BEST BOOKS FOR WORSHIP LEADERS
As a musician, I always enjoy walking up to a stage at a church or a concert and looking at the gear that’s being used. It’s my way of geeking out. And as you may know, if you ask any guitar player about their pedal board, they can spend hours talking about why they have chosen their particular pieces of gear. The gear they choose creates the tone that they love within each song.
This is my “pedal board” of favorite books and tools for worship leaders. I hope you find it helpful.
BEST BOOKS ON WORSHIP
Christ-Centered Worship: Bryan Chappell
This book gives an overview of Christian worship throughout history, and across time and culture. It then provides a helpful description of the biblical attributes that are present in all Christian worship. (Check out my article on worship planning and design based on Chappell’s concepts.)
Rhythms of Grace: Mike Cosper
Cosper covers the same material as Christ-Centered Worship but it is an easier read and highly practical for designing worship services.
Ancient Future Worship: Robert Webber
Webber introduces the idea that Christian worship is about hearing, responding, and telling the story of God. This book demonstrates how past traditions can still shape modern worship services. (Here’s another article based on this concept.)
Worship Matters: Bob Kauflin
This is a great starter book for worship leaders. It covers a broad range of topics.
You Are What You Love: James K.A. Smith
Smith illustrates how we are primarily driven by our desires and how God uses worship to re-form and change us.
Worship Words: Debra Rienstra and Ron Reinstra
This book examines the words we use in worship and how to communicate effectively to our audience. (Learn how to speak effectively during worship)
For the Beauty of the Church: David O. Taylor
Gives a wonderful picture of what it looks like to cultivate the talents of artists in the church. It details the benefit to the church when artists are allowed to use their gifts fully during worship.
BEST BOOKS ON CREATIVITY
Steal Like An Artist: Austin Kleon
This book helps creative people navigate “imposter syndrome”. It gives creatives permission to gather ideas from other people and make them their own.
The Creative Habit: Twyla Tharp
Instructs in how to develop habits and systems that will cultivate new ideas and creativity.
Made To Stick: Chip Heath and Dan Heath
This book teaches how to make information and experiences “sticky” so that they are memorable and make a bigger impact on the audience.
Taking Flight with Creativity: Len Wilson and Jason Moore
Wilson and Moore show how to put together a creative team for worship. They instruct in who should be on the team, what roles are needed, and more.
BEST WORSHIP PLANNING RESOURCE BOOKS
This resource is full of calls to worship, prayers, and other spoken elements that help make a rich, formative worship. It has a searchable .pdf that is great for finding prayers and scriptures that go along with the theme of a Sunday or a season.
The Complete Topical Guide to the Bible:
For those leading worship in churches where the preaching is topical, this tool helps you research a topical word and find scriptures that speak to that particular topic. It gives ideas on how that topic can be integrated into the worship service between songs, or to help you think about what songs are related to that topic that should be sung.
Commentaries: Okay, so this is for those worship leaders who are ready to go to the next level. It takes time, but a worship leader who has studied the same scriptures as the main teacher is going to be more equipped to plan corporate worship. The extra study should ensure that the worship works side by side, complements, and enhances what is preached. Be careful! You could end up becoming a teaching pastor or preacher! That’s what happened to me.
This commentary series is a middle ground between a sermon and an in-depth study. It also does a great job of making Jesus the main focus of the text.
These are not in-depth commentaries, but are great at distilling the main truths of a passage and making really practical applications from the teachings.
NIV Life Application Commentaries
My first in-depth studies were with these commentaries, so they hold a special place in my heart. First, they do a great job of explaining what the original author most likely intended, and what the original audience would have understood. Second, they also detail differences to be attentive to between the time of the origin of the text and now. Third, these commentaries offer suggestions on how the scriptures are to be applied by God’s people today.
I know that there are tons more resources out there, but these are a few of the major ones that have made an impact on me as a worship leader.
