Serving the Worship Leader: Jimmie Ingram

My name is Jimmie Ingram, I’ve been playing music for 20 years and professionally for about 15 years now. Prior to joining up with Aaron Ivey, I was a worship leader at First Assembly of God church in Freeport, Tx. I have also taught guitar lessons at local music shop and played at a few other churches in Houston. Those years were incredibly formative for me as a leader and a follower of other leaders. Although I made a lot of mistakes along the way, I learned a lot of valuable lessons from working under a great pastor, leading a group of volunteers and working a vocational job. After 5 years of living in Freeport, I met Aaron and after series of events became friends and joined the band. We soon moved to Nashville and began playing Disciple Nows, camps and various other events. Our friendships as brothers were really shaped in the 5 years we spent in Nashville and on the road together. Through these years God stirred in us, a love for the local church which lead us to The Austin Stone Community Church. So with all that said, the opinions and advice I have about how to serve your worship pastor are heavily shaped by all these prior events and life experiences.

General Ways To Serve Our Worship Pastor

1. Always come to rehearsals and services prepared – Know the material, have charts prepared, etc.
2. Be Creative/Have Ideas – Listen to lots of different music and have a wide vocabulary of ideas to pull from.
3. Trouble Shooting – Know your gear well enough to make small repairs and how to get through the service without something that you may normally rely on.
4. Be Reliable – If you’ve been given a task, take ownership of it and make sure it gets done well. Be prompt and on time.
5. Look For Areas To Serve – If you see something that continues to be overlooked, then look for solutions on to take care of it or get help taking care of it if need be. We should constantly look for things we can do to better serve our leaders and band members.

Ways to Serve Relationally

1. Have a good attitude – attitudes are extremely contagious.
2. Be sensitive to moments – There are times to have fun and times to be focused, both are important. We need both of these aspects in a good relationship, so use discernment and wisdom on the proper times for these things.
3. Have solutions, not problems – Look for solutions to problems or things being created. Anyone can be negative and find flaws. We should work hard to find and create solutions. This is far more helpful and encouraging to our leaders.

Advantages of Our Leaders Being Served Well

1. They can focus on leading the church and their band in things that are important, instead of being pulled in a lot of other directions with other tasks that may detract from what they are supposed to be doing.
2. They’re able to be more relaxed and better enjoy operating in their gift as a worship leader.
3. Helps them have a better quality of life all around. They can better enjoy their families, community and work. In turn they’re better leaders to the church because things are in balance.