help lead worship received praise and encouragement. I was blessed several times to witness strangers giving my team members beautiful encouragement and thank-you’s for coming and leading. Being able to lead teams that overshadow my own personality has been seriously life-giving to me, as counter-intuitive as it sounds!
If anything, I have been the impressed one. Impressed by the people attending these events, impressed by my musicians serving alongside of me, impressed by my partner worship leaders who’ve come along and led a song or two in every worship set, and most importantly I’ve been impressed by my God who continues to be faithful and generous to provide opportunities and individuals willing to come play with me. It’s been a season of honestly just being in awe of all that God is!
Authenticity is more important than ever
When I do events I bring out full production: sound system with subs, LED lights, hazers, the whole deal. This year I felt that we had the highest production value than ever before and yet there wasn’t any more enhancement due to that level of gear than in previous years. Now, I’m one to typically defend quality production (especially quality sound systems) so don’t misunderstand me. I do still think it brought value to bring that out. However, I’ve never received so much attention and focus than when I stopped everything and just shared what was on my heart. Usually with minimal preparation.
Especially in the student events, that opportunity to just engage and share stories and scripture and teach some of the “why’s” and “how to’s” felt not only valuable but crucial. That authenticity has never been so important based on the experience I had this summer.
everyone is jaded by culture
I’m specifically thinking of one thing here: smartphones. Our devices have become our vices, and they are taking away our ability to just be in the moment. This isn’t just true for students either. I saw it on Sunday mornings leading worship and at the pastor’s retreat: somebody pulls out their phones or their neat Apple Watch to check the time. Students received their phones at the end of the week and suddenly became entirely different people. Having a phone was a major point of conversation among the men of the Salvation Army ARC. Our phones are defining our culture!
I’m never someone to simply demonize culture or trends or tools, so I won’t be so baited into it now. Can I end this post with a question for reflection? How are we as church leaders and worship leaders engaging others by utilizing these tools? How are we as fellow believers setting aside our devices in order to fully engage in the moment? Have we made a point to sacrifice our machines for the sake of our engagement to each other and to God? Have we made the effort to best utilize and redeem these little computers to the glory and honor of our savior?
This is the recap and a few observations of what I’ve seen this summer, and I’m thankful that even in some of these seemingly-negative notes there is so much hope and growth. I can’t wait to look back at Summer 2019 and see how God was shaping me, building culture, and influencing the world!
A few tangible stats and figures that were just neat to me that I thought I would share:
-I had over 40 different songs performed over the course of the summer
-I led worship 56 times over the course of 58 days (25 of those times were over the last 15 days of that stretch!)
-Almost 2000 miles traveled
-I was inspired to write two new songs this summer
-Based on the reports that I received, over 25 individuals responded to the Gospel with a commitment to follow Jesus for the first time (!!!)
-Dozens responded to opportunities to repent from sin and realign themselves with Jesus
-Six students that I can recall responded to a call to vocational ministry and are taking steps toward that pursuit
-I led worship for over 2,500 different people this summer, not including the Sunday morning leading at my own church (because counting that number just felt a little odd to me)
-One God was elevated above all other individuals, accomplishments, statistics, and goals, and His name is Jesus and this is an accomplishment that I will never get tired of sharing and celebrating
Thanks for reading, and here’s to an exciting Fall 2019!
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Kevin McClure has been leading worship in the local church for over 10 years in different capacities of student and adult ministries. As a songwriter, musical artist, and worship leader he has had the honor of touring the United States both as a performer and worship leader over the better part of the last decade. With a heart to see believers learn how to take the act of worship beyond the setting of a group gathering, Kevin is incredibly intentional with his time on and offstage to help teach the practice of worship as a lifestyle. Kevin lives in Omaha, Nebraska with his bride Hailey and his two daughters, Everleigh (8) and Eliska (2). His favorite food is coffee (lifesource), loves bonfires, and is convinced that Jesus is a Chicago Cubs fan.
Kevin McClure 