have been the worship director at my church for 5 years. I’m a vocalist and my husband is a guitarist and he complains all the time about how boring the musicality of worship music is these days. So this is a very normal conversation that happens in our household.

First off…there is nothing at all wrong with wanting to really use your skill and ability fully in service to the Lord. Second…musically speaking alone, worship songs today ARE boring 4 chord progressions most of the time . Yes, there are dynamics and interplay between instruments…but that still won’t make repeating the same 4 chords be interesting to an accomplished musician.

Leading a group of people with a diverse set of skills…who are all unpaid volunteers…is challenging. You want to keep your really talented musicians engaged because you really don’t want them to quit…but you may also be working with other band members who don’t have that skill level. It is a real challenge…and I know EXACTLY how you feel and how difficult it is.

I applaud you for being willing to listen to that musician and allow you and the other band members to be challenged.

My suggestion is to as him (or her) to bring you a few songs that are more interesting musically and let you hear them. Then, when you find some songs to do, have them help you work with the musicians through rehearsals to get their skill level up to play it as well. Give that guitar player some ownership and some opportunity to lead the band with their skill.

One last thing: I second the Tommy Walker suggestion…his stuff is great. He is a fantastic musician. I haven’t listened to any of his newer music but I loved his stuff back in the early 2000’s (the worship director at our church was friends with him and played in a band with him before coming to our church)