I have spent the last year or so doing a lot of listening. It seems that my thinking is clearer when I listen more. I’m not talking about a “way in the distance” kind of listening but rather a listening that really helps me learn. I spend a lot of time processing and just trying to figure things out. If I had a badge that had my job title it would probably read, “Just tryin’ to figure it out”. Since I spend a lot time talking to pastors, church leaders and particularly worship leaders I get to be included in conversations about their ministries, job descriptions, staff, music styles, trends, etc. There seems to be topics that keep reoccurring. So I began to make a list of what seems to be the main issues that worship pastors most often mention, either in direct conversations with me or in those moments that I am just listening.
In trying to list these things I decided to place them in “Buckets”. In fact I came up with “The Seven Buckets of Worship Ministry”. I am a mentor and a coach to several worship leaders/pastors and the Seven Buckets came from hours and hours of spending time with them. I have listed the “Buckets” in the order of what I believe to be “most often discussed.” One of the main reasons I chose the bucket analogy is because my hope is that you will continually be adding things to each Bucket.
For the next couple of days we’ll be unveiling each bucket via the Slingshot blog. Discuss, ask questions, Share with others! Lets spur each other on through this blog series and see if we can all come out a little wiser in the end!
Ok…here it goes:
Bucket #1. Service Planning
• Creativity and its’ process. It takes creative thinking to develop an ever-changing creative process. Time, location, who to include, preparation, must always be taken into consideration. This process will include creative thinking regarding music, visual imaging,
• Scheduling – This is far more than working on a calendar. It’s like a football coach deciding who the starting 11 players will be. To do this in a way that honors the people involved whether your style is long rang planning or a more loose, last minute decision making. Either of these methods can work but there are advantages and consequences to both.
• Song Choices – Finding the right song soon enough is so important. It’s like developing a menu for a restaurant. It’s unlikely that handing a customer the menu on a hand written post-it note will build a successful business. Last minute song choices can damage a worship ministry.The interesting thing about this is the more we drill down into this song search thing the more spontaneous be can become.
What other components have you found are essential to service planning? What have been some hang-ups or solutions you’ve encountered in planning services?
Love this! Definitely gonna unpacking this over the week.
I think flexibility is essential in the planning process. Without it it’s easy to snap when the speaker makes a last minute change, a singer gets sick, or the video guy didnt finish editing in time. If we’ll model and teach flexibility to our teams, we can build up a grace buffer that will enable us to work together and honor God with our relationships as well as our Sunday expression.
Thanks for the blog…looking forward to reading more!
J
I’m loving your thoughts here. perhaps the biggest challenge I’m seeing is a generational tendency to try to define the “bucket”… thus excluding ideas that don’t “fit in”…. chapel worship at IWU is breaking every norm… we’ve circled the balcony with acoustic guitars, gone A Capella, rap, old school… shoot we don’t need a bucket, more of a trunk I think…
Flexibility comes out of the level of talent available and how much depth you have on your team. Right now we are in a slow growth phase again. Having that person ready to “step in” can make a huge difference. Yes I’ve had those “snapped” moments, and I’m sure I’ll have more over time.
One option is to hire talent, the other is to grow from within (ie…train). My church does not have a lot of extra resources to spare, thus we tend to rely on the latter. As a result, my challenge is to remember to always keep my volunteer “pipeline” full. Training takes time, patience, and faith that God will provide the person we most need. I try to stay networked with the local music stores and teachers, as well as dropping hints with staff and the congregation that my team is always looking for new people.
Thanks for your thoughts, Stan. Love the 7 buckets idea. RE: planning — I appreciate your comment about last minute song choices, or last minute anything choices. I’ve found it helpful to see the whole of a service as a communications event and therefore each element, visual, spoken, musical, etc. is important. As worship planners it is as important for us to think about and be in tune to what God wants to communicate through an entire service as it is for the pastor who is giving the message. Sometimes that means that we may pick a song that is not our personal favorite, but moves the message forward because of the text. Very often it is the worship planner and leader who helps connect the dots for the people.
Thanks so much Stan. I think one of the hardest things to do is including others in the process. But it’s so important. It’s about content AND connecting, but I do love the direction the church is headed in today. I think there’s healing in them wings!!!