“I’m convinced we need to band together a little bit and encourage one another.”

Jason Rivers
Special to Spur Ottawa

Worship ministry involves a lot of invisible challenges. Leaders often have little help as they face practical hurdles (like managing a dozen volunteers) and spiritual issues (like helping congregants engage). Local veteran worship ministers have come together to forge Core Worship—connecting with and supporting the worship leaders of Ottawa.

Care Baldwin and Jason McNabb founded Core Worship shortly after leading a workshop for worship leaders at the CAPITALYZE Conference, in January. McNabb serves as the Pastor of Worship and Creative Arts at the Metropolitan Bible Church, while Baldwin leads the growing worship ministry at Sequoia Community Church in Barrhaven.

“Jason and I have been involved in other city-wide worship initiatives in the past and kept coming back to the need to connect with other leaders in the city,” says Baldwin. “Last summer, we met at coffee shops frequently and both felt God was leading us in the same direction, but we spent time in prayer and scripture discerning God’s vision for Core Worship.”

“Our hope is to see some space created for fellowship, prayer, and encouragement as we serve alongside one another.”

The pair made Hebrews 10:24 and 25 the foundation of Core Worship, focusing on their goal to encourage others called to worship ministry and “spurring one another on”.

They set a three-pronged approach for Core Worship. First, they launched the Core Worship podcast, where they discuss practical insights for worship ministry and ministry philosophy and theology. The podcast is released bi-weekly and is available on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The second prong is to host local gatherings for worship ministry leaders.

“Our hope is to see some space created for fellowship, prayer, and encouragement as we serve alongside one another in our region,” McNabb says. “There is no need for competition among ourselves—we are brothers and sisters in Christ, gifted and called according to His purposes.”

The third prong is a vision to equip worship ministry leaders through seminars, conferences, and workshops.

Care Baldwin speaks to other worship leaders at the 2016 Ottawa Worship Collective winter gathering. Photo from Facebook.

“Wherever the Lord opens up the opportunity,” McNabb continues, “we look forward to providing teaching that worship ministry leaders will find uplifting and applicable for them as they faithfully engage in the work of ministry.”

Speaking about the uniqueness of worship ministry on the pilot episode of the podcast, McNabb said, “Almost no one knows the kinds of things, the pressures and the different demands, that are part of my ministry. They appreciate it, but it’s very difficult for them to understand what it takes to bring things together and work with, in our case, hundreds of volunteers. Whether you’re in a large context, or a medium or small context, it’s not really about the size, but the type of ministry work that we do. It’s really unique in the scope of church ministry. I’m just convinced that we need to band together a little bit, you know, arm in arm, and encourage one another.”

Many worship leaders serve in the role as a volunteer. The Core Worship podcast aims to speak to challenges and pitfalls of the worship leader role. The pair say topics for future podcasts include how to connect with people, team dynamics, preparing for the service, the audition process, and the weight of the role of worship leader.

“We have been so grateful for the conversations we have shared with people in the trenches of worship ministry who have expressed appreciation for the work we are doing,” McNabb says. “Some have shared a similar burden that the worship-leading ministries of our region become more connected. Others [thanked us] for some helpful nugget of truth we highlighted in a workshop or gathering. We look forward to being able to establish more connections with worship-ministry leaders in our region and beyond.”