by Alison O’Hara
So it’s Service time again, and the worship leaders are all sweating, they’ve tirelessly pulled together a song list that they believe will help the congregation enter into a time of Praise and Worship. Questions run through their minds . . .”Are the songs too upbeat or to slow?” “Are the songs too old or too new?” “Are they too loud or too boring?” How can a leader work under all the pressures?
One thing that I have discovered and incorporated into our services has been variety, not just in the songs, but the teams themselves. As the worship ministry leader at my church I have found it helpful to construct teams that have their own style. We have piano led, acoustic, rock and contemporary. Each team has its own flavor and style, thus allowing more freedom. The teams rotate each week, one for each Sunday of the month. For the odd Month that has a fifth sunday, we use our Youth worship team.
You might be wondering, with all the teams how does one keep on top of the new songs? How do you ensure that the church doesn’t get overwhelmed with a new song each week, and how do you unify the teams with eachother? Well after much contemplation, the solution dawned on me. By breaking the year into quarters. In each quarter there is a full rehearsal with all the teams. At that time, a list of songs for the quarter is introduced. We limit the new songs to six per quarter, two per month. This way each team can put its own spin on the songs, and the congregation doesn’t get lost with new songs. (For points on what to look for in a song refer to the article on “Suitable for Worship”.)
Following these steps has allowed our church to overcome the common stumbling blocks of complacency and lack of variety in worship styles. It has enabled us to use many musicians that the Lord has blessed our congregation with and has allowed leaders to develop in their own style.