Recently Baylor hosted the annual Alleluia Church Music Conference which draws several hundred music and worship leaders to the campus each summer for training, inspiration, and enrichment. This summer, in an effort to nurture the next generation of worship leaders, we started a new event – Baylor Worship Lab – in which a dynamic group of high school worship leaders came to our campus to spend three days with David Crowder, Leslie Jordan, Shaun Groves, Robbie Seay, and a talented team of Baylor students. I was asked to speak to the students about worship leaders of the future and I believe the projections I mentioned might be helpful for all of us – young and old. Music leaders of the future will be people who . . .
…value worship diversity – musically, artistically, and culturally. The days of dividing into separate worship services based on style and preference are limited. The church will be seeking out leadership who embrace musical diversity – they love many styles and genres of music and eagerly accept them as good and beautiful. Similarly, they are at home with many artistic expressions, and they will find ways to incorporate them into worship. In the same way, they are open to all cultures, and they will find ways to draw from both world cultures and the varied cultures of their own local context.