At Crossroads, part of my role is to lead worship on Sunday mornings. Responsibilities include choosing what songs we sing, putting together a presentation of those songs, guiding a band through music, and then leading the congregation in song. Unfortunately, that can carry some baggage.

What do I mean by baggage?

I am sad to say that many other people who do this very same position are trying to make a production. Even more than that, they are trying to recreate songs they hear on Christian Radio or CD’s of our nations top worship songwriters like David Crowder and Chris Tomlin. This has grown to the point where people are almost expecting to hear us mimicking others. Just this past week I was asked while visiting some college friends in Cincinnati who we were trying to be like as a band.

Not the case for Crossroads.

One thing that I try hard to do is to make an authentic experience for both our artists and the people who sing to God with us. Though my success rate is not 100%, that is one of our goals. I want to use people’s gifts in any way possible. That means they may need to change their style to fit us, and it also means we may need to change our style to fit them. We are not trying to sound like anyone else other than Crossroads.

We have a guy who plays amazing bass, both electric and concert. This means that we are able to play songs completely different when he pulls out the giant upright bass. The sound is different, and we can tailor the music to that.

I could be wrong, but I think people would much rather enjoy an authentic experience that does not sound as good as a reproduced song that sounds great. Am I wrong? Please share your thoughts.