Worship Leader Training

Worship Leader Training

My name is Erin Burkhardt and I am receiving worship leader training at Christian Leaders Institute. I am from North Carolina in the United States of America. I currently serve as a Worship Leader and Music Director at Oasis Bethany Church. My father is a pastor and I started my journey in the Faith at a young age. I was raised in a household where my father, mother, and siblings were all active in ministry at our local church, in our region, and in our church’s affiliations across the globe. For this, I am extremely blessed and eternally grateful.

I now serve alongside my family at Oasis Bethany Church where my father is the Senior Pastor and my younger brother and I lead the worship ministry. Occasionally, I travel to Kentucky and serve as a guest musician at 3Trees Church where my older brother serves as the Worship Pastor and the Production/Technology Director. I also play bass in the Christian band We Were Once. Our mission is to be a light in a dark place and to share the Love of Christ through our music and the way God has gifted us. We have had the opportunity to go on tour with the Extreme Tour and played with artists such as the Newsboys, Family Force Five, Tricia Brock, Disciple, Decyfer Down, Seventh Day Slumber, Emery, Norma Jean, Artifex Pereo, Sumerlin, and many more. We released our EP Piece by Piece and our first single has been on the Billboard top 20 for several months now. We are very excited about what God has done and is doing through this ministry.

Besides my faith, my two major passions in life have always been science and music. I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Using this degree, I taught high school science at Freedom Christian Academy for the last four years. I loved the opportunity to interact with my students every day. I taught them science and how to use science to defend their faith and strengthen their belief in God as opposed to letting misconceptions and false teachings draw them away from their faith. While at Freedom, I also had the opportunity to coach softball where I could connect with many girls on a much more personal level and speak into their lives. While I loved my time at Freedom, I knew that teaching was an intermediate phase of my life. So, towards the end of the 2016-2017 school-year, I chose not to renew my teaching contract despite being offered multiple raises and perks for staying on. I knew that God was calling me to move on, but I didn’t know where or how at the time.

I attended Bethel Worship Nights in Lexington, KY and in the breakout session the tour pastor spoke about planting a seed and going for it instead of letting fear keep you on the sidelines. He encouraged us to write down three seeds that we wanted to plant. My first seed was about going all-in in worship ministry and the second was about attending a school of worship. I had the chance to talk to Pastor Eric after the session and without knowing what I had written he felt that he needed to be bold with me and tell me that I should attend worship leader training and that environment could become the catalyst that launches me into my next season. This confirmed what I was already feeling in my spirit!

After that, I spent a lot of time researching worship schools and praying for my next step in this new adventure. This led me to Christian Leaders Institute. In my research, I found many opportunities for worship leader training. However, since I was coming from teaching at a private Christian school and taking the step to go back to school full time while continuing to serve at my local church, the funds for those programs were quite a stretch. A scholarship from Christian Leaders Institute would provide me with the Biblical foundation and worship leader training that I need while keeping me from going into debt. It also allows me to be able to stay at the church that God has placed me in and continue to serve here while I am becoming more equipped to do what God has called me to do. My hope is that I am able to get a solid Biblical foundation through CLI, while I am continuing to learn and grow in worship ministry. I plan to then take what I have learned at CLI and intern in a worship ministry where I can grow into the worship leader that God has called me to be.

As I make this journey, you can join with me in praying that God continues to make the path He wants me to take clear and that He opens the doors so that I can do all that He has called me to do.

Learn about ordained minister study programs at Christian Leaders Alliance.