Nobody Trained Us for This. A Conversation with Alex Enfiedjian.

 Alex Enfiedjian is the founder of Worship Ministry Training, a podcast and online school that has trained over 25,000 worship leaders globally and passed a million downloads.

He started it at 28 years old partly because he did not want to be a nobody.

That is the ugly origin story he shared with me. And I love him for it because it is exactly the kind of honesty this community needs more of.

God uses even the misdirected stuff

Alex was honest about the fact that some of what drove him to build Worship Ministry Training was pride. He did not want to fade into obscurity. He wanted to build something that lasted.

And I get that completely.

There is a real pressure as an entrepreneur to create something that lasts and that matters. And if I am being honest, doing the worship leader church thing can almost feel like settling for the easy way out when you have bigger dreams pulling at you.

But here is what I have come to believe. God uses all things for good. Even if some of our drive and grit is initially misdirected, if we keep following God in it He will do with it what He wants. He puts these ideas in our minds and hearts. And like it says in Proverbs, He will order our steps.

Alex's pride led him to build something that has now helped 25,000 worship leaders do their jobs better. That is God ordering steps.

Nobody told me what to do when I got there

Alex talked about the gap that exists in how we equip worship leaders. The church identifies someone with musical gifting, puts them on stage, and basically says good luck.

I lived that.

When I got my first worship position after volunteering in the band for about two years I specifically remember our very first team rehearsal. I was sitting in the seats before practice like I always had. And then all of a sudden the guy who had been leading looked at me and said well, are you going to start?

And in that moment I thought, okay. I guess I need to figure out what I am supposed to do now.

A lot of my earlier years were spent trying to figure out how to not just lead to appease the people above me or copy what the previous leader did, but to develop my own rhythms with my own team. And in my experience that never fully arrives. We are constantly learning and growing along the way. Which is exactly why a resource like Worship Ministry Training exists and why it matters.

Social media has set the bar and the bar is wrong

Alex talked about how worship leaders look to Instagram instead of the Bible to figure out what they are supposed to be doing. And I think he is right.

Social media has set the bar subconsciously for what success in ministry looks like. The top five or ten percent of worship ministries with the biggest budgets and the biggest stages and the most polished content are influencing everyone else. But here is the irony. No one is actually doing ministry like that. That content is the highlight reel of a tiny fraction of worship leaders and yet it is what all of us are measuring ourselves against.

I do feel a shift coming though. I think we are starting to let go of that lens and lean into where God has us in our local church instead of basing things off what the internet says we should be doing. That is a healthy move. It just takes time and it takes intentionality.

Relationship first. Output second.

When I asked Alex what the most practical thing a worship leader can do to lead better his answer was simple.

Relationship first. Output second.

Know your team. Walk with your team. Obedience over excellence.

When those things are in place all the other stuff falls into place too. The set lists, the production, the rehearsal rhythms. All of it flows better when the relational foundation is strong.

That is not a new idea. But it is one we need to keep hearing because the pressure to perform and produce is loud and constant. And the antidote is always going to be people over product.

When inspiration becomes imposter syndrome

The thing I keep coming back to from this conversation is the comparison piece.

The ironic part is that the big impressive posts we all see on social media are what we are feeling insecure, inspired, and informed by all at the same time. And the reality is that no one is actually doing ministry like that top five or ten percent yet it is influencing everyone.

Feeling encouraged by what others are doing is healthy. When it leads to imposter syndrome that is when we have gone too far.

The goal is to see what others are doing and let it raise your ceiling without lowering your confidence. Stay in your lane. Serve your church. Lead your people. Let God handle the rest.

Nobody trained us for this. But God called us to it anyway. And that is enough.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: [link]

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