Tips for Shaping the Sunday Gathering

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of four articles on the design of a corporate worship gathering. 9Marks does not promote one way to go about the design of a worship service. Nevertheless, this is a good example of how one pastor taught his church about corporate worship and liturgy design. Here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. 

The first worship service I designed took me six hours. 

I rummaged around hymn books, source books, websites, and my Bible. I consulted paper indexes, lists of what we sang as a church, and my own memory. I was a new preaching pastor with oversight of our Sunday gathering. For the better part of a decade, I had worked with brothers responsible for curating and ordering the church’s songs, readings, and prayers. But I had never done this weekly work myself. 

Six hours said something about me, that I wanted to get it right. I wanted a service that was coherent, beautiful, and instructive. But six hours revealed something else: that I was not organized for the task. 

Home projects take me too long because I don’t have the right tools and, if I do, they aren’t well organized. I can get away with this now and then because I’m not a general contractor. I’m a pastor. But since ordering my church’s worship is a part of my job, I knew I needed some help. I needed to get organized. 

For pastors like me, here are some tips for getting organized for the task. 

Tip #1: Decide on Your Materials 

What are you going to sing together? 

Perhaps you work out of a hymnal, and so that’s your catalog. There are some newer hymnals that incorporate newer songs, so they don’t have to limit you to historic texts and tunes. But it’s most likely that you’ll depart from the published arrangements. 

In our case, we aimed to identify about 150 songs that we wanted our people to sing. These songs had to have singable tunes and worthy lyrics. I wanted some of the songs to stretch us, but I also intended for most of the songs to stay within our cultural and musical wheelhouse. We could add and subtract here and there, but a defined catalog of songs for our church was the goal. 

We built our list in three steps. First, we listed all the songs we’ve sung in the last three years. Second, we read every text, weighed each tune, and then determined which would stay and which would (eventually) go. Is it true? Is it worth singing? Does it sing well? Do our people sing it well? Third, we put the lyrics of all these songs into one document and all the titles into a spreadsheet for easy searchability. 

We also needed a similar resource for readings—calls, confessions, texts for assurance, professions of faith, benedictions, etc. So we defined a body of ancient creeds, historic confessions, and Scripture readings especially suited for the various elements of our service. A pastor friend had a head start on this, so we borrowed his and went from there. 

Tip #2: Organize Your Materials 

How are you going to identify the best songs for this Sunday? 

How will you identify the especially suitable songs to open your service or carry the church’s praise, confession, or thanksgiving? How will you identify a song to respond to the preached Word? 

Maybe for you it’s a set of hymnals, a worship source book, and your Bible. Perhaps you use websites to search for the right song, even if they involve more material than you will draw from.[1] 

For us, having a body of songs in a searchable document improved our preparation and our overall service design. But we needed more than an alphabetized and searchable list. A well-known feature of hymnbooks offered a key: topical index. We wanted to create something similar but digital. We wanted to utilize tags so that songs could be searched not only by lyric but by liturgical use and theme. We went about this process in two steps. 

First, with the help of some systematic theologies, we identified a body of tags for the following: liturgical use[2], themes of revelation[3], themes of response[4], orientation (to God as a prayer, to one another, etc.)[5], and type of text and tune.[6] These tags help our imagination as we consider themes for our service and songs to carry out our theme. 

Our second step was to study lyrics and tag each song. We wanted to help our minds move from Scripture to song possibilities with ease. We considered building our own piece of software. As an option, Planning Center would allow us to tag songs and search tags. But upon further reflection, we could not beat a simple searchable PDF.[7] 

Here’s how this looks for a familiar modern song: 

“All I Have Is Christ”       Text: Jordan Kauflin 

Use: #praise #confession #assurance #commitment 
Revelation: #love #gracious #suffering/cross/atonement #justification/forgiveness #regeneration #empowerment/boldness
Response: #confession #humility #consecration #obedience #evangelism/missions
Orientation: #togod #I/me
Text/Tune: #modern / #anthem

I once was lost in darkest night, yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own a rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race indifferent to the cost,
You looked upon my helpless state and led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed. You suffered in my place.
You bore the wrath reserved for me; now all I know is grace.

Chorus: Hallelujah! All I have is Christ. Hallelujah! Jesus is my life.

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone, and live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands could never come from me.
Oh Father, use my ransomed life in any way You choose.
And let my song forever be: my only boast is You. 

Tip #3: Keep Track of What You’re Doing 

I am embarrassed to say that after my second week of designing our services, I used more than one of the same songs again. I cleared my mind and started from scratch, but my mind led me to the same songs. 

A simple tool has helped us to avoid wearing out some songs while neglecting others. First, we pushed all of our songs into an alphabetical spreadsheet. Second, we added five extra columns to note the last five times we’ve used the song. Third, we used conditional formatting to make dates light up different shades based on how long it’s been since we’ve sung a song.[8]

At a glance, we can tell if a song has had a lot of play recently or if it’s been a long time. Not every song will get as much use, and different preaching seasons lend themselves to different emphases. But this helps us make deliberate decisions for a balanced singing diet. On multiple occasions, I thought we were singing a song too much and discovered it’s been six months since we sang it. 

