SINGAPORE, 19 NOVEMBER 2008 — LEADING PEOPLE into the presence of God is not a talent simply inborn, as some people believe. It’s an art acquired through much practice and experience. The elective “The Art of Worship Leading”, taught by City Harvest Church worship leaders Annabel Soh and Alison Yap, was designed to impart crucial pointers to equip individuals in this area.
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This particular elective saw an overwhelming response even in the registration process. On the first day of Asia Conference, there were people turned away from the door because the room was packed to capacity. Despite the cramped environment, the crowd buzzed with excitement even before the session started.
Soh kicked off with a little getting-to-know-you session. There were many overseas delegates, but there were also some participants who came from local churches outside of City Harvest Church. Some attendees present were existing song leaders in their respective churches, some were in charge of song leading in their cell groups, while some were merely attending to learn more for interest’s sake.
The brief interaction session and prayer by Soh and Yap warmed up the attendees successfully. Soh taught on the vital characteristics of a song leader, while Yap delivered technical advice and imparted practical tips to the delegates. People familiar with this song-leading duo got to see a different side of them — their lighthearted one. Their teachings were often interspersed with jokes and hilarious examples and experiences that cracked the participants up.
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| PHOTOS: Tan Song Kow |
The lesson was over in 40 minutes and the remaining twenty minutes was allocated for a question and answer session. The participants were curious about many things such as how Yap and Soh as worship leaders chose songs for any particular service’s praise and worship sessions.
Other queries — how they protected their voices, or how they engage a church congregation during church worship, and how they became worship leaders — surfaced during the question and answer segment. Attendees walked away, blessed to have gleaned so much advice from two very experienced and anointed worship leaders, and to put their newly-learned skills to practice.
