The View from the Stage

What it's like to tour, perform and be campus-famous as a member of Liberty University's Worship Collective.

The Worship Collective performs on stage with state-of-the-art technology to make sure every event is exciting. (From: https://www.facebook.com/LibertyUWorshipCollective/)

Thor. Thor-Jesus. Jud.

Judson Harris, a senior and singer for the Worship Collective, (Liberty University’s official worship band) has accumulated many nicknames over his years of leading worship at Liberty. Some are light-hearted, but Harris wants to discourage others.

“When you walk into the [cafeteria] and people look up at you or say something like: ‘what’s up Thor-Jesus,’ … it’s not a nickname I want propagated at all,” Harris said.

Nicknames weren’t the only unexpected aspect of being in the Worship Collective for Harris. Although he had led worship in youth group before, he was unprepared for the scale of the crowds at Convocation, the bi-weekly meeting of Liberty students.

“The first time I [led worship], I was outside-of-my-brain scared,” Harris said.

With time, the scale of Convocation became more normal for him, but how many college students can say they got used to playing regularly in front of thousands of their peers?

The performances of the Liberty Worship Collective are visible to the whole campus, but most students don’t see the level of discipline and commitment needed to be in the Collective, let alone the consequences of being a familiar face to a campus of over 13,000 students.

“There’s so much pressure, you’re forced to grow. You either grow or you flop,”

The heavy time commitment that comes with being in the Collective seems to be one of the most difficult aspects of taking part in the group.

“Most of the time, you don’t have long to study because you’re always doing something. You’re either playing a session, in the car, or setting up or tearing down,” said Russell Wofford, a guitarist for the Collective.

MaryCallie Lamons, another singer for the Collective, purposely takes all online classes because balancing residential courses and leading worship is a difficult task. For many members, this isn’t an option, though.

“A lot of it depends on grace from the professors, because there will be times you’re on the road and the Wi-Fi goes out, or your flight is delayed, or you can’t get to Wi-Fi,” Lamons said.

For any given Convocation, Harris said the Collective shows up around 8 a.m. and stays until at least 12:30 p.m. He said that on average, there are about 2.5 hours of rehearsal for every event the Collective does.

“It’s a lot like some extra [volunteer] hours, but we get scholarships, so we’re really grateful for that,” Harris said.

The Worship Collective has begun to write and release their own music in the past few years.

Other members of the Collective said that balancing the load takes serious organization. Wofford likes to think of his playing as a full-time job, and Harris said that the students who balance their schedules the best are fantastic at planning.

“There’s so much pressure, you’re forced to grow. You either grow or you flop,” Lamons said.

Along with complicated scheduling, members of the Collective have to deal with feeling like outsiders after spending lots of time away from campus.

“The challenge is: ‘how do I miss so much time at Liberty and still feel like I am a part of what is going on at Liberty?’” Harris said.

For Wofford, making time with friends outside of the Worship Collective is a priority. Lamons goes to exercise classes at the fitness center to hang out with other students and Harris strategically plans dinners to connect with friends off the stage.

There are tight bonds within the Collective, too, partially because students in the group can all relate to these struggles.

“We try to push the sense of being a family,” said Harris.

This isn’t a family of all worship majors, though. Harris said that the diverse majors and giftings of students within the Collective help them branch out and be active in their academic circles as well as their musical circles.

“We are not something outside of Liberty students, we are Liberty students, and forgive us if we act any differently, because that’s not our intention,” Harris said.

Although normalcy is the desire for Worship Collective members, this can be difficult given the nature of the position.

“If you take any 18, 19-year-old and put them in front of 20,000 people three times a week, it’s going to go to their head pretty quickly,” said Lamons.

Lamons said that this is why it is so beneficial that there are around 50 members in the Collective - that way, the group onstage is constantly shifting. Even so, many students on the team get added attention.

“If you take any 18, 19-year-old and put them in front of 20,000 people three times a week, it’s going to go to their head pretty quickly,”

“It’s definitely not something that any of us are looking for, and I can speak to that for everyone in the Collective,” Harris said.

Lamons said that she often has awkward encounters where people she doesn’t know are looking at her, and Wofford said that people who never spoke to him are starting to talk to him more.

“There’s a tension when you’re a worship leader. It’s not about you, and it shouldn’t be about you,” said Lamons.

Lamons said this attention can often lead to hurtful judgments about members of the Collective, because it’s easy to criticize someone you only see onstage. Harris agrees, and says that many of the stereotypes about the Worship Collective are wrong.

“There’s nothing special about me, I’ve just been tasked with this duty, and it’s a privilege,” Harris said.

Convocation is a mandatory student event that happens twice a week in the massive Vines Center, where the entire student body gathers to worship and hear speakers from around the world. (From: https://www.liberty.edu/faithservice/)

In past years, Lamons said that there have been social media posts that are very critical of the Collective, without really understanding what it is like behind the scenes.

“We’re confident. You have to have confidence to do a job like what we do, but we are all like [the Apostle] Paul in that we know we have not arrived, and anyone that would think otherwise is just trying to probably make themselves feel better,” Harris said.

Regardless of the added attention, students in the Worship Collective agree that the platform given to them shouldn't be wasted. Harris loves getting to see people come to Christ, and Wofford tries to use touring opportunities to sow into the lives of the people he meets.

“I know we don’t have a lot of time to really invest in people’s lives, but you can still be a little glimpse of what a Christian looks like to someone who maybe has had a lot of fake people in their lives,” Wofford said.

Wofford, Harris and Lamons all agree that leading worship for the student body is a privilege. Wofford said that leading worship at Convocation is “like nothing I’ve ever done,” and one of the most incredible opportunities he’s had at Liberty.

“Seeing people coming not hungry and then getting hungry for [Christ] is the most beautiful thing that you could ever see,” Lamons said.

In his five years in the Liberty Worship Collective, Harris has become much more comfortable with the schedules and the audiences, but it's clear to him that none of those things really matter.

“The whole thing isn’t about performing or how many people are there… it’s all just about putting your heart out there and praising God for who He is and what He means to all of us,” Harris said.

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