LOOP COMMUNITY
HOW TO LINGER IN WORSHIP W / GARETT & KATE SERBAN | Matt McCoy
Worship Pastors Garett and Kate Serban join Matt McCoy to talk about their worship sessions , how to linger in worship , and how to lead your congregation to worship .
CREATING SPACE
[ Matt ] I have loved these worship sessions that you ’ re doing . They ’ re perfect for setting the moment and getting you into a space where you can connect with God . In church it seems that we ’ re often more structured with setlists and playing songs in order in a specific amount of time . Are we missing out on this in this season of church life ?
[ Garett ] I would say yes . What we ’ ve done with these sessions is just created space . Many times , we ’ re so regimented on a Sunday and we ’ re worried if we go over a certain time people won ’ t want to come to church . But I think you can have “ both / and ”. You just need to create the space for it .
[ Kate ] We ’ ve been local church worship pastors at multiple churches , and all of them have different expressions of worship . But one thing we ’ ve noticed is that there is a hunger for the presence of God . I don ’ t think a church with a 17-minute time of worship is wrong . I don ’ t think a church with a three-hour time of worship is wrong . I do think one thing remains the same in the church is that there is such a stirring and hunger for God . We as leaders need to learn how to discern that and learn how to lead people in the time we have .
TEACHING TO LINGER
[ Matt ] How do you think as worship leaders we can teach people to linger in worship ?
[ Garett ] In those flow moments , we try to teach our worship leaders to not just jump into something without explaining or giving context . You don ’ t know what kind of backgrounds people are coming in with , so if you ’ re just sitting there for five minutes not saying anything , people in the congregation may be confused . Give ideas like “ Why don ’ t you just sing the name of Jesus ?” or “ Tell Jesus how much you love Him .” Little things like that can help cultivate that style of worship .
[ Kate ] I feel like where we ’ re lacking in churches is a self-feeding mentality . I think a lot
of people are used to the structure of a service . So , when there is a moment where the Holy Spirit is leading , we as leaders are in tune with it because we self-feed on our own , but people in our congregations may not know what to do . I try to encourage people to sing out a new song and imagine yourself in the presence of God . We all have something to say and express to the Lord .
[ Garett ] There ’ s ways to incorporate lingering into the Sunday morning church service , but a great place to start is opening up extra time : a night of worship , a prayer room , whatever it looks like for you . Those are great first steps of teaching a culture of worshiping for yourself and lingering in worship .
Click here to watch the full interview with Garett and Kate and be sure to check out their worship sessions !
Matt McCoy Matt is a worship leader , songwriter and Ableton Certified Trainer from Chicago , IL . He has been using Ableton and tracks in worship since 2002 . He ’ s passionate about creating new products and teaching worship leaders and artists how to use technology in live performance . www . LoopCommunity . com 34 March 2025 Subscribe for Free ...