Worship Planning as Vocation
Planning worship is an essential piece of the ministry vocation. It is a process, somewhat formulaic, sometimes communal, always providential. Our planning is meant to inspire great worship in our congregation but it’s also a springboard for other ministries to tap into the idea and find inspiration. Planning ahead helps our teams to be creative by giving them enough time to research new ideas, create new songs, write new sketches, plan and execute graphics, develop intro videos, and even find ways to connect to other ministries that could be affected by the topic. We can merge ideas with other ministries and find ways to expand the ministry details and create a broader awareness which could ultimately end up becoming a series of inspiration videos or book titles that could further inspire others. Let’s get planning.
1|FOCUS ON GOD
To focus on God as my first core value is to make sure that from beginning to end I have not left out the reason for our worship. To create this dialogical worship I begin with a humble heart of prayer, seeking God’s direction and inspiration. Usually I have received the Pastor’s message title and scripture references in advance so I begin to put the pieces together by identifying a theme. In identifying a theme (grace, God’s power, Jesus’ surrender, the cross) I can begin to find a flow of ideas that support the message. Sometimes there is no underlying theme. The worship of God alone is enough to support the structure. Sometimes our planning is communal and in this situation many people are exchanging ideas and we are brainstorming together. Whatever the vehicle that we use to get to the worship service we are reminded of why it is that we came and why we gather. I am also more and more aware of our worship theology. I want to make sure that our worship songs fit our theological background without having to try and weave it into context. This is important. Our worship has to measure up in the light of God’s Word, and it better reflect the glory that is due him or else it is incomplete.
2|FOCUS ON FELLOWSHIP
Focus on fellowship is the art of inclusion. Worship involves the unity of the voices together as one and I want to diminish the amount of distractions for our congregation. I am focused on songs that are singable meaning that its tessitura is not out of range for the average singer. We have to make a distinction that it’s not necessarily the key of the song that we are looking at but the range from lowest note to highest note within the song that matters. Generally songs with a tessitura from middle C to an octave higher C1, are a standard comfort range. If The key makes the tessitura too high or too low then I have to adjust the key either up or down. Some other things that I look at are songs that have awkward time signatures or songs that go in and out of keys where the transition notes might be difficult to hear. Lyrics are also important as we focus more and more on unity in worship. Hymns that are dated in their lyrics may be too awkward to sing or maybe they fit but I have to listen to the congregation and be sensitive to people’s response, especially if it’s a hymn that has a historic place of honor in the church.
3|FOCUS ON FREEDOM
Freedom in worship is about the Holy Spirit. If we become too programmatic then we filter out the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit. This could be leaving a worship song before the Holy Spirit had a chance to use it to change someone’s heart. It could be saying too little. It could be saying too much. What I am always concerned about is making sure that we are not coercing people into false worship. By this I mean that when we lead people to feel like they have to have a certain experience or feeling of emotion in order to feel connected to God then we are coercing them. My worship has to be genuine and not forced and I am very aware of not telling people how to feel or how to praise God. I also need to check myself and make sure I am not overstepping my boundaries into pride land. It is easy for people to think that we are in charge of this movement when our job is to direct people to the Spirit of God and guide them through the experience, not to take credit for it.
4|RESOURCES
- Connecting with other worship leaders through LinkedIn
- Praise Charts
- Song Select
- renewingworshipnc.org
- Spotify
- iTunes
- YouTube
- Planning Center
