Planning Ahead
August 11, 2008
I heard a great quote the other day that was aimed at pastors who plan sermons last minute week to week. It went something like, “When pastors wait until the last minute to plan a message, is it them or the Holy Spirit who does the procrastinating?”
This is not a slam on pastors. Not even close.
What it is, though, is a challenge. A challenge to those in leadership to take weekend gatherings to the next level. People aren’t interested in coming to church because, in general, our presentation of the Gospel, our approach to discipling, and our efforts at helping people become community are lacking.
This includes our times of musical worship. Twenty years ago we could all just come together and sing a few choruses to be considered cutting edge and innovative. In this day and time it takes intentional, strategic planning.
Lest you misinterpret my challenge, my aim is not to convince you to cut out spontaneity or free-roaming interludes of musical worship. My goal is not to convince you to sing this song or that, in this style or that. I’m not trying to convince you to use this technology or that. My challenge isn’t about method, as much as it is about intent.
We have to be intentional in our planning.
Why?
If we so wanted, we could just meet in homes, strumming a guitar and having a Bible study (with snacks afterward). We could grow spiritually and we could probably even grow in numbers (up to a certain point). But the bottom line is, we live in a culture that embraces large gatherings. We live in a society that, for the most part doesn’t slow down enough to be comfortable making those “small group” type connections.
Yet, we ALL desire those connections. Enter the large group church gathering. It’s a doorway to small groups. It’s an entry point into community. A springboard, if you will, into dynamic, personal life-change. Relationships won’t ever be deep in a large gathering, but they can start there.
One of the key relationships that we desire to happen is for a person to enter relationship with the Living God through Jesus. I personally believe that people can be open to and even begin those relationships in a large group gathering, which is why we should be so intentional about planning them well.
If we throw things together at the last moment, if we don’t have a plan, if we just wing it; then we’re communicating that the message we do share isn’t worth our best. We also communicate that the people who come through our doors aren’t worth our best as well.
The goal of the large group is to convey basic truths that whet the appetite for life answers that can only be discovered and lived out in small group settings. It also serves the purpose of being a place where a large number of people come together to express thanks, gratitude and worship to God.
That being said, our times of musical “worship” should be well thought out and Spirit-led. And just so you know, Spirit-led has nothing to do with spontaneity or “free” worship. It’s all about listening to the guidance of the Spirit as a team and moving where He directs. The Holy Spirit can and does indeed move through thorough advance planning. It is just as wondrous and miraculous.
Too many times pastors don’t communicate the themes of their sermons to the worship leader in time. Some never do at all. This isn’t a crime, but it definitely doesn’t help.
My challenge is this: If you’re a pastor, plan ahead. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you plan sermons and series well in advance. I know of some churches (mine included) where the messages are planned out for an entire year.
If you’re a worship leader, team up with your pastor and give input! Ask them for theirs as well! Be intentional about planning elements of the worship service. Also, take into consideration the time and efforts of your volunteers. If you plan ahead, say by a month at least, you’ll be able to get your team what they need to be well rehearsed way in advance.
Why? We have to attach an urgency to the purpose of our gatherings. They should be high priority. We should always keep in mind that our large gatherings are not only about just coming together for worship and the Word, but could also potentially be the gateway for someone into a relationship with Christ and community with Believers.
That in itself is enough to motivate me to be strategic about the songs we sing, the videos we include, the skits, specials, backgrounds, etc.
Planning ahead isn’t about being cool. It isn’t about being competitive with culture. It isn’t about being trendy.
It’s all about being strategic in our approach to love God and love people in a way that makes us good stewards of the resources God has given us.
Related posts:
- Great Posts From The Worship Community Archive: Worship Planning Edition
- Culture of Crucial: Connecting With People Before Worship
- Creating Worship: The Art of Simmering
- Tools For Worship Arts Ministry
- Letters to Leaders, Vol. 3
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That’s some really great advice. Oh wait, I wrote this article. Ha.
Thanks for giving a normal (most of the time) worship leader an opportunity to share some insights.
Blessings, TWC!!
Russ,
Good stuff, my friend. I came from an environment where I didn’t really think a lot about the Sunday service until Sunday AM. It was OK, then – I made some special time early that morning and got myself equipped and ready. The difference was, I really didn’t interact with other elements of the service. I led the music, kind of “did my thing” and then turned it over to the Pastor for the “preaching” so he could do “his thing”.
It was not a successful format, that’s for sure. (and let me be clear, I’m as much to blame for that as anyone!). I’ve found great liberty and joy in planning ahead and spending hours meeting with the teaching pastors, tech leaders, and volunteers to prayerfully craft Spirit-led gatherings as much as a month or more in advance.
It can happen! And it also makes your volunteers feel more secure, because they have time to prepare.
For the Kingdom,
Fred McKinnon
http://www.fredmckinnon.com
http://www.theworshipcommunity.com
I used to know a guy who always said “People don’t plan to fail — they just fail to plan.” And it’s often true that when people fail to accomplish something or realize their potential, it’s not for lack of zeal when they’re in the midst of the activity but a failure to plan beforehand.
And when the activity is leading people in corporate worship, the stakes are higher. Great reminder, Russ!
right on the mark. God planned all of time out quite a while back. who are we not to plan a few weeks or months ahead?
I have always believed the better planned, the more room for the Holy Spirit to move. Not less! Partially becuase we have time to memorize and get our eyes off of music, readings, etc. This allows us to not only lead, but worship ourselves.
Before I required memorization from our teams, we rarely even looked up let alone focused on the Lord ourselves. Our volunteer teams have now grown large enough that they all only have to serve one weekend and one MidWeek a month. What a blessing now to watch them lead!
Thanks for the article, I couldn’t agree more!
http://www.loribiddle.com
[...] There was a good post about why worship leaders and pastors should plan ahead. [...]
Wow, this is an AWESOME article. I just recently wrote one on the same topic and I wholeheartedly agree with what you wrote here. Yes, the Holy Spirit can use anyone and ANYTHING. The word says if We don’t praise Him, the Rocks will cry out.
However, that in NO way says that we shouldn’t take God’s work seriously enough to plan it out. Planning is an essential part of the worship experience, not because God NEEDS our planning, but by planning, we are able to fully experience God’s greatness, working along with Him, guided by the Holy Spirit.
Check out my article on the same topic here: http://praiseandworshipblog.com/55/tip-3-have-a-gps-system/