Worship is one of the most important parts of being a Christian.

Together as the body of Christ, we come together to offer our praise, prayer, adoration and thanksgiving, (just some of the elements that make up worship).

This helps us build each other up in our fellowship as we share one with another.

Within the Methodist Church our worship is led by a minister or local preacher, and recently worship leaders have been introduced.

The role of the worship leader is to consult with the preacher and find out the theme and important points of the service. Then to pick the hymns, psalms, prayers, built around the theme.

The worship leader usually leads worship within their local congregation. The benefits of this is that they are aware of all the up to date situations, who is ill, in hospital, bereaved, celebrating a special event, all the special concerns can be incorporated in the service. Often the local preacher is from another church and would have no prior knowledge of any local happenings. The worship leader can make worship more personal.

To lead God's people in worship is both a great responsibility and a wonderful joy. To be able to serve the Lord in this way, to feel called to worship leading is something to be taken after much prayer, and reflection, but to answer positively will bring much blessing.