6 steps simple tips to improve your worship services by Gateway Community Christian Re

Exclusive training and tips from Todd Fields, Director of Worship Leader Development at North Point Community Church

6 SIMPLE TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR WORSHIP SERVICES Todd Fields Director of Worship Leader Development | North Point Community Church

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BY TODD FIELDS

My wife Carrie and I just celebrated 20 years of marriage and we have four boys. We’ve really had a great ride. One thing I've noticed over the years, is how easy it is to get on autopilot. But, by evaluating our marriage, I was able to see some blind spots in our marriage that I wasn’t aware of before. The same is true for the church world. I've been working in the church for 20 years. And, over the years, I've discovered that without regular

evaluation we can get into a system where we get the same results we've always gotten. Sometimes it's good to get back to the basics and to get outside perspective on our blindspots. My hope is that this resource will help you see some of those blindspots you may not have previously been aware of. Enjoy this ebook and I hope it helps your church.

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I. Get On The Same Page The more we can get on the same page, the more effective we are. Pastor, think about your worship leader, and worship leader, think about your pastor. Is there any friction there? Are there any things you need to improve?

Connect with your pastor: Make an appointment to hang out with your pastor. It’s easy to get into task mode and have church be a to-do list but we have to remember to pray together. Otherwise, it can get overwhelming.

If we’re not careful its easy to get into a silo. But, the more we can lean on each other’s strengths, the more effective we’ll be. If there’s tension there, it won’t just go away and after years of festering it can do irrevocable harm.

Stay humble: God ordained that your pastor be your authority. When we get out from under authority, things don’t go well. You’re accountable to God to stay humble. Charlie Hall has a saying at their church that “you are not the Christ.” You always need to be a humble servant. Ask your pastor “how can I serve you and help us accomplish the mission God has given you for our church?”

If you're reading this and you're a Worship Leader, submit to the authority of your senior/lead pastor. And if you're a pastor that's reading this, lean into the creative ideas of your worship leader. What would it look like if you guys were a partnership? If trust has been violated because each person has wanted their own way, you should seek reconciliation. You should be able to lean on each others’ strengths. How do you get on the same page?

Find middle ground: Sometimes risk is a good thing. It’s not always bad. In fact, doing something different can keep things fresh. But, COMMUNICATE these things with the pastor so they know what’s happening and aren’t caught off guard. It needs to be understood and communicated well.

HOW DO YOU GET ON THE SAME PAGE MUSICALLY? The question doesn’t need to be “pastor what’s your preference” or “worship leader, what’s your preference?” The question needs to be “why are we doing this in the first place?” Which music is going to reach the most people in your local ministry context? What can you do to help create an experience where people engage on an emotional level with the music, and engage in an experience with God? The reality is that you may have to let go of your preferences in order to reach more people.

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II. Engage People Off Stage Know Your Congregation: As a worship leader, you’re not just singing songs. That’s not leading worship. You’re a leader of stories. Every soul, every heart, every body that sits in your church week after week has a story. They’re all on a journey. The more you think about where they’re coming from in that season, in that time of day-on any given day-and the more aware of them you are, and the more you say that out loud, the more engaged they’ll be. It’s like when you compliment someone or acknowledge something about someone-they’re immediately engaged. When you acknowledge where people are, you’re not singing at people but you’re joining with them in their struggles. Casey Darnell says that leadership is simply meeting people where they are and taking them somewhere. You can’t just start where you want to take them. When someone’s barely gotten in the door and it’s raining outside

and they’ve got screaming kids, just telling them to sing isn’t enough. But, when you acknowledge their struggles, you create a connection and they're more likely to engage.

TRY THIS: When you're not on stage, know what it feels like to be in the audience. Take a break and sit in the congregation sometime. That way you know what they know, and feel what they feel. Park your car and take a walk across the parking lot to experience what they experience.

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III. Choose The Right Songs The songs are the next piece of the puzzle. I believe sometimes people want to sing but the songs we choose create a barrier because they’re not singable, learnable, or memorable. “Songs are the gas in the tank of our worship time. Don’t use cheap gas.”

“Songs are the gas in the tank of our worship time. Don’t use cheap gas.”

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As worship teams, we get tired of songs really quickly, but for the people coming they may only be singing them one time that week. Identify a smaller batch of songs that move people and focus on those songs. This is a method we use at North Point: Trim your list down. Narrow down your song list to 20-25 songs to use over a three-month period. Get input from people who aren't in the band. Grab six or seven people in the congregation to get feedback about which songs resonate. This way you have a good sampling of people in your church. Get your master list together. Once you've got everyone together, have them put an "H" by songs that are a hit with your church. Put an "O" by the songs that are old. This doesn't mean a song that was written long ago, but a song that's played out. One other thing to note, don't make any big changes all at once. Instead, roll new songs out gradually.

A good rule of thumb is to introduce a new song for two weeks, take a week off from it, and play it again on week four.

TRY THIS: Hold the hits: A hit is a song that really changes the atmosphere in your church. It becomes more than just a song. Jail the stale: Put these songs in detention for a while. Out the old: These are songs that are played out and need a break. Review the new: What songs are powerful declarations of what God is doing in your church?

SHOULD NEW SONGS BE CHOSEN BASED ON CONGRETATION PREFERENCES, OR BASED ON CONTINUED GROWTH?

We're in the business of leading people, so we need to listen to people. But, at the same time, we need to pay attention to where God is leading our church and choose songs that are aligned with His leading.

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IV. Use Verbals I used to think that making it from point A to point D in a worship set list was leading worship. It's not. Singing isn't leading worship. One BIG aspect of effectively leading worship is the use of verbals. A verbal is a time where you're not singing but are speaking something to, or over the congregation. You may think you don't have anything to say because you're a worship leader, but you do. You're a conduit for the heart of God, the love of God, and the Truth of God, for your congregation. The reality is that what you say before, during, or after a song can make a huge difference in the worship time. One aspect to using verbals is to get away from canned, church lingo and be transparent. The more transparent we are, the more people can see Jesus. If we don't let people into that transparency, it creates a wall. Here are some tips for how to use verbals in your worship set:

TRY THIS: Use a lyric line from a song to "mark a waypoint" of where you're taking the congregation. (Ex: Singing 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman and saying "hey, in this next song the second verse says that God is rich in love and slow to anger but maybe, based on the week you’ve had, you don’t think God can love you but he does. And, it’s just one of the many reasons we sing! Move people to moments by camping out on a verse, a testimony, a baptism video, or something else. Pay attention to song dynamics. If everything is one volume, people don't draw close to the music. Use tags or refrains. These are simply parts of a song that feed into another song.

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Rest in Your Identity Galatians 2:20 You’ve been crucified with Christ. When Christ died 2000 years ago, you died with Him. We are raised. We’ve already been raised with Christ! The same power that raised Christ from the dead is also in you. When you’re not “feeling it” it’s Christ’s power in you. Ephesians 2:4-6 We’ve been seated with Christ already! The most true thing about you, is that Christ is in you and you are in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thank You We hope you enjoyed this eBook. The worship time is an integral part of every church service, so we thank you for growing and learning how to better serve.

Question

How do you use dynamics in a small church? If you’ve just got a small church with a piano, you can still employ dynamics (loudness and softness). Dynamics are what takes people on the journey of a song. You can even use dynamics if you’re singing accappela.

Question

How do you craft a good lyric line? In the offering time, you can give examples of how giving is changing people's lives and empowering ministry. For baptisms, you can tie in someone's baptism story with the congregation by saying "that might be you today. But, there's no place you can run that's too far from God."

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