I had an excellent discussion after my last post with a good friend of mine at work. He very wisely perceived one of the implications of what I was arguing for in the post. If a service is to have a focus, which is known far enough beforehand so that everyone involved in the service can plan their portions appropriately, then that plan must be arrived at much earlier than the week of the service. The question arose about whether or not you can be Spirit-led and plan out services weeks and months in advance.

My friend quickly agreed with me that the Spirit could undoubtedly inspire and lead planning, no matter how long in advance it was done. But his reaction evidenced a primary difference I have seen many times between Charismatic/Pentecostal churches and their preparation process and that of other more reserved worship practices, say the Baptists for example. It’s not that Charismatic or Pentecostals do not believe the Spirit can lead them in planning out three months of sermons ahead of time, but rather that they (commonly) conceive of the Spirit’s leading to be more immediate, more “in the moment”.

I would never disparage that perception, but I would challenge it’s scope. I grew up in and lead worship for years within that atmosphere. But it has its limits. You might have noted in my brief list of Chris Tomlin quotes how he stated, “Those who are most prepared are the most led by the Spirit of God.” This is key, in my mind. Planning out a service does not limit the Spirit, at least if it is done with much prayer and true desire for God to be worshiped and encountered as well as the Body to be ministered to.

I have actually found that in services which have been planned rather thoroughly (albeit with much prayer!) that I actually feel very, very free. Why? Since my preparation has been so thorough I am able to focus more on worshiping and leading in worship than I am on what is going on and what might happen next. But even in that the Spirit leads the service, not me (or the Worship Leader). I must still be sensitive to the Spirit and mindful of the congregation. Sometimes a chorus needs to be repeated an extra time, or the congregation needs a little extra exhortation, or there just needs to be a moment of silence between songs, to all the Spirit time to work on the hearts of the people.

My main point in this post is to encourage you not to fear planning ahead. I’m not talking a week in advance, I’m talking weeks and even months in advance. It frees a pastor to be able to dedicate an entire week to developing a message to minister to the Body instead of the last few days of the week. And it offers the Worship Leader the opportunity to have more time to find those songs which will “perfectly” serve and minister to the Body.

When you seek the Lord and truthfully desire and seek his guidance you can proceed with the confidence that he will lead and guide you, whether or not there is writing on the wall or a voice coming from the air. His desire is to use you, and in being willing and available you will surely walk the path he has set for you.

When a church decides it’s service is going to be traditional or contemporary, they unnecessarily box themselves in stylistically. I’ve already commented on the dangers of churches creating separate traditional and contemporary services, so what’s my perspective on this very pressing issue in the church? My answer is simple, really: focus.

That’s it. Focus.

But what does that mean? Well, I’d liken it to some level of purpose-driven worship, but that would be a misnomer in the end, because its less an emphasis upon the purpose of the service and more a focus upon God and what he wants to accomplish in the hearts of the people.

Consider this over-generalization of the elements of a traditional service:

• A choir with a leader (who doesn’t necessarily sing)
• Simple instrumentation – usually organ or piano, rarely a mix thereof
• traditionally led from hymn book, though could be done with lyric display now
• large majority of songs would have been found in a hymn book from 30-40 years ago
• Songs generally have minimal dynamics, with the emphasis being upon singing a specific set of words (verses 1, 2 and 4 – for example)
• high emphasis upon respect and honor (very low on emotionalism and experience)

Yeh, I know that’s a very stereo-typed list. Check out my version of the stereotyped elements of a contemporary service:

• Band-driven – i.e. drums, guitar(s), 1-8 vocalists, and other instruments, sometimes including piano/keys
• most songs sung are less than 15 years old
• songs (if played correctly) have a strong dynamic elements
• emphasis in service upon experience and an encouragement to engage emotions
• more informal atmosphere

There is also the Emergent worship movement, but I consider that a mutated variation of the contemporary service. It’s primary emphasis is upon the experience, and it merges very modern concepts of art with a blending of more liturgical styles with contemporary practices.

In the end, most modern-day takes on the worship service tend towards a purpose-driven model. But the fault here is that the purpose-driven model seeks to bring something about – it has something to accomplish. What I am proposing here is less trying to do something more trying to perceive something. Trying to perceive what, though? To perceive Christ, to perceive the Gospel.

The question to ask when preparing a service is not “What do we want to accomplish in this service?” but rather, “What does God want to say to us – to show us through his Word – in this service?” That is your FOCUS.

Once you know what the Focus of the service is, then you choose songs, as well as styles which complement and reinforce it, which help the congregation contemplate upon it. There are always solid hymns which explore these themes, but the use of them should always be equally evaluated alongside many modern songs/hymns which will also complement and/or reinforce the Focus of the service.

