- with your team and the pastor before the services and at practices. Share Scripture and any devotional thoughts as well.
Standing
- Be sensitive to not have people stand too long. In your second worship package give people the option to stand or to sit.
Music Selection
- Be sensitive to worship styles in music selection – we seek to have a variety of contemporary and traditional worship music.
Pick hymns and choruses in your selection. On occasion it will be okay to do just hymns or just choruses but we should seek to have both.
Make your selection prayerfully based on the theme/topic of the sermon (if it is too difficult to find songs on a given topic just go ahead and plan to magnify Christ in worship).
Seek to vary the songs that you do and try to get away from repeating the same songs too often. Ask the secretary for a list of the last couple of Sunday’s to see what songs have been done (or done too many times).
Get the print music for your people well before the practice so that you aren’t wasting people’s time running around during the practice getting music (unless you find the keys are not correct). Put the music in binders for your musicians to keep it together (empty ones are available in the music file room on the shelf).
Make sure the print music is put back in the master music files.
Arrange Practices & Warm Up Times
– schedule at least 1 practice before Sunday AM and a Warm Up on Sunday Morning. Make sure all team members are there, if a team member can not make it to the practice (warm up is not a practice) it should be communicated to them that they won’t be playing on Sunday. Contact the Sound Man and have them come to the practice and Warm Up.
Time
- Be sensitive to time constraints so that you don’t go too long with the worship.
Time your practices.
As a team you should be finished by 11:00 – 11:05 to leave room for praise and prayer.
Number of Songs:
3-4 Hymns and 4-5 choruses (if you don’t repeat them) is a around the right number of songs. It would be good to time how long your songs are in practice.
Service Responsibilities
– seek to minimize "dead spots" in the service. Us different members of the praise team to handle most of the service components:
Welcome
– welcome everybody to the service (especially visitors) have people stand up and shake hands with each other and then open with prayer. Contact pastor Trevor if you are not planning to do the opening welcome and call to worship.
Announcements
– as much as possible we are trying NOT to have announcements but there are certain occasions where urgent information needs to be passed along (the pastor will let you know and will take care of this).
Scripture Reading
– the leader needs to select one of the team members to read the morning Scripture. Have people read from common versions if possible (NIV, NKJV, NASB…)
Offertory
– check the list to see if there is someone on deck for the offertory, if there isn’t you can have your team do it or let the sound man know that he can put on a CD.
Communion
– the first Sunday of every other month is our communion service. If your team is on deck communicate with the pastor whether he would like you to handle the music for that. It would often involve a few choruses or hymns (either sung or just instrumental).
Powerpoint & Song Order
Song Selection -
Check the worship list to see what the sermon theme/topic is and make your selection prayerfully, then submit it to the office secretary by Thursday morning.
Order -
Make a detailed order of service for your team members which details
The songs you will be doing and how many times you will do them (i.e. 2x…)
Who will be doing what component:
Welcome & Opening Prayer
– welcome everyone especially visitors, shaking hands, prayer.
Offertory
- Inviting ushers to come forward & praying for offering
Playing the offertory
(special music person, the praise team, canned music)
Scripture reading
(s) – including the one chosen by the pastor in the bulletin
Who will be playing for communion/leading the songs (ask the pastor)
Develop Leaders
– as a leader you need to encourage others on your team to look after the different components of the service. It would be good if you asked them different people on the team to plan worship. Walk through it with them and let them know what is expected and the guidelines as well as how to plan worship.