Talk To Your Pastor

The devil would love for you and your pastor to have a bad relationship. In fact, I believe he is actively working to cause division between you and your pastor because when you are unified, God does incredible things for your congregation as you worship together.

Welcome to part 2 of an 11 part series called How To Plan A Worship Service from Start to Finish.

Let’s get into it.

If you missed the first video, I encourage you to go back and watch it on our Youtube Channel or fwbworship.com!

If you haven’t yet, be sure to download “Top 5 Resources To Use When Planning Worship” a free download produced by the Free Will Baptist Music Commission.

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The second step to take when planning a worship service is: Talk with your pastor.

The senior pastor and worship leader are the two most visible leaders in a church congregation. It is vital that they be unified in their ministry approach and philosophy of worship.

And as a worship leader, it is your responsibility to discover what your pastor wants and expects as it relates to worship and then do your best to make that happen.

That’s why it’s important for you to meet with your pastor every week – if possible.

I realize some worship leaders may not be able to take off work for a meeting each week, but a weekly check-in with your pastor is crucial for planning a worship service.

It doesn’t have to be a 2-hour meeting – maybe it’s just a 15 minute phone call each week.

Meeting with your pastor is especially important if you are a young leader, or just starting out in your role.

Use this meeting to get to know your pastor, understand his musical preferences, his overall vision for the church and where he wants to see the music go in the future.

Here are four things you should talk with your pastor about before you begin planning a worship service:

1. Ask him what the overall theme or direction is of the sermon.

Having an understanding of the theme of the message will give you a framework to work with when you start planning the music portion of the service.

This doesn’t mean that every service should be thematic. It’s okay to have a service that is all about grace for instance, but you shouldn’t get so hung up on making every song match the sermon, that you stress out or choose songs that are not beneficial to the congregation.

Just use the theme of the sermon as a guideline for the rest of the service elements.

One note of caution: Many pastors don’t know what the theme of the message will be until later in the week.

You will need to plan early in the week, so that your musicians and vocalists have advance notice of the songs and can practice before Sunday.

If your pastor doesn’t know what the sermon is about when you meet – it’s no big deal. Give him grace. There is nothing more difficult than preparing a message from the Word of God – week after week.

So, if you have information about the service ahead of time – be thankful and use that info to plan the best service you can.

If you don’t have any info until Saturday night, give your pastor grace and trust that the Holy Spirit will guide you both to create a worship experience that honors God and encourages your church.

2. The second thing to ask your pastor is: What other elements are happening that I need to be aware of?

Every church is different and some pastors prefer to do the service planning themselves. But if you are able, I encourage you to take the pressure of arranging all the service elements off your pastor so he can focus on preaching.

When you meet with him ask what elements are happening or need to happen, so that you can plan accordingly.

For instance, is there a baptism or baby dedication? What about special music or kids choir? Is there scripture reading, offering, a special time of prayer?

Most weeks will probably be the same basic structure, but knowing what is happening from week to week, will reduce your stress and help eliminate miscommunication and frustrations that come with not knowing what’s going on.

When you understand all the elements that need to happen, you can then put each element in the best place to enable a seamless worship service that is not distracting.

Side note: be sure to tell your pastor anything that you are planning so that he is not surprised when the interpretive dance team comes on stage. 🙂

3. The third thing to find out it is closely related to the previous point: Ask how much time he expects the music portion of the service to be.

After a few weeks, you will have a clearer expectation of time for your church, but it is important to know how much time you should plan for each week.

He may want you to do three songs or 25 minutes – but make sure you know what that is – so that you can plan accordingly.

It is very frustrating if you get everything ready and rehearse 5 songs – but then have to cut the last one because you were out of time.

Having clear direction from your pastor will help eliminate those frustrations – because you are on the same page.

A little bonus tip: it is better to talk in terms of minutes instead of songs, because 3 songs could take 10 minutes or 20 minutes depending on the song.

4. The fourth thing to talk with your pastor about: Are there any specific songs or special elements that you want to incorporate in the future?

Asking this question, will give your pastor permission to speak into the song selection of the church. It will also help you to remember that this music is not your baby.

It’s not your territory – you are just a steward of it.

The pastor is the head of the church and the lead worshiper. Ask his opinion and advice to ensure that the music is lining up with his overall vision of the church.

This doesn’t mean that he should be picking out all the songs. You still need to do your job – but make sure that if he requests something, you do your best to make it happen. Submit your will to his – trusting that he in turn is submitting his will to the will of the Father.

So, find out what songs he likes and then incorporate them into the life of the church.

Meeting with your pastor every week, might not be feasible in your situation, but as a worship leader, it is your responsibility to communicate with your pastor, understand his expectations and make sure there are no surprises on Sunday morning.

One more thing as it relates to the Senior