equivalent in a worship service .
• The worship team ends the song . There ’ s a smattering of applause from the congregation .
• The singers are smiling . And then … silence .
• The band looks at the acoustic guitar player .
• The acoustic guitar player looks at the keyboard player .
• The keyboard player gives him a twitch of the head that says , “ You ’ re playing the intro , not me .”
• More silence .
• The singers continue smiling but are now glancing over their shoulder to see who ’ s starting the next song .
• The silence is finally broken , but only by the shuffling of charts by the guitarist . He gives the worship leader the universal “ One moment , please ” sign with his right index finger .
• The worship leader wants to give him back a universal sign of her own , but instead says to the congregation , “ Let ’ s move into a time of prayer .”
That entire silent exchange probably only took 10 - 15 seconds . And what ’ s wrong with a few seconds of silence ? Nothing , if you intentionally lead people into it and out of it . But those moments of nothing cost something .
PLANNING TRANSITIONS IN WORSHIP Transitions matter in our worship services . Not for the sake of a slick performance , or to coddle consumer-Christians , or even to avoid the ooey-gooey awkward sauce of moments like this one . Great transitions are about helping people stay in the moment and focused on worshiping God .
We don ’ t want them watching a capo change . Or chart shuffling . Or enduring some off-thecuff prayer because we forgot to plan how to get from the key of Bb to the key of E . We ’ re encouraging people to journey along a path of seeking God . So , let ’ s be intentional when we ’ re planning transitions in worship .
To get you started , here are five simple ideas for intentional segues between moments of worship .
1 . THE CLAP OFFERING If you ’ re ending a big song , applause can be a fitting response . During that physical expression of praise , start the next song . Now , some churches wouldn ’ t applaud anything less than the Second Coming . So , this might not work for you . But if you are leading a clap offering , clearly focus your applause upward to God . And make sure the band is participating in this so there ’ s no sense that they ’ re applauding the performance rather than the King .
2 . THE PAD As one song ends , use the keyboard , some ambient guitar work , or a MacBook to play a warm pad during the transition . If the two songs are in the same key , perfect ! Keep the pad moving from one to another . If they aren ’ t , cross-fade in the pad on the 1-chord in the new key as the outro of the first song dies down .
3 . THE 5-CHORD If you need a musical segue to cue a song in a new key and you don ’ t have a pad , consider just using the 5-chord of the new key . For example , if you ’ re in the key of Bb and you ’ re moving to the key of G , play a D ( the 5-chord of G ) and then resolve it to G to start the song . The D will take you decidedly out of the key of Bb and prepare your ear for G . You might want to dress up the 5-chord with a dominant 7th ( D7 ), or a suspended 4th ( Dsus4 ), or both ( D7sus ).
You could even add a few chords to the progression to get there less abruptly . But keep it simple . A meandering string of chords can distract people , too .
4 . THE LINGERING 4-CHORD The 4-chord is the ‘ chief loiterer ’ of all chords . It ’ s stabler than the 5-chord , but it doesn ’ t feel final like the 1-chord . Because of that , it ’ s a great place to linger .
So if you ’ re ending a song in the key of G , land on the C chord instead of the G chord at the end of the last line . Some light strumming on the guitar or broken chords on the piano can sustain that moment indefinitely . It ’ s an ideal place to offer encouragement , read scripture , pray , or invite a response .
When you ’ re finally ready to transition to the next song , have another instrument start the next song as that chord fades out .
5 . THE REVERENT REPRISE Use this when you have to move from an uptempo tune to a slower one , or you ’ re moving from a dynamically big song to a quieter element in the service . Choose a specific section of the first song to repeat , but in a softer , slower , and more solemn manner . And tell your band to chill during those moments . Less is more here .
WRAP UP The bottom line when it comes to segues and transitions is this : don ’ t try to wing them or leave them up to chance . Plan them . Practice them . Be intentional .
Your congregation will never know or fully appreciate the work you do to help them stay in the moment and focused on worshiping God . But the alternative is the worship service equivalent of four stopped cars at a roundabout wondering who should go first .
If you want more ideas for worship flow , check out my handy reference-guide styled book , Worship Flow : 28 Ways To Create Great Segues . It ’ s available from Amazon . com . Or , you can dig deeper with our course ,
Set for Sunday : Creative Service Planning at a Sustainable Pace . It ’ s part of our RENOV8 workshop series that focuses on your Eight Essential Ministry Systems .
Jon Nicol Jon lives in the middle of Ohio with his wife Shannon and their four kids . He ’ s the founder of WorshipTeamCoach . com and WorshipWorkshop . com , two sites that help worship leaders make every Sunday exceptional . If you want to explore coaching or mentoring with Jon and his team ,
visit this page . WorshipWorkshop . com WorshipTeamCoach . com