If the Focus is best served by a Gospel song, then use it. If the Focus would best be served by a quieter, simpler set, consider just using an acoustic guitar or two with a djembe (or two!). Maybe you really just need two singers for that set as well.

But maybe the Focus calls for something bigger, and you need to pull out all the stops. Call in that violinist you keep on speed-dial for special occasions. Round up a few extra singers. Make sure you have at least two electric guitarists as well as the acoustic. And challenge the keyboardist with songs that’ll have him/her stretching between two keyboards!

Just realize that hymns are songs just as praise choruses are. Some are more theologically correct than others – but each of them says something and explores something about God and his Gospel. Do not choose a song because it is a hymn or because the congregation likes it. Choose it because the congregation will best be served by singing that song on that day, when the preacher is going to be teaching about that specific topic/passage.

This way, when the service begins, it’s not about ‘doing’ church, it’s about knowing Christ – knowing him within the context of the local body worshiping together. And it’s about focusing on him and what he wants to speak within that body on that day.

Okay, I really couldn’t think of a good way to title this blog entry, but that’s the general idea. This is more an argument for why a pastor should plan (at least generally, thematically) what is going on in church services. So, worship leaders, if you agree with what I write here you might want to forward this along to your pastor…lovingly, of course

I have developed worship services for churches where I knew what the pastor was preaching about as well as other churches where I really had no idea. My last church was one where the pastor hardly ever clued me into what he was going to preach on. He would always encourage me afterwards and, many times, exhort me in front of the whole congregation when I managed to choose a song which he either had on his mind or which went perfectly with his message. As much as I enjoyed the compliments and the coincidences, it was actually very, very tough picking out music.

Why? You ask. Why indeed? They’re just songs, aren’t they? All they do is get people in a good mood and make ‘em receptive to the preachin’, right? Well, sad to say, if that’s how you feel about the music portion of your worship service, you  have much more pastoring and shepherding to do for your flock than I can cover in a single day’s entry here…

Every worship song carries with it a theological message and perspective. It also focuses the minds of those in the congregation in a specific direction or upon a specific idea. What you do not want is for the music in a service to be pointing towards or moving the congregation’s hearts and minds in a direction which is different (or even contradictory!) to where the pastor is going in the message.

It’s that simple – that’s why. Unity. A singleness in focus and message and purpose.

And let me put this as nicely as I can. If a pastor’s responsibilities at church do not allow him the time to spend many hours in the word developing his message before Saturday afternoon/evening, then he has too much on his plate and the church needs to step and begin to do their God-ordained ministry (to each other and those around them), so that the man God has given them to shepherd their hearts can spend ample time studying the Word so that he can teach and admonish in such a way as to meet the Biblical standard for the ministry that God has called him to.

(Hope that wasn’t too harsh….)

Simply put, planning is essential to the unity within the leadership at a church.

But how? The church I am in now has a pretty good system. Here’s how it works: The elders (including the senior pastor as an elder) get together once a year, usually in the fall, and spend time in prayer seeking God as to the direction of the church in the upcoming year. When they come away from that gathering, they will have a theme of sorts which guides the planning of all the services for the next year. Sometimes the theme itself dictates what is going to happen in most of the services.

Then the senior pastor sits down, usually with other pastors or elders, and begins to look at the year and assign either more general themes/focuses to months/weeks, or he might actually be able to assign specific passages and/or themes to specific Sundays. This is the overarching planning for the year.

Now, what happens in the nitty gritty is senior pastor and the worship pastor sit down every two months and hash out specifically what is going to happen in those 8-9 Sundays. Now, the worship pastor may walk away with little more than a passage or specific theme, but he’ll also be aware of other things such as communion, baby dedications, special guests/visitors who will take time during the service – basically all that impacts the planning of those services.

From there, with a general idea of what is going to be preached (whether a passage or a specific theme) as well the knowledge of other things which will impact the timing element of the service, the worship leader can then begin to plan several weeks in advance for each service.

Now, obviously, the teaching pastor/elder for a specific week/service will meet the week of to iron out any bugs and confusion, as well as to give the worship leader feedback and input on what is planned.

I hope that didn’t sound so involved and coordinated as to discourage those of you who want to start planning services in advance. All you really need is a few weeks notice of what the passage or theme being preached about is. As you and your pastor develop a system for planning ahead, it will become easier and easier to stretch those plans out further and further into the future. At my church the pastor has been there almost 20 years, and I think the worship pastor has been there something like eight (maybe…but at least five…), so he and the senior pastor have been able to really get a fell for how the other works, thinks, and moves.

In the end, if you and your pastor need to work on planning ahead, I would greatly encourage you to at least sit down and start communicating on how that might work in your church and your leadership. Start moving in the right direction, pray a lot about it, and see how God develops a planning system in your church!