What is the purpose of a worship band?

Music is a big part of most people’s lives; even the non-musical recognize tunes and jingles from commercials, and it’s rare for someone to never voluntarily listen to music in any format. Music is also central to a church service. Many churches call their services “worship services”, and many people equate worship to singing and making music.

I believe worship is much more than just music, but that’s a separate discussion. Right now, I want to consider the purpose of music in worship.

Playing on a worship team

I play various instruments on worship teams at church, and as such, was involved in a discussion last month about the things we were doing right and things that could be improved on. As follow-up, someone e-mailed a link to some YouTube videos by worship leader Paul Baloche that raised some interesting points, as well as many that I disagree with.

Playing at Yorkview

Shortly after we moved to Newmarket, Jen and I decided on attending Yorkview Community Church, and it wasn’t long before I started playing for worship. I actually got recruited by my friend Andrew at a 20’s and 30’s event; he found out I played piano since I was playing Pat Metheny tunes on the table during dinner.