Ministry glimpses

It’s hard to know what to write about when you’re doing a hundred different little things. Sometimes life is full of the big projects – right now it seems to be more full of the many little ones.

One bit of recent news is that I finished a six-part Bible study with the music team at the church in Jesús María. On the last day, as a bit of an “addendum”, I gave them a list of somewhat random ideas for worship services (focused on the music part).

So, for your interest, here it is. There are entire branches of other ideas – you could probably come up with another hundred fairly quickly, more suited to your context.

Remember, though, that these came in the context of a Bible study. If your purpose is to be “novel” or “memorable”, you’ll miss the whole point. The actual point is to point people to the Lord and His truth. To “wake them up” to actually worship!

1. Go through a passage of Scripture with your songs (and words).
2. Base your songs on the main theme of the sermon.
3. Use times of complete silence for prayer and reflection.
4. Hand out the words of one of the songs. People can put a copy in their Bible and reflect on the words during the week.
5. Put the first verse of the song on the screen for a few moments before you start singing, so that people can meditate on the words and prepare their hearts.
6. Sing a song a capella.
7. Sing part of a song a capella.
8. Have one part of the song when just the men sing, or just the women, or just the children, or . . .
9. Hand out the words and music to one of the songs and challenge people to learn parts. Use the song 6 weeks in a row – the worship leaders can teach the harmony.
10. Choose people from the congregation to read Scripture between the songs.
11. Read a passage of Scripture together, or alternate between the leader and the congregation, or the men and the women, or . . .
12. Someone could come to the front and share a testimony related to the next song.
13. Have a theme-of-the-week that goes through truths about the gospel. For example: Week 1 “Our Great God”, Week 2 “Sin/Repentance”, Week 3 “Jesus and His death/resurrection for us”, Week 4 “Salvation/Forgiveness”, Week 5 “Growing in Holiness”.
14. Celebrate Christmas in July – all Christmas carols.
15. Celebrate Christmas/Easter together halfway between Christmas and Easter (around the middle of February). Remember the incarnation, why Jesus came – sing songs of Christmas, the cross, the resurrection. (Thanks to my Dad for this idea)
16. Write a new song, and teach it.
17. Write music for a verse/passage of Scripture and teach it.
18. Worship is much more than music. For example, the high point of worship in the Sunday service is the sermon. What are other ways in which we can worship God together on a Sunday? Write your own list, and try something un-musical.
19. Sing a song in response to (after) the sermon.
20. Sing a children’s song and teach the actions (to everyone!).
21. Try a new song in a completely different style than what you’re used to.
22. Challenge people to worship every day (every moment). What are some ways they can worship? Special moments? Remembering God in times of work/play?
23. For those who know hymns, do a survey of their favourites and teach the three most popular next month.
24. Invite a missionary to teach a song or hymn in another language, then teach it in English as well.
25. Have people say out loud some of the names of God, or attributes of God.
26. Unplug: no mics or amplification during the whole service.
27. Have a complete service a capella.
28. Have the worship team split up and sit all throughout the congregation. Or, when you’re called to the front, don’t go! Start the time of music from your seats with your instruments there (where possible).
29. Put the seats for the congregation in a circle, or semi-circle.
30. Share an object lesson.
31. Instead of singing along, ask the congregation to just listen to a song/part of a song and meditate on the words.
32. Stop and explain the meaning of a word/song (don’t assume that everyone knows!).
33. Explain why you chose a specific song to sing this week.
34. Have a “theme of the week”. It will give you more time to develop a biblical idea.
35. Help everyone to memorize a passage of Scripture over 5 weeks, while singing songs related to the theme.
36. Play a new instrument.
37. Make a note of the flow of ideas that you want to follow throughout the service. For example, first we sing about God’s greatness, then we humble ourselves before Him in repentance, next we give thanks for His mercy and forgiveness. Or, sing about Gethsemane, then the suffering of the cross, and the tomb, and finally the resurrection.
38. Plan to read every single Psalm, in order, one each Sunday (for 150+ Sundays).
39. Do nothing except read Scripture and sing word-for-word Scripture songs.
40. What is your unique goal this week? What do you want people to feel or believe or do as a result of this time of worship?
41. Spend half of the time in corporate/personal prayer.
42. Have your service outside.
43. Buy one copy of a good hymnbook and use ideas from it.
44. Have everyone change seats and sit beside someone they don’t usually sit beside.
45. Ask the preacher to choose the song that comes before and/or after the service.
46. Have the sermon halfway through the worship time.
47. Show the words on the screen, play the instruments, but have no one sing. Just meditate on the words.
48. Simply remind people to think about what they’re singing.
49. Remind people to pray what they are singing.
50. Tell people to try to apply this thought/song to something in the past week. For example, what was your greatest fear? Your greatest joy?
51. Sing a song once at the beginning of the music time, and then sing the same song at the end.
52. Look through the Psalms to find themes and emotions that we don’t usually express in our songs – find new songs to express them.
53. Take a moment to explain something about worship in the Bible. Which passages tell us that God sings? What instruments were used in Bible times?
54. Take a moment to explain something about music, so that we can worship with excellence. How can we improve our singing? Why is the melody of this song the way it is?
55. During the service, record a message and special song for someone who cannot attend due to illness. Pray for them.
56. Sing a hymn every week for a month to learn it well (and for a while afterward, once a month).
57. Could you have a whole service based on the theme of Heaven?
58. If someone in the congregation has been a believer for 50+ years, ask that person what christian song/hymn/chorus has meant a lot to them in their life. Learn it (if it’s a good song!). That person could share a story from their life in the service.
59. Every Psalm has been put to music, many times! Learn a one, or write your own music for a Psalm.