The Worship Catalyst Podcast

Every worship leader knows that building a thriving ministry takes more than musical talent. In today's episode, we're diving into six practical action items that will help you guide and grow your worship ministry with purpose and vision. Get ready to take your leadership to the next level. Season 3: Digging Deep: What Worship Leaders Need to Know From Seminary Episode 2: 6 Action Steps...

Welcome to Season 3 of the Worship Catalyst Podcast! This series is called Digging Deep, where we're uncovering essential seminary wisdom for worship leaders. In the first episode, Austin and Stephen are laying the foundation by exploring four critical insights about the Old and New Testaments that every worship leader needs to understand. Whether you're selecting songs or crafting litur...

So…you have said YES to incorporating a producer into your weekend services. Great choice! In this second episode in our producer series, we will take a dive into the kind of people you’re looking for to coordinate your services, some best practices on training them, and some tools to help you along the way. This is part 2 of 2 of these bonus episodes. Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did you enjoy th...

The time has come! We have a solution for you that will help maximize your own personal leadership gifting each and every weekend service. If you help lead a big church, small church, medium church, old church, new church or any other kind of church, this podcast is for you! The solution is to incorporate a producer, or service coordinator, onto your weekend team. In this episode, Austin sits down...

Most worship leaders struggle knowing exactly what to say between songs. It is challenging to focus on music, the congregation, the team, and their conversation with God all the while trying to say something meaningful. In this episode, Austin and Corey will talk through some simple strategies to hear from God and design simple and powerful things that will help your congregation go from attending...

In helping people encounter God as we praise Him together, it’s important that leaders, as well as people in the congregation, understand what the Bible actually says about worship. It can be overwhelming because the Bible mentions worship hundreds of times. Understanding what it means can be difficult. In fact, worship leaders and pastors have made it even more confusing. In this episode, Austin...

Sometimes church feels like a celebration…other times it feels like a funeral. In either case, it helps people encounter God when there is energy. So, where does energy come from in a service…and what can we do as leaders to help foster an energetic environment? In this episode, Austin and Corey will discuss five ways to help build more energy in your services.  Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did yo...

Are you fresh out of creative ideas for your worship services? In the last episode, Austin and Corey talked about how God made our brains to learn, urging us to use the creativity God has given us to tell His story in beautiful ways. But, where do we start? This episode gives 19 practical, simple things you can do as you plan your service, that will help your congregation encounter God. Watch the...

Have you ever wondered why some people seem disconnected in your church services? Are there some things we can do to help them encounter God? In this episode, Austin and Corey discuss how God, the great neuroscientist, made our brains to learn in miraculous ways. Understanding this can help us plan amazing services that help our congregations encounter God. Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did you enj...

What we sing matters. In this episode, Austin and Corey discuss the various aspects of song selection from tempo to topic to how your specific congregation connects to a various theme. Choosing the right songs can definitely help your congregation go from attending a service to encountering God.  Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did you enjoy this episode? Do us a favor and share with worship leaders...

There are some great ways to engage your congregation and some great ways to DISengage them. In this episode, Austin and Corey discuss seven things we sometimes do which inadvertently fight against helping our congregations encounter God.  Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did you enjoy this episode? Do us a favor and share with worship leaders & pastors around you! Also, leave a rating and review...

In helping our congregations go from attending a service to encountering God, there are two practices in the life a worship leader that are non-negotiable. In this episode, Corey Coogan and Austin Ryan discuss these simple, but vital habits: Praying specifically for our congregation to encounter God at church and knowing the congregation deeply. This episode will focus on how to do these things we...

The Worship Catalyst Podcast  Season 1: Sports & Worship Leading Episode 7: 6 Traits of Highly Effective Worship Leaders What traits do effective worship leaders need to have to lead strong? Austin and Stephen sit down in the final episode of the Sports & Worship Leading series to discuss 6 traits that they think leaders should have to be the most effective in the area God has called them....

