Whether he is leading worship for traditional or modern worship services, Joey Witham seeks to minister to all ages and worship styles.
Since establishing a full-time ministry four years ago, Witham has become a sought-after worship leader for several North Texas churches. In addition, he maintains a busy schedule leading worship at numerous Disciple Now weekends, conferences, camps and retreats. He has also worked with Baptist Student Ministries, iWitness Ministries, Metro Bible study and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. This summer and fall, Witham’s band is leading worship at several of the Yada Yada Conferences presented by Virtuous Reality Ministries.
On Saturday nights, Witham is a regular worship leader for “Empower,” a Bible study for Singles at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano.
“Joey Witham leads worship out of the integrity of his life and overflow of his heart,” said Jarrett Stephens, minister to singles (ages 18-29) at Prestonwood Baptist Church. “If I was beginning a ministry tomorrow, he would be the one that I would take with me. Joey is one of the best worship leaders that I’ve worked with, because he really does view what he does as a ministry. His desire to lead people to Christ is enormous. It’s not just through his music, it’s the way he leads by example. His openness and willingness to do whatever is asked of him — that’s what distinguishes him between anyone else that I’ve ever worked with. He wants to know, ‘Hey, what can I do to make it better? What can I do to make things go smoother?’ I can’t say enough good things about him.”
During his travels, Witham enjoys spending time off the platform, meeting people and hearing stories about how God is working in their lives. He constantly exceeds expectations by taking time to build relationships and minister off stage at concerts and ministry events.
“I have a heart for kids and missions,” he said. “I feel there are kids in our society blinded by what’s around them, and they have no idea what they are searching for. As Christians in this generation, we must relate to kids and give them a solid foundation, Jesus Christ. In missions, it’s the same way. Whether it be locally or abroad, there are simply people lost and empty.”
While working with student ministries, Witham has found that the walls holding some students away from worship can be attributed to the “busyness” of their everyday lives.
“I’ll often notice that some kids aren’t really focusing on worshipping God,” Witham said. “Some people might say that a lot of these kids have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). But I think they’re so cluttered with what’s going on in their lives, with sports, school and other stuff, that church becomes another ‘thing’ for them to check off. When they come to church, they don’t know how to relax and just to be receptive to the Holy Spirit, and we’re talking about Christian kids here. I think a lot of it is the distractions that they’re faced with. I don’t think we can blame parents, schools, our world, etc., because that conveys an attitude of giving up.”
His desire is to bring students back to the heart of worship and to help them understand what that entails.
“I think the kids in this generation are wired different, and we need to be more creative in finding ways to reach them in transitioning to an attitude of worship. For a lot of kids, I don’t think they’ve been taught what worship really means or they don’t really understand what it means and that God is the audience. We have a great obligation to youth, and to leave them a legacy which conveys the attitude of worship.
“Students have so much thrown at them daily, and I have a desire for them to rest in Christ and his love. He is the ultimate Father and lover of our souls. My prayer is for a generation that would chase after and worship our Holy and Righteous God.”
For more information about Joey Witham, please visit www.joeywitham.com