A worship leader's vision for his servant-led team

My name is Luke.  I am just another guy on this little planet.  I'm going to take a leap and say, like almost everyone, I am proud of many things in my life.  Also, maybe like everyone else, I know I can count more flaws in myself than the things I am proud of.  I'm not trying to be bleak; rather, I'm just trying to be honest.  I am attesting to the truth that I am not perfect and, in contrast to what people may think of me, many times I serve in brokenness.  Yes, I am confident in His saving grace and sanctifying work in me.  I am also equally confident that dying to myself will be a struggle until I take my last breath.  My intention is to preface with:  I am humbled to be used by God and that a team of people are willing to serve under me faithfully and usually with a smile.

I cannot express enough gratefulness for you.  Your service to our local church in worship is one of the main reasons why I continue to serve as the worship leader.  Because you have served so faithfully, it has been my attempt to constantly be transparent with you about my vision, my expectations... my heart.  I am sure several of you have heard this before - some more in-depth and others in a 'Cliff Note' version - but I feel I should take a moment to briefly share again how I feel about what we do in worship.

My Vision
My vision of our worship might be summed up in three points:

1. Ascribe worth to God - to account and give credit to our incredible God and His Son, Jesus Christ, by proclaiming His greatness, His character, and revealing the mystery of the Gospel.
2. Edify the body of Christ - to instruct and improve on our understanding 
3. Prepare hearts for the message.

Most of all, my vision for myself and the team rests deeper within point #2 - Edify the body of Christ.  I believe our purpose in edifying the body goes beyond instructing and improving our understanding of God, but we should be also equipping the body to carry these songs with them, such that we become unnecessary.  As Keith Getty shared with me, I will be a successful worship leader when two things happen: (1) the congregation is able to sing to its utmost ability and (2) I become irrelevant.

I need to become irrelevant and I hope you can see this in me.  How do I accomplish this?  By gracefully and gratefully serving you, purposefully equipping you to become the worship leaders.  Furthermore, as you become the worship leaders, you also become irrelevant by equipping the rest of the body - the congregation - to be their own worship leaders, taking on the ability and confidence to praise our God independently and daily.

So, this leads me to My Expectations.

These are my expectations of ME: to listen to you, to be humble, to be approachable, to encourage your development, and to lead in grace and truth.  

These are my expectations of YOU: to listen to each other, to give feedback, to be honest, to sing with joy, to show joy.  You are the extension of me - as worship leaders yourselves - to lead the congregation and to teach them how to joyfully and truthfully express yourself in worship.  If there is anything I think you should take away from this, it is the phrases "Get them ready!" and "It's not an easy task," something I heard this from another leader.  We are charged to get the congregation ready to receive the message; it's not easy.  Thankfully, this is a team adventure and team goal.  We're in this together.

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Again, I am humbled that I am able to serve and, I must repeat, that I know my time as your worship leader is only temporary.  It is my hope and prayer that the best of me may be transferred to you and that anything less is ignored and disregarded.  Thank you again for serving and for teaching me how to be a better leader.  I hope you feel valued by me and valued by the team.

Your brother in Christ,
~Luke