This post is my participation in the blog carnival Sunday Setlists which can be found at The Worship Community. I participate so that I can learn from other worship leaders and it gives me a chance to evaluate our most recent weekend services. That is the focus of this post.
Here are some things that worked:
Having a longer set, not breaking it up into two sections but putting it all together except for one prayer song (Speak to Me) just before the sermon.
Starting early; we are still training our people to come into the worship center earlier. Today our orchestra played so they started six minutes before the official start and we actually started the first song two minutes early.
Adding Scripture reading; I can’t repeat this point enough; there is nothing stronger than adding scripture to the service. I have been guilty in the past of trying to add other creative elements to make a point when really what I could have done was have someone stand up and read from the Bible.
Having prayer and a prayer song before the sermon. We asked the congregation to be seated and to sing along on the song Speak to Me by Tommy Walker. Here are the words:
Speak to me, speak to me
Through Your word, through Your Spirit
Speak Your words of life
Speak to me, speak to me
I am willing, I am listening
Speak to me.
Here are some things that need to work better:
The worship center needed to be a few degrees cooler. We are in the midst of our first warm weather and it was raining. That is a deadly combination for ‘no energy’ in the room. Between services we bumped down the thermostat and it was cooler for the second service. Amazing what being too warm can do to a service.
Communication to all the participants on the worship team. This week our orchestra helped lead and because of poor communication on my part the final rehearsal took longer than it should have.
I have got to be more prepared. My lack of knowing one chart almost caused a train wreck. Usually the band covers for me but when the orchestra is playing, they are tied to a chart which means I have to be more prepared.
At the end of final rehearsal I led in prayer. My prayer was that we could get beyond the business of the morning and offer what we were about to do as worship…not music. I believe God honored that prayer. I also believe it is my responsibility to evaluate what we led so that we can offer our best to God each Sunday. Evaluation of services is essential.
Here is our Setlist: