Sunday’s Set

During the run-through this last Sunday we had one of those “I-can’t-believe- this-is-actually-happening” moments.   The monitors sounded blah, the band was missing cues, I couldn’t make up my mind about a song transition and I totally blanked in the middle of a verse of a song…all before 1st service.  After the run-through we all kind of slinked off stage and then regrouped 10 minutes later.  What happened next was an “a-ha” moment.  We prayed as a group and out of that time we basically heard God telling us “You have no reason to be nervous.  I don’t need you or your monitors or fancy arrangements to move.”

Ouch.  That’s a cut to the pride.  At the same time, it was so reassuring to know that the success of a service doesn’t rest solely on the confidence (or lack there of) of the worship team.    Woosh!   We felt this collective release of nervous energy and got up, had fun and worshiped the God who isn’t bogged down a bad monitor mix, random radio frequencies coming through the PA or missed cues.  God is way bigger than the box we want to put Him in on a Sunday morning.  I know I needed that reminder.

Our set list included:

Pre-Service Groove (Instrumental with an A and B section over 5 min countdown as people walk in)

You’re Worthy of My Praise (Gathering Song)

Famous One

Praise To The Lord The Almighty (Christy Nockels version)

Jesus Messiah

Shout To The Lord (Lincoln Brewster Version)

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Offering Song)

The 1st trick in this set was to go from Famous One to Praise To The Lord (faster 6/8 to slower 6/8 and 9/8 feel).  I transitioned by keeping them both in the key of E having the band let the last chord of Famous One ring out as I sang the first line of Praise To The Lord, thus setting a new, slower tempo.  It felt smooth getting into but the band tended to want to rush as we got to the chorus section.

The second trick was with Jesus Messiah and Shout To The Lord.  I wanted my drummer to play slightly ahead of the beat so that we could match tempos with Jesus Messiah and Shout To The Lord.  That way the energy level of both songs remains fairly consistent.  Jesus Messiah wanted to drag and Shout To The Lord wanted to drag.  This rests solely on the drummer.  Luckily, my drummer “Duffy” is a very musical drummer and really understands the dynamics of both songs.  We did Jesus Messiah in the key of E and Shout To The Lord in the key of A.  Being that the end of Jesus Messiah tags the last line of the chorus and ends with an A chord we were able to play 2 bars of the A chord at the end of Jesus Messiah and plow right into Shout To The Lord without any hesitation.  1st service, this transition didn’t go so smoothly.  1 person in the band was about a half measure off from the rest of the band.  In the 2nd service we nailed it.

What does all this have to with actually leading people in worship you ask?  Truth is not much in the grand scheme of things.  But its in the details that great worship leaders rise and fall.  A great worship leader is often a great arranger.  Your people will have a sense of completeness when a song is done well.  Sometimes it’ll be an instrumental section that really makes room for them to hear from God.  Without some careful planning, we leave those important details up to chance.  On the flip side, sometimes God says, “Scrap the details!  Focus on me!”   And that’s good too.  Just make sure there’s a good balance between the artistry and the purpose of worship.

That’s all for now.  What say you?