January 9-12, 2025 marked the third installment of the Salvation Army Worship Leaders Conference, bringing together delegations of corps and divisional worship leaders from all four U.S. territories as well as Canada and Bermuda. Hosted at the Eastern Territorial Headquarters, this event is one of three annually rotating national music conferences, alongside the National DMD Conference and the North American Composers Forum.
The theme for this year’s Worship Leaders Conference was Hope and Anticipation, highlighting the joy and excitement we feel in being faithful to God’s calling in ministry.
The planners for this conference (Simon Gough from Canada, Victor Morales-Suazo from USA East, Reggie Brooks from USA Central, Kevin Larsson from USA West, and Josh Powell from USA South) hope that delegates will return to their home corps equipped with new techniques for leading congregational worship and with a renewed sense of awe surrounding this holy vocation
Our general sessions included powerful times of sung worship followed by guest speakers who presented on topics of universal importance for any in ministry. Session speakers included John Copeland (USA East), Capt. Callum McKenna (United Kingdom Territory), and Erin Morgan (USA East). Our times of worship were led by NEON (the newly christened territorial Worship Team from the Canada/Bermuda territory), Sheena Marquis (USA South), and UNBOUND (USA East).
One of the highlights of the week was a hymn-sing program Saturday night led by Reggie Brooks. Delegates were given the opportunity to choose a worship song that was meaningful to them, share a personal testimony, and then we would corporately sing the chosen song together. There were some beautiful testimonies shared of the boundless grace of our loving God. In connecting a testimony to a song, it allows the entire group to join the one in celebrating victory in Jesus. While the evening was a wonderful time of worship, it also demonstrated a program that can be easily replicated in their home corps or divisions by these worship leader delegates.
In between general sessions, delegates attended workshops on various worship-related topics. Examples of these classes include Leading Intentionally, Church Sound Expectations, Seamless Transitions, Using Tracks in Worship, Playing Keys Instead of Piano, Letting the Spirit Lead, and others. There were also instrument specific breakouts where delegates could discover new techniques related to their individual instrument. As an example, guest instructor Nik King from the UK provided a fresh understanding of how to approach modern chord voicings for worship piano.
Another segment that was highly regarded by many through the weekend was a Songwriter’s Show-n-Tell that took place on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Songwriting has been a priority of the Territorial Music Secretaries in recent years. While there are certainly entire catalogs of contemporary worship music available these days, we feel strongly that the Salvation Army needs to continue writing songs inspired by our unique perspectives on evangelism and holiness. The Songwriting Show-n-Tell segments at the Worship Leaders Conference gave delegates an opportunity to share a song they have been working on. Faculty writers Sheena Marquis and Reggie Brooks then provided valuable feedback and recommendations for how to fine-tune these compositions. Simon Gough (Canada/Bermuda) was also on hand to provide direction for how to submit these songs to Salvation Worship, a resource-creation avenue from the Canadian music department for publishing and producing Salvationist contemporary worship songs. It is truly a blessing to see the creativity of God reflected in the passions of these delegates!
This year’s iteration of the Salvation Army Worship Leaders Conference was a big step forward for the event. We are grateful for the support and investment by our respective territories, and we hope these delegate leaders are better equipped to impact the quality of worship in our home corps. As we announced at the end of this conference, we are already looking forward to the next Worship Leaders Conference in January 2028!
“The Worship Leaders Conference is always a blessing to me personally and God has always done even more than we had expected each time we have held the conference. This year we were challenged, encouraged and given a firm biblical perspective on how we can go back to our congregations and give them the opportunity to experience God in our congregational worship settings.” – Simon Gough – Canada & Bermuda Territory