Tip #4: Get Others Involved 

The best service designs involve many gifted helpers, even at the stage of curating, managing, and selecting songs. 

We involve others in three ways. 

First, we involve musicians in the process of identifying the best songs to add to our catalogue. I have a good eye for the right texts, for their truthfulness and contribution to our catalog. But I have been excited about texts before that would not sing well. I’m grateful for the input of trained musicians. So I might ask a key musician several questions: Is this song singable for most of our people? Does this fit our congregation’s voice? Is this song within our musical wheelhouse? Can our team lead this song confidently and comfortably? 

Second, just as we don’t want only one preacher at our church, we don’t want only one designer of our Lord’s Day gatherings. We have an interest in training men to pastor and lead churches. For that reason, when we have a full-time pastoral resident, service design is part of his training and contribution. 

Third, an administrative assistant keeps our documents up to date with tags and dates so that our tools are always sharp. 

Immerse Yourself in These Things 

These days, I need about three hours to design the gathering. But these are quality hours. They aren’t spent shuffling between websites and books and racking my brain for lines of verse. These hours are spent pondering the theology of the morning, parts of Scripture, songs, and readings, and where to place them all. 

A few weeks back, our Sunday morning sermon heralded the beautiful truth, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isa. 1:18). I wanted a song to close the day that carried this truth in a personal way. “Jesus Paid it All” came immediately to mind. But I thought I’d search for a song to hold out this truth with an emphasis on the peace it brings. Peace was the theme for that evening’s prayer service and sermon. Also, it would’ve been best if the song was a prayer to God, rather than about what he has done, as important as those are.

A quick search turned up this gem to close out our day together as a congregation: 

“I Love You, Lord”       Text: Laurie Klein & John Piper 

#praise #commitment #anticipation • #omnipotent #joyful • #waiting #peace #worship • #togod #I/me • #modern / #hymn 
1
I love You, Lord, and I lift my voice
To worship You. O my soul, rejoice!
Take joy, my King, in what You hear:
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.
2
I love You, Lord, and I stand amazed;
My sins are gone! May Your name be praised!  
Exult, my soul! And behold His face;
I will ever sing, O my King, of Your grace.
3
I love You, Lord, and for You I wait:
Your promises and Your power are great!  
Make haste, my God, may I taste Your ways; 
I will magnify Your sweet peace all of my days. 

There are many legitimate ways to design a service. However you organize yourself for this labor of love, let Paul’s encouraging words be a banner over your work: 

Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. . . Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim. 4:13, 15–16)

* * * * *

[1] Here are some examples: Hymnary, Sovereign Grace Music, Getty Music, City Alight, The Worship Initiative, etc. 

[2] Liturgical Use: #call #praise #confession #assurance #lament/longing #petition/intercession #gospelstory #illumination #commitment #commission #anticipation #lordstable #benediction  

[3] Themes of Revelation: (Attributes of our Trinitarian Lord) #triune #one #infinite #eternal #immutable #selfsufficient #omnipresent #omniscient #omnipotent #blessed #glorious #majestic #sovereign/providence #love #joyful #good #patient #wise #holy #faithful #gracious #merciful #just #wrath/anger #transcendent #immanent (The Work of the Father) #creation #election #adoption/fatherhood (The Work of the Son)#god/deity/godhood #incarnation #man/humanity/manhood #obedience/righteousness #suffering/cross/atonement #highpriest #unionwithchrist #justification/forgiveness #healing #resurrection #victory/triumph #liberation/deliverance #ascension/reign/king #mediator #intercession #mission #return (The Work of the Spirit) #wordofgod #regeneration #guarantee #assuranceofsonship #presence/indwelling #guidance #conviction #filling #comfort #empowerment/boldness #sanctification #communion/fellowship (Our Covenant Lord/Titles) #brother #friend #lawgiver #lawfulfiller #provider #redeemer #refuge #rock/fortress/strength #shepherd #sustainer #warrior (The Future) #death #glorification #heaven/newcreation #judgment 

[4] Themes for Response: #confession #faith #fellowship/unity #dependence/trust #suffering/grief #lament #waiting #weakness #humility #hunger/desireforgod #love #hope #peace #joy #prayer #worship #consecration #obedience #perseverance #thankfulness #satisfaction/rest #evangelism/missions 

[5] Orientation: #I/me #we/us #aboutgod #togod #tooneanother #tome 

[6] Type of Text / Tune: #psalm #historic #modern / #hymn #anthem 

[7] For easy scanning on a screen, we set this document up as Tabloid (11×17) and three columns of text. 

[8] For nerds who want to duplicate this process, here’s what that looked like for the column labeled “1” which was “F” in our sheet. Range: F3:F144 (or however long the list is); Formulas from dark to light: =F3<TODAY()-365. =F3<TODAY()-180. =F3<TODAY()-90.