singing from the screen , and not the heart . People just don ’ t know the songs that well .
But when you rotate fewer songs , more often — and limit how many new songs you introduce — your church will learn and internalize the tunes quicker . As a result , they ’ ll sing more from the heart than from the screen .
Why ? Because they know the songs .
And here ’ s a bonus — if you rotate fewer songs more often , your team will know them better . They ’ ll require less practice , but still be able to sing and play these songs confidently . ( Which also means they can better engage and lead the congregation . It ’ s a bonus parfait !)
Now , you might have some questions about this idea of rotating fewer songs . Like …
Won ’ t the team get sick of our songs ? ( Yes , they will .) What about all the great new songs that are being released , how can I get to them all ? ( You won ’ t .) Does that mean I have to keep doing older songs forever ?! ( Nope . You should retire * most * of your songs … eventually .)
I talk about how to deal with all these issues and more in The SongCycle , so I won ’ t take up more space here . So let ’ s get on to the final ( and most counterintuitive ) tactic to cultivate a culture of engaged worshipers .
3 . STOP SOONER One of the marks of an engaged congregation is not just participation , but anticipation . You need to nurture a culture that looks forward to worshiping together each week . One of the ways to do that is to leave them wanting more .
This idea might seem both counterintuitive and spiritually … well , wrong . But suspend judgment for a moment while I flesh this idea out . Please ?
Have you ever been to a concert , movie , or other event and , partway through , you ’ re just done . It ’ s lost your attention and emotionally , you ’ ve checked out . And physically , you ’ re ready to .
That ’ s where many in our congregations get to EVERY Sunday .
One of the ways we leaders mistakenly try to cultivate better worship is by drawing out the worship set . The mindset is understandable — if we ’ re true followers of Jesus we should WANT to spend lots and lots of time just worshiping God and soaking in His presence .
But you have to remember , Jesus always met people where they were at , not as they should be . ( Think : the woman at the well , Zacchaeus , Matthew , Peter , Martha , Nicodemus , you , me , your Amazon driver — pretty much everyone .)
We need to have the same grace and empathy for our congregation .
Think of it in another way . You wouldn ’ t start training for a marathon by running 26.2 miles tomorrow . Or even 13.1 miles . But do we expect our church family to have the same desire and stamina for singing that we do ?
The old adage “ less is more ” is spot-on for us here . A critical mass of your congregation is hitting a wall after a certain number of songs . I ’ m not here to tell you what that number is for your congregation . It might be 3 , 4 , 7 ( probably not ), or maybe only 2 .
But after that point , people are tired of standing and singing . The law of diminishing returns has kicked in . It ’ s your job as a leader to know where that is . And when you stop before people hit the wall , you ’ re giving people a better experience .
Now , I get it . It might not be the ideal worship experience you or other diehard worshipers want . But it ’ s meeting your people where they ’ re at , not where you want them to be . And that shorter , but better , experience creates a sense of anticipation for next Sunday .
You ’ re leaving them wanting more .
Some churches just need to shorten their worship set . But for other churches , the length of the set isn ’ t the real issue . It ’ s just too many songs crammed into that time .
One way to fix this is to sing just one fewer song in your set . Instead of that extra song , use other , non-singing elements of worship — scriptures , corporate readings , silence , one-word responses , etc . — to fill that time . You ’ ll continue a meaningful flow of worship , but you ’ re not singing non-stop for 20 or 30 minutes . 1
It ’ s tough for us musical people to remember , but not everyone ’ s primary worship language is singing . And even for those who do love to sing , it can get exhausting . Just keep reminding yourself and your team : “ It ’ s not about us . We have a dual role to worship God and serve the congregation .”
I hope these tactics — teach more , rotate fewer , and stop sooner — inspired ideas for some short-term tweaks for this Sunday and some long-term transformations to deepen the culture of participation and anticipation of worship in your church . And who knows , you might even see your own Roy Kent sing out one day . # Believe
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
1 If all this intrigues you and you ’ d like to learn more , contact help @ worshipteamcoach . com and ask about our course Set for Sunday : Creative Service Planning at a Sustainable Pace .
38 May 2023 Subscribe for Free ...