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Creating Moments in Worship
Give your congregation a helping hand
What separates a good worship set from a great one? You might be surprised by the answer.
A number of years ago, my old band had the opportunity to play in front of thousands and open for Delirious. It was incredibly exciting and unbelievably intimidating. Besides the fact we were playing before a group we truly loved and respected, we had to take our usually long and somewhat meandering worship set and pare it down to 30 minutes. We tried a number of things that didn’t work, but then we learned about creating moments and it not only worked, but it changed the way we led worship forever.
Making Moments
Good set building is important, but in order to get that you have to understand the concept of a moment. A worship set list shouldn’t be just a string of songs; it should be a string of moments. You sing a song, but you remember a moment. It’s what you take with you long after you’ve left the building. Ever notice that it’s easier to respond in worship at the end of a service rather than the beginning? Is it because the pastor just laid down the most mind-blowing message you’ve ever heard, or is it because the gathering, the community, the songs, and the message have all led to and created a moment?
A few weeks ago, I asked you on Facebook where you found the most engagement in your worship set. Some of you answered with beautiful examples of spontaneous moments like our friend Clay Brooks who wrote “When a member of the congregation stood, unprompted, during one of the quieter, contemplative songs. You could tell the words were speaking to him, and it sparked the rest of the congregation to follow, a few at a time.” Others like Eric Schlange responded with moments that may not have been as spontaneous, but were no less beautiful. He offered, “Singing the chorus of "How Great Thou Art" accapella. Why? Because it's a singable tune with a powerful message and everyone knows the song!” What a great example of a worship leader knowing his congregation and creating a moment with them.
Conclusion
When we create sets built around moments, we create more opportunities to teach and more space for God to work. That serves everyone. So what about you? What are some of your most memorable moments in worship?
Comments
Family Reunions
Submitted by StevenNOW on July 10, 2014 - 6:52am.
Awesome post...learning to really structuring our set lists was a struggle for me in the beginning, sometimes it would really work, and other times it just made no sense and left the congregation visibly wanting...it takes planning for sure. I've seen that our 'moments,' planned or unplanned, happen only when my focus isn't stuck on the technical side of things, when let go and worship, the team behind me does, and it leads the congregation to do the same. I've started thinking of Sunday mornings and their 'moments' as family reunions...you may have a ton of events and games planned out, but Aunt Sally may have some important news that needs to be shared, or drunk Uncle Frank may show up and start knocking everything over (we all have one)...remembering that we're a family though, and love is what binds us, we keep going, for the glory of God...I actually just wrote something similar about worship on my blog www.thingsmyyouthpastorsays.com
Worship and creativity
Submitted by JMorris on July 29, 2014 - 10:42am.
I have a thought that I would appreciate input on.
I spend 100% of my time in music for the Lord, either writing/recording/producing my own and others' music, or in a prayer and worship setting. Obviously, being a musician, I love creativity. But some of the places that the creative urge goes do not always seem to coincide with what a worship experience is about. You know what I mean: all the nifty little ideas that pop up that seem like they would be so cool to try out. But being sensitive to worship often cancels that out.
Creativity in the studio I'm all for. I believe that using the gifts we have in excellent ways that foster craftsmanship is in itself a form of worship. And there are many ways to use that to grab attention in a way that isn't self-serving.
But my question: where is the threshold - the line to cross or not, as it were - of how far to take musical creativity in the worship experience itself. I've had many occasions when it was clear that it was a good idea to step out a little, and it really added to the substance of what was happening spiritually. And there are also some good bands right now that inspire me in worship, such as Rivers & Robots and Seeker & Servant, or even much of what Hillsong is doing.
But how much is too much? How far can it go before it becomes a distraction? I know that the prevailing culture and previous experience of the congregation is a factor. But is there a legitimate place in the current worship music climate to push the envelope even further?
Sorry, didn't mean to be a long post. I just wanted to see what anyone else might feel about the issue.
This is a great question
Submitted by Jason Houtsma on July 29, 2014 - 11:04am.
I have a long history with this topic and a lot I thoughts on it. It probably deserves it's own post so if you don't mind, I'll make this my next topic an we can discuss it in the comment section there. Great stuff.
Excellent!
Submitted by JMorris on July 30, 2014 - 7:25am.
Go for it. Yeah, it does sound a blog post, doesn't it? Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread. It's just something that I've been trying to sort out for a while. So thank you for the consideration. See you in the next post!
P.S. This is honestly one of my absolute favorite sites. I've been a subscriber since early on, and I can definitely see that God has favor on you in this. Keep it up, brother! It's been a blessing learning from you guys.
a wholistic approach
Submitted by PapaRob on February 8, 2016 - 3:56pm.
I have been playing in this worship team for about a year now after a long hiatus of no playing (I suggest this to no one: miserable!). These last couple of weeks have seen a significant increase in the congregation AND the worship team's worship experience. I'm not talking about just a small difference, but this has been so noticeable that many, many people have spoken of how they have been so blessed and feel God's presence more than typical.
I wonder why the palpable change. We really haven't done much different song-wise. All of the musicians are competent and some very talented. We put in effort to improve (being on this site is one example!). Our worship team is also, thankfully, a group of truly committed lover's of Jesus... so what's the difference? Why has the Spirit decided to bless a bit deeper than normal?
I believe it has been prayer. Our church has recently put an emphasis of 24 hour prayer coverage. While we are far from having all the "slots" filled, there seems to be greater participation in prayer for the church body. I have seen more people and know of people just starting to pray through the church before service asking for the Lord to come and meet us here...
We as a worship team cannot "create" a 'God experience'... since the true experience is an actual person interacting with His kids... As beautiful and developed and 'substantive' the worship set is, it's still ineffective, if the people are not, if the body as a whole is not, asking and expecting and calling for the presence of God.
Now, I don't want to blame the church for not doing this or that; that would be a cop-out... as a worship team we lead the charge, I suppose. But when everyone is humbly seeking: wow!
So, thank you everyone (in my church) for praying and seeking - its so much fun playing when God shows up in a special way.