The ABC’s of Creative Worship Planning
(article written by Mandy Thompson)
1) Allocation: The creative muse is needy and brattish and fickle, but we can cooperate. We can set ourselves up for maximum creativity. If you’ve got these three resources in place, you are well on your way to creative worship planning.
Priority: Remember that you are preparing for the gathering of the Body of Christ, in His name, and for His glory. This worship service is the most important meeting you will prepare for–and planning it requires top energy and focus.
Forethought: If possible, know ahead of time what the general theme of the service will be. You’ll be surprised at the ideas that bubble to the surface before the actual planning meeting even begins.
2) Boxation: Ok. Maybe it’s not a word, but it fits my goal of having rhyming ABCs for this article, so I’m going to get creative and use it. Plus, this perfectly illustrates my point.
We’ve all heard “think outside the box,” but others (like Disney) say “think inside the box.” Define the
goal–the “win”–and go for it. Work towards this goal and within such parameters as it requires. Maybe “boxation” is better described as aiming for a target. When we know what we’re aiming for, we are more comfortable with creative methods of hitting this target. We permit crazy ideas because we know that, while unconventional, they are very much “in the box.”
At my church, we’ve spent the greater part of the past 12 months increasing participation during our worship services. Our “box” was to foster participation through Biblical, vibrant, and varied worship expressions for people of different personalities and backgrounds.
For example, a few weeks ago we emphasized confession during our service. We offered a number of ways our worshippers could confess after the sermon, including encouraging them to talk to the person next to them. Also, we placed microphones near our communion stations and invited everyone receiving communion to recite “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This rhythmic prayer, voice by voice, was a powerful moment of participation. It was different, and it took some serious rearranging of our worship space, but it was worth it.
3) Collaboration: Two heads are better than one, right?
Warning: Be on the lookout for team-fatigue. When the whole group gets tired and in a rut, it’s time to bring in new team members. Get a fresh batch of creatives in there with you. Sometimes it only takes one new team member. They come with enthusiasm. And with new eyes. And with new ideas. And suddenly the creative process is rolling.
We have a saying at my church, and we’ve said it so often that our congregation laughs when they hear it: “This Sunday, we’re going to do something a little different.” Attendees know that each Sunday has its own tone. They know that no two Sundays are alike. And they know that these experiences have been carefully crafted to bring them closer to God. They expect it.
Episode 64: Exclusive Interview w/ Michael & Alisa Farren
On this episode, we record with a live audience via livestream.com and give a chance for listeners to watch us as we record the episode.
Also, Wisdom goes one-on-one with Michael & Alisa Farren of Pocket Full of Rocks. They talk about country music, songwriting, what it means to be a worship leader, and the upcoming All About Worship Retreat. Michael and Alisa also share a significant update about the band publicly for the first time!
Don’t forget to register for the All About Worship Retreat and hang out for a few days with Michael and Alisa.
Also, on this show we:
-share some of the comments on our recent post on What Worship Looks Like in 10 Years
-talk about our sponsor, WorshipPlanning.com, and their top-notch customer service. Use promo code “podcast” when you sign up and receive a 45 day free-trial.
-discuss our upcoming worship retreat taking place May 19-21. Plus Members of our site receive $50 off registration. We’ve also added a time during the retreat for a Song Feedback Panel.
-talk about our ever-growing All About Worship Leadership Team…we have 12 individuals helping make AAW happen every day!
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Video version of the interview:
Bishop Lester Love on WorshipPlanning.com
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Worship Planning As A Team
A worship leader has many tasks that need to be done each week, including preparing the music, rehearsing the team, setting up the stage, and the list goes on. However, the weekly worship experience probably starts, in one way or another, the same for each of us – worship planning. Wouldn’t it be nice if these services planned themselves? Well, we all know it doesn’t work that way, even though there may be some in the church who may disagree! Countless hours of planning, seeking the Lord’s direction in prayer, tweaking and preparation take place before Sunday morning.
Who is all involved in this worship planning process? Is it just the worship leader, the worship leader and pastor, or a team of people? Well, I’m sure in our various churches all of these combinations are taking place. Over the years in my role as a worship leader, my worship planning experience has taken on all of these forms, as well as some others. Is there a right way to do it? No, I don’t believe there is. We all have different personalities, resources, leadership styles, people and time available. What works for one may not work at all for another.
However, I can share a few of the benefits I’ve experienced working with a team of people to plan worship services and events. First, I’m not sure about you, but when I do the same thing over and over again by myself, I tend to easily fall into a rut. Sure, the songs may be different each week, but there’s a sense of “this is how we always do it” that starts to seep into the worship conversation. When you work with a team, there’s less of a chance of that happening, just because there is a built-in system of checks and balances there with those who are involved. It is important, though, to make it an intentional goal of the team to keep the services fresh, so everyone is watching out for that danger.
There is also a noticeable synergy that takes place when you’re in a group of people who are all passionate about creating a worship experience that is both creative and honoring to God. Just by someone throwing out a little idea, which might get your mind going, you may come up with a great idea that you may have never thought of if you were planning alone. Brainstorming song ideas, multi-sensory ideas, visual ideas and other elements together can be an exciting time for all involved.
There are probably several of you reading this who are currently working with some kind of team as you plan services. If that’s the case, then please share your experience and ideas below in the comments of how you use a team. Let’s learn from each other! If you’re not already doing this, you may be wondering how you can start to put a team like this together.
Start by asking a lot of questions… “What do I hope to accomplish by putting this team together?”, “Who should be on this team?”, “Will the senior pastor be part of this team?”, “How often will we meet?”, “What will we do in our meetings?” and the list goes on. I would suggest trying to find people who are passionate about different areas of the worship ministry. Find someone who loves to think of worship songs that go along with a theme, someone who knows every song out there on the radio for specials, someone who is really into video production, someone who has a good eye for visual aspects of the service. The danger is to get a lot of people just like you on the team, and while that may be comfortable, it may not yield results that are a lot different than how it is right now.
There are a lot of great resources out there to help you get started in this process, but one that I would recommend is a book called “Designing Worship: Creating and Integrating Powerful God Experiences” (Kim Miller, Group Publishing). Kim is the Creative Director at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio, and she has put together a great resource in this book/DVD set. She walks you through excellent ideas about putting together a worship design team, including how to find great team players, the role of the senior pastor on the team, and who should be involved on the team.
She goes beyond that to talking about the actual planning process, overcoming obstacles to designing worship, great ideas on multi-sensory worship, and even ideas for the message. The included DVD has a lot of neat features as well, including taking you through the planning process of a service all the way from the first meeting to Sunday morning, as well as several examples of creative ideas their team has planned.
This process does not come without its challenges; that is for sure! However, I believe it’s worth the effort, and can help to keep our worship services fresh and filled with the creativity of God!
Barry Westman
All About Worship
Episode 45: Interview with Hillsong United
Recently Hillsong United came through Kansas City on their tour through the states. Wisdom was able to meet up with Joel Houston and J.D. from Hillsong United for an interview before the worship began. Of course, stay tuned for their most embarrassing moment leading worship. We also catch up with two attenders of our recent retreat back in May. Listen in as they share what the Lord did in their lives during the retreat.
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All About Worship Retreat – HUGE thanks to our friends Joe Brookhouse and Todd Barton for stopping by the show! Click Joe and Todd on Twitter.
HillsongUnited.com – Visit the official website.
Joel Houston on Twitter – Follow Joel’s tweets.
Hillsong United on Twitter – Follow the official tweets of Hillsong United.
Hillsong United on iTunes – Check out their music catalog online.
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Giveaway
We want to hear from you. Call us at 913.735.4229 by July 1 with your answer to this question: What are the top 5 songs your church is currently connecting with this year. If you leave an answer, we will enter your name into a drawing for Paul Baloche’s latest CD “Glorious” along with the worship tools set with instructional DVD and song charts. Make sure you leave your name, the name of your church, the songs and the authors of the songs. Call us at 913.735.4229 (please note, Darth Tater and Spud Trooper are NOT a part of the giveaway)
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Thanks
We want to say a BIG thanks to WorshipPlanning.com for sponsoring this episode. Start your 30 day free trial today. Check out their new uploading feature allowing you to upload multiple files simultaneously! Be sure and follow them on Twitter at @wpupdates right here.
Thanks to Joel and JD for stopping by the show! Stay tuned for our next episode with Miriam Webster.
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Song Manager :: A Great Resource For Worship Leaders
Song Manager is an online worship planning tool designed to simplify the tasks involved in worship planning. Organize your songs in a sortable, searchable worship song database. Transpose worship songs with a click of the mouse. Print PDF worship lead sheets in multiple layouts. Export worship slideshow presentations as a PowerPoint, full-screen PDF, or ProPresenter import file.
Sign up today for a 30 day free trial at www.song-manager.com.
Here’s a short tutorial video.
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