The Biggest Mistake You’re Making When Prepping for Services

I started my first year of bible college in Sept 2001. When I mention Jackson College of Ministries, I’m surprised at the number of people who are also Alumni.  As a music major I took ear training, music theory and piano lessons. Until I became a Music Director, it never crossed my mind that I needed to figure out more than which songs I wanted our team to play for service. There are so many other things to consider, like….

What do you do between songs during a service?

1. Keep playing the song you were playing before in the same rhythm

2. Play the same song but slower

3. Stop playing

One of my personal pet peeves is when offering or announcements is complete, the service leader walks away and there you have the singers with a deer in the headlights look. No one knows what to do next. This is a distraction that could have been easily avoided with communication and planning. It puts the attention on us instead of Jesus.

1. Have a meeting with the worship team and service leader before service.
2. Communicate any special intros or reprise endings you are planning.
3. Maintain eye contact with the service leader, worship leaders and musicians during service.

I’ve been in services where the preacher was preaching his heart out. The congregation was ready to respond and then he asked for the musicians to start playing……AND NOTHING HAPPENED! Nobody moved. The congregation immediately watches the musicians and tunes out everything the preacher is saying. It’s awkward and distracting!

Things NOT to do when it’s time to play for altar call:

1. Talk to the singers, trying to figure out what song to do.
2. Stay seated when the preacher asks the keyboard player to play softly.
3. Musicians aren’t paying attention and don’t hear the preacher call them.

Failed service transitions can be the biggest distraction. Most of the time it falls through because of planning or communication issues. For more service transition tips check out the "Transitions You Should Master to Play in a Worship Service Guide" and

my video called "Your Worship Service Might Be Missing These Transitions."