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This is not just about handling contributions or spiritual gifts as they arise in the meeting but about the pace of the whole worship time, from the first few words welcoming the people, to the response after the preaching.

GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START
Are you starting the meeting? Have you thought about what to say, and how to connect with people?

See the worship note ‘Preparing to lead worship’ for more detailed information on making song choices that follow a natural progression in worship, but needless to say, we worship in Spirit and in TRUTH so the content of our songs is very important. When we declare truth, we feed the people. Think through your own repertoire: what are the best songs for opening a meeting with statements ABOUT God?

Sometimes it can help the pace of the first part of the meeting to link the first couple of songs together. This can help if you’re working with an inexperienced drummer, for example, who might take a while to count the next song in! Consider which songs work well together - not just those with the same key and tempo, but where the content links logically together.

There’s nothing wrong with a simple song but I tend to steer away from songs with very repetitive choruses that only say one thing. You might have a few songs like this that are all good songs in and of themselves, but if you have several of these in a row, you need to be mindful of what the ‘sum’ of what you’re singing adds up to – it might not be very much content at all!

Not everyone comes to the worship time fresh from the prayer meeting, fired up and ready to go! Some people have just had a nightmare parking the car, their kids are fighting or other such domesticities. Be aware of those who are still ‘catching up’ - some songs have particular sections where you can change the pace and ‘breathe’ a bit – sometimes it might be worth staying there a little longer than usual until you know people are entering in more.

After the welcome/introduction do watch how much you say. Too much talking can actually be detrimental to the flow of worship. We want to lead but not dominate, which too much talking can do. Let the lyrics do most of the talking! Never pray or speak for the sake of it, to fill a gap, or because you feel you haven’t said anything yet! Don’t be afraid of a few seconds’ silence.

LEAVING SPACE
If you’re there to lead, it’s ok to LEAD, to really establish the worship time and keep it moving for, say, the first three songs before you leave space. It is usually much more effective to leave space for corporate singing and contributions at this point than say, after the first song!

HANDLING AND RESPONDING TO GIFTS
With the exception of the setting of the huge celebration, when there are practical restrictions, we desire and practice the ‘body ministry’ as outlined in 1 Corinthians 14:

“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy” … “When we come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue … someone must interpret” … “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said”. (1 Corinthians 14: 1, 26-27, 29)

We make sure we leave space for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to function in the meeting. If someone brings a contribution, we will drop the level of the music, probably to just having the keyboards playing in the background. It often helps the flow of the meeting and the sense of atmosphere to keep some music playing.

If there is a tongue, we wait for the interpretation. If no-one brings the interpretation, the person who brought the tongue should bring it. If a tongue is followed by a prophecy, you still need the interpretation of a tongue. Tongues are always God-ward in direction (us speaking about God) while prophecy is from God in its direction (God speaking to us). Sometimes people bring something prophetic thinking they are bringing the interpretation. This is a matter of teaching to the church by your leaders, but in this instance a short explanation may be needed. Be clear whether you or a church leader would do that and again, who would handle it if you feel the contribution if ‘off the mark’, for example, clearly not in line with scripture (see also the paragraph below, ‘Working with leadership’).

In response to contribution: again consider, how much do you really need to say? You don’t often need to add your thoughts as a way of trying to link, that is often unnecessary, especially when you might have just had lots of talking in the contribution. If you must say something to link, try and do that with scripture. Sometimes the most effective thing to do is to respond by going straight into an appropriate song. This asks the question: how flexible are you to leave the list? Know the importance of the wide repertoire – a lot of modern songs only cover a narrow theme base. Do you have a song list prepared, with categories of songs (and keys) that you can easily refer to? This can be a really helpful ‘aide memoire’ to glance at so you can more quickly respond.

If the next thing on your list is in a totally different direction to the contribution that has been brought, there will be a terrible ‘crunch of gears’ if you persist in going there. Consider: is this a good contribution, are people responding to it? Should we continue in this new direction? If so, what is the heart of the contribution? If you think, perhaps, it is ‘being made new in God’, summing it up like that will help you quickly conclude which is the best song of response. Note: that is why it’s really important that you carefully listen to the contributions – it’s easy to stand there and be thinking, ‘shall we stick with what I had?’ and so on and then realise you missed half of it!

WORKING WITH LEADERSHIP
Our worship leading gifts are submitted to the church leaders, who are responsible for oversight of the meeting. It’s very helpful to know the boundaries of your responsibility and theirs, for example, whose role it is to handle contributions to the meeting and so on.

It’s helpful just to follow some simple practices – make sure you have clear eye contact and communication with your leaders, and be alert in case they want to communicate with you, for example, to indicate that they want to speak.

Make sure you know beforehand if a specific song is needed at the end, or if they require space for ministry. If the choice of songs at the end of the meeting is your call, be considering what is going to be the best way to respond as the preaching develops. Have some alternative choices in case more than one song is needed. Are you certain that the musicians playing today know those songs?

The importance of strong relationships with your pastors cannot be under-stressed. You never want to have the attitude of ‘the worship is my ‘slot’, the preaching is theirs’. You need to be working as a team so the entire meeting flows together for the benefit of the whole church.