QUESTION: After spending a week praying, planning, and worshiping on my own about an upcoming worship service, I can’t wait to spend time in the Lord’s presence with my brothers and sisters! How can I share that joy with other members of my team as well as the congregation?
REGI: If others lead with you, then getting your entire team on the same page is a must. Consider emailing them during the week with some insight or inspiration from the upcoming music. Take time in rehearsal to actually worship—not just to work out the chord changes and vocal parts. Take time during the week to affirm their gifts and to recognize outstanding efforts.
The same principle applies to your congregation. Consider using social media to let them know about a specific song they’ll be singing in the upcoming service. Include a YouTube link to a live performance or perhaps to an interview with the songwriter about how the song came to be written. Building interest in an upcoming song will engage their imaginations and create a sense of expectancy about how the Lord will move.
Keep in mind that many people are used to going to church rather than being the Church. Instead of bringing their praise offering with them, they expect to have worship provided for them. Changing old habits takes time and attention. It also takes love.
Seek to encourage rather than to criticize! Teach them that the Jews started their worship services as they ascended the Temple Mount. By the time they arrived, their hearts were already in full praise mode! Take a month and challenge your congregation to pick their favorite hymn or worship song and sing it in the car on the way to church. Families could choose a “Song of the Week” to use as their own “Psalm of Ascent.” Ask them to send their favorites to you and consider incorporating some of them into an upcoming service.
Let your encouragement be gentle and loving but also consistent and intentional. They need to believe that you are real and that worship really matters. Imagine someone who doesn't think they can sing being asked to sing with all of his or her heart! What would that mean to someone who has never known joy through singing? We have to understand that when we lead.
Even if people aren’t gifted singers, they can still use their voices to worship God by speaking out their gratitude or praise. Create some space in the worship time for believers to confess God’s blessings aloud. Although this might seem a little awkward at first, be patient. Your congregation will become more and more comfortable and will join in over time.
The biggest way to share the joy is to actively involve your congregation in the service. Worship isn’t a spectator sport. As they participate in The Lord’s Supper, come forward for prayer, or kneel where they are—you’re creating an environment of active worship rather than passive observation.
I want to encourage you to keep modeling your sense of joyful expectancy whether or not anyone is watching. Your joy is contagious and will spread! Over time, an audience of spectators can become a congregation of joyful worshipers. Being intentional about this is an essential part of good worship service planning.
Hope that helps! Let me know your thoughts!
--Regi
For more than 15 years, Regi Stone has served as Discover Worship's creative heart. With more than 230 published songs and a dozen CD's to his credit, he has performed in hundreds of churches and led worship thousand’s of times. His Worship Weekend events equip and inspire local worship teams around the country. For more about Regi's music and ministry, go to registone.com.