The Worship Catalyst Podcast  Season 1: Sports & Worship Leading Episode 6: Overcoming Obstacles: Strategies for Handling Worship Service Setbacks What do you do when everything goes wrong (or just one thing) during a worship service? How are you supposed to handle those moments? Austin and Stephen share some of the obstacles they've faced while leading worship and some strategies for ove...

Season 1: Sports & Worship Leading Episode 4: Leading Effective Worship Rehearsals: Tips for Dynamic Impact What do your worship rehearsals accomplish? In this episode, Austin and Stephen discuss some really helpful tips for having the most impactful worship rehearsals! They're probably not what you think they are.  Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did you enjoy this episode? Do us a favor an...

Season 1: Sports & Worship Leading Episode 4: Inspiring Heartfelt Worship: A Guide to Engaging the Congragation Do you know the importance of engaging the congregation in worship? In this episode of the Worship Catalyst Podcast, Austin & Stephen talk about how to inspire heartfelt worship in your services and give you some practical advice on engaging the congregation.  Watch the VIDEO Pod...

Season 1: Sports & Worship Leading Episode 3: 5 Essential Strategies to Align Your Worship Team's Mission What's the mission for your worship team? Do you even have one? Are there 100 different missions depending on who you ask? In this episode of the Worship Catalyst Podcast, Austin & Stephen outline 5 strategies for getting your team to join in one mission and WHY it's imp...

Can your team be just as excellent as the mega church down the street...how about even more excellent? In this episode, Austin & Stephen discuss tips for cultivating excellence on your team.  Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did you enjoy this episode? Do us a favor and share with worship leaders & pastors around you! Also, leave a rating and review so it makes it easier for other worship lead...

Would you like to build trust on your worship team? How about any team that you lead? In this episode, Austin Ryan and co-host, Stephen Handley, sit down to discuss why building trust is important, what trust and distrust looks like, and 5 strategies to build trust on your team.  Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did you enjoy this episode? Do us a favor and share with worship leaders & pastors aro...

Do you lead worship like you are a worship leader...or a worship pastor? The dream team gives some diagnostics in this episode that will help you determine how you are approaching worship leading. It will definitely help you grow as a leader AND a pastor. ALSO Big News! The Worship Leader Essentials Podcast will now be called  THE WORSHIP CATALYST PODCAST AND we will have video available as well....

The cultural diversity in America is growing every year. How does this affect worship leaders and song selection? In this episode, the dream team discusses the value of singing in a second language and whether or not that adds value to the people in the congregation, and the mission of the church as a whole. To ask any questions about leading worship in 2 languages, or any other multi-cultural que...

There are a long list of things that worship leaders should always be doing, and we'll get into that in a future episode. But there are also 11 things worship leaders should NEVER EVER EVER do. In this episode, Austin welcomes several members of the Dream Team back in to discuss.  Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did you enjoy this episode? Do us a favor and share with worship leaders & pasto...

It's our 100th Episode!!! So, we are making this easy for you. Instead of going back and listening to all 99 episodes up to this point (which we DO recommend), we have picked out 5 of our favorite moments from the first 99 episodes...just in case you don't have time to listen to them all. This was not easy to do, but we wanted to roll back some helpful moments for you.  Watch the VIDEO P...

Have you or your work ever been criticized? It doesn't feel good! How should we respond when it happens? How can we avoid feeling criticized? These and other questions get answered in this episode as Austin welcomes the dream team back into the podcast. Watch the VIDEO Podcast HERE Did you enjoy this episode? Do us a favor and share with worship leaders & pastors around you! Also, leave a...

....and not enough in the Kingdom. During this episode, Nichole sits down with Austin Ryan & Mike Mychalczuk to discuss 7 ways to know if you're too invested in your local church and not the Kingdom of God. If you'd like to catch up on the Worship Leader Questions videos we discussed at the end of the podcast- follow @WorshipCatalyst on Instagram or Facebook ! And, for those of you w...