Dear my next potential worship leader

(Note: This was written by an Acts 29 planter in North Hollywood. It resonated with me. A true, raw, hilarious call to the mission of Jesus that is messy, unpredicatable and often uncomfortable - yet incredibly satisfying and joy-filled. )

Dear my next potential worship leader,

We are a new-ish church plant in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood called Tribe. We are also going to be losing our current worship leader in 2 months. I know you’re probably out there looking for churches that need someone to lead worship ANYWHERE but Los Angeles. Why, I don’t know. We have the kind of weather that says, ‘Jesus loves you so much, it’s 75 degrees in December’. We have the Lakers. We have Intelligensia coffee. We get all the limited release films in our theaters, and all the best bands playing at our clubs. Kevin Bacon lives here, whom you are only six degrees separated from. Ben Stiller, Snoop Dogg and Janet Jackson all have homes here, and I just saw Bruce Willis driving in Malibu.

We also have a tremendous amount of brokenness. We have a lot of prostitutes, who were once little girls with the wrong kind of men in their lives. We have a lot of gang members, who were once little boys with the right kind of men absent from their lives. We have an innumerable amount of people who moved here to make it in “The Industry”, only to meet with limited success and/or ultimate rejection. We have a large homosexual population in NoHo as well as a lot of starving artists who don’t tithe. We are also the only church in the Arts District remotely orthodox. It’s us, two mainline, pro-gay, female led churches, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Catholic church and the two Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender churches in our area.

Fact: San Diego has nicer weather, a better vibe and a cleaner city. Fact: Orange County is just nicer all around (which is why every car has a Jesus fish on the bumper sticker). Fact: It is hard, expensive, and much more difficult to live in Los Angeles. Fact: You might be called to do hard things.

I’m looking for a potential worship leader who knows what it means to lead worship. Not a guitar player or a good singer (though those are welcome, and evidences of a gifting in leadership). I’m looking for a man who can lead a congregation to their God week after week. I’m looking for a man who knows how to use worship as a witness to the Non christians in church on any given week. I’m looking for a godly, gifted leader who lives the gospel, loves people, and limits the alliteration.

In order to not rob you of your treasure in heaven, the financial remuneration is minimal. Such as we have, we give to thee, but paychecks might come in the form of dinner on Friday, change from the couch, and free tickets to the Dodgers game.

in order to not leave you in the dark, I will also commit to personally taking an interest in and discipling you. Whatever resources I or my family has at our disposal we will leverage to get you out here and settled. I will pray for you regularly. I will seek to develop already existing skills and work with you in areas you want to grow in. I will spend time with you, facilitate community to love and support you, and I will come to your house to drink your beer.

My current worship leader leaves in October of this year, so I’m looking to get you out here soon. I will need someone willing to be bi-vocational until the church grows. if you are looking for something hard, but fulfilling, consider North Hollywood.