Adaptable Worship Experiences

Every church community has a unique make-up that makes it distinct. Everything from the local culture to the facility shape what worship looks like in your church. It's a good thing; embrace it! It's what brought together this body of worshipers and that unique identity will continue to inform and fuel the church in its mission.

In the quest to be relevant, sometimes we veer off course and chase the ideals that work best in another church, but are in fact, irrelevant in our church community. Don't get me wrong... I'm a big believer in doing what works and learning from churches that do things with excellence! BUT, those other models and resources should inform our worship experience rather than determine it.

Create worship music that is relevant and organic to your own congregation. You don't "need" an electric guitarist or drummer to have a worship experience. Use the best gifts that God has already given to your congregation. As their is growth, the holes you see will be filled by God's design and in His time.

Custom fit songs to your setting. I like to tell my team members that learning the song as it is "on the record" is the baseline. From that point, we have creative freedom to switch chords, alter the structure and create a version of that song that fits the moment, the congregation and the band best. Only once you know the song as its been written and performed (might I add with HOURS of creative and technical refining by EXPERTS) can you reconstruct it tastefully.

Don't be afraid of simplifying. I would dare say that it would be inappropriate to do the 7 minute version of "Mighty to Save" every time your team led it. That makes worship predictable and stale. Have a four minute version that is the standard and pull out the extended version when the worship environment calls for it.

Remind your team and congregation that worship is the meshing of many personal experiences into one corporate experience. It's not a concert; the band isn't there to perform to its devoted followers. It's not Spotify; you don't get to just pick all your favorites. This is worship... the mystical gathering of many believers uniting with one voice to sing to their God.


Make it fit. Make it unite. Make it give God the glory He deserves.

We're (NOT) All in this Together!

Curious guests walk into your church every week. Some are believers that are just curious about your church; they've heard about your pastor or the worship band or the children's ministry and want to try it on for size. The other group of curious guests is what I REALLY get excited about though; they're either apathetic or agnostic and have heard or seen something different about your church that has drawn them to walk through your doors.

Do you think about these guests when you create and lead worship experiences? How important is their experience to you? Let me tell you why they should be an important consideration in creating and leading your worship experiences.

It is my belief that the church has two callings. First, to grow and disciple believers in their lifelong relationship with Jesus. Second, to create disciples by introducing them to Jesus and inviting them into a relationship with Him. Both are really important jobs, but many of us are putting to much energy into the first calling and ignoring the second.

In His ministry on earth, Jesus made a big deal about the outsiders. He said that when we serve them, we are serving Him and in His last instruction to His followers, He said to go and tell them the good news. Reaching them is a big deal to Jesus - so we need to make it a big deal in our worship!

Believe it or not, in our corporate worship gatherings we have an opportunity to reach both groups. Here's how you can move in that direction...

• Use artistic expressions well. I've said it before and I'll say it again... if you can't do it well, you can't be credible. Whether its graphics, music or dance... it has to be inspiring, even to skeptics!
• Cast the vision for your team. They need to understand that you're not just trying to lead a congregation of believers to the throne of God, you're also trying to lead people into His grace for the first time. That means as we create and lead people through worship experiences, we allow them to engage at their own comfort level. We can't call them out, force anything out of them or expect any particular response.
• Lead by example. Focus on your personal worship experience as you lead worship. Be genuinely engaged in worship as a conversation between you and God. As you model worship for the attendees, they will be more willing to engage.
• Ask for a heart for non-believers. Pray that God inspires you with a heart for those Jesus-curious guests that come to your church. As God inspires you with a burden for outsiders, you'll be better equipped to serve them in worship. 

As you dig into this topic, I would also recommend checking out "Worship Evangelism" by Sally Morganthaller.