GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY

a worship music planning primer for the Bi-Vocational/Volunteer Worship Leader:

by John Francis

An honor that we worship leaders have is getting the music ready for Sunday. It is an opportunity to draw people to be wholly focused on God. But, sometimes the eternal Getting Ready for Sunday may seem to be more of a sentence than an honor. Permit me to offer some help and share with you how I typically plan the musical aspect of the worship service. Understand that any changes you make in planning require strong approval and support from your pastor, especially if you intend to move elements of the service around.

First things first…

The most crucial aspect for a worship leader, whether it be once a month in a nursing home, once a week in a home church, or leading thousands to the throne – is that you are spending time daily in personal worship of the Lord. There are several articles, books and sermons on your quiet time available for further reading. Simply put, it is crucial to be in daily Bible study, prayer and living a Godly life to lead others in worship. You simply cannot lead others where you haven’t been.

…special herbs and spices?

Have you ever wondered, “What is the secret formula for a good worship order?” It isn’t a formula. It is based on your personal relationship as stated earlier. Some of the most moving worship services that I’ve ever facilitated have blossomed out of my time with the Lord. There are some strong Biblical examples of the structure of worship that I like to use. Let’s use Psalm 100 as an example and unfold together how true worship seemed to flow through this great Psalm, and around it, plan our worship.

“Shout triumphantly to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs...” [INVITE]

Turn your imagination on. See a picture of God’s people coming together, under His Holy throne. What does He instruct His people to do, what would please Him? Here is where we walk into a place of worship, along with other believers and non-believers and we invite all to worship the Lord together. Typically, think of this as the loudest, most exciting and upbeat aspect of your worship service. Musical examples include: Magnify the Lord, How Majestic is Thy Name, We Want to See Jesus Lifted High, Lord, I Lift Your Name on High.

“Acknowledge that the LORD is God. He made us and we are His. His people, the sheep of His pasture...” [EXALT]

Believe it or not, our Lord requires introduction, even to His own people. We must be reminded of His goodness and exalt His name. We are singing about the attributes of the Lord, about how we belong to Him, witnessing to the saved and unsaved in the congregation. Also consider, at this point, a scripture reading portraying the largesse of God. Musical examples include: What a Mighty God We Serve, My God is Real, O How Good is Christ the Lord, How Great Thou Art, The Solid Rock.

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name…” [PROCLAIM]

I may differ from many worship leaders on this issue – but if I have a soloist, or performance. This is where I place it. Otherwise, this is a great place for a testimony, musical or otherwise about how the Lord has been good to me (notice the first person contrast). You may also consider placing a Lord’s Supper service at this point in worship. That is not typical in most Southern Baptist Churches, yet, it would work well. Musical examples include: My Tribute, When I Think About the Lord, Thank You, My Life - My Love -  My All, Amazing Grace.

“For the LORD is good, and His love is eternal…” [ADORE]

Consider the word love here. This is a wonderful time to tell the Father, how much You love Him. The whole time, our tempo has been gradually slowing, the words are becoming more introspective – to this point of worship. You can break tempo with a congregational prayer. You are stating humbly to the Lord of all creation, “I Love You.” Musical examples include: Father, I Adore You, I Exalt Thee, I Stand in Awe, Potter’s Hand, Let My Words be Few.

“His faithfulness endures through all generations.” [FAITHFUL]

At the end of this quiet time, I like to end majestically. Not fast or too boisterous – acknowledging that He is faithful, strong and mighty. I also spend a very short time here – one or two verses at best. This allows the pastor to speak, without concern of causing “worship whiplash”. This also allows for placement of offering before the sermon, etc. Musical examples include: Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Forever (shortened version), Sometimes by Step (just the refrain), a recap of an earlier song – perhaps a little slower, Amazing Grace. Think of all of these elements as a funnel for worship to take place:

The large opening is for everyone. It is inviting, and familiar. Then, slowly, it comes to the “narrow neck” of adoration. Outside the funnel, faithfulness serves as a bridge to the worshipper to come to the Word. You can also think of this as visiting someone’s home. There is the knock on the door, greeting, small talk, dinner, followed by in-depth conversation; ending with a loving departure that is almost as gregarious and gracious, as was the entrance, but seasoned with newfound appreciation, wisdom and greater knowledge of the host.

The art of the segue

How the music flows together is a tremendous aid to a smooth worship service. I generally keep two things in mind: 1) TEMPO - as I play the songs in my head, I simply tap tempo with my fingers. Does this song smoothly move to the next song – does it tend to ‘funnel down’ or is it going fast-slow-fast-slow? 2) KEY – I make sure that the songs are relational in key. Option One is that it stays in the same key (though that can get monotonous) Option Two is it moves a fifth above in key, which is a strong move. Option Three is a move to the fourth above in key, weaker than the first. Option Four is the relative minor, which is seldom used because of a scarcity of minor keyed praise songs and hymns. Here is a table to help you with that:

Some final thoughts…

1)                  Don’t break the flow. Once the worship time begins, try not to do announcements.

2)                  Keep your monologues God-focused. The worship leader should have latitude to talk between songs. Be careful, not to overtalk. I find verbalized scripture to be extremely helpful here.

3)                  The invitation is not a time to learn a new song. This should be the most provocative moment to the worshipper. This is a time to consider the worshipper’s relationship to God. This cannot be muddled with trying to learn something new.

4)                  End the service with a song. Something strong and familiar to close the entire service.

As stated at the beginning, the planning of music for worship is an honor, and a trust. Spend time lovingly planning it, praying over it, and being humbled by it.

All scripture used is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible