By Rachel Eldridge

Kim and Brian Tabor have long served in music ministry in the Church of God, from their early days in a summer group as Anderson University students to full-time church staff. Now they serve congregations across the country through Tabor Ministries, and they’re even reaching hearts across the globe through an unconventional ministry: social media memes.

That’s right. If you’re a worship leader, chances are you’ve scrolled through Instagram and chuckled at relatable posts from @WorshipLeaderProbs. Brian started the account in 2016 while he was working as a worship pastor, and he quickly realized that his memes were a way to make people laugh, as well as a way to provide encouragement.

It’s a sacred calling to lead people in praise, but the truth is the journey isn’t always easy. Technical difficulties, shifts in style, wrong notes, competing expectations, and dozens of personal opinions can all distract from a worship pastor’s focus on Jesus. Without prayer, intentionality, humor, and community, leading services week after week can eventually take a toll on a music minister’s mental and spiritual health.

Kim Tabor

Kim and Brian aren’t strangers to the challenges of ministry. Over the years they have found themselves serving the servants—leading retreats and training sessions for worship leaders, worship teams, and production teams. The Tabors’ hearts are for Jesus and the local church, the bride of Christ.

Brian’s work on Worship Leader Probs now connects him with over 110,000 followers on Instagram and even more listeners on the Worship Leader Probs podcast. This online presence has not only opened the door for many worship pastors to share their funny stories, but also their dark days and prayer concerns. And when they do, Brian is there, ready to listen and minister. Kim has been a guest on the podcast and is a sounding board for Brian as he manages the account.

“I’m just a steward,” Brian says, laughing as he describes how his social media platform has grown. For over two years he was completely anonymous, until he joked to fans of Worship Leader Probs that if they could get to 50,000 followers (a seemingly impossible goal at the time), he would reveal who he was. “I thought people might unfollow the account then, realizing that I was just another worship pastor and not the alter-ego of a big-name Christian artist, but that didn’t happen.”

This summer Brian was able to go full-time, serving music ministers through Worship Leader Probs. From Church of God camp meetings to serving at the Church at the Crossing (Church of God congregation in Indianapolis), Brian says, “Everything God has brought my way in ministry has prepared me for this.”

Though the couple isn’t on a church staff anymore, “worship is still always part of what we’ll do,” Kim says. “Our foundation is to worship and tell people about Jesus, and it always will be. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever—and worship takes us right back to that.”

Together, Kim and Brian continue to lead worship and host worship retreats and other conferences at churches of all sizes. If your church would like to request a visit, you can get in touch through the Tabor Ministries Facebook page or website.

Through it all the Tabors stay true to their mission and calling, and they practice what they preach: “Don’t get so busy creating experiences for others to worship Jesus that you forget to worship Jesus yourself.”

Rachel Eldridge is a freelance writer who attends First Church of God in New Albany, Indiana.

Learn more about the Church of God movement at www.JesusIsTheSubject.org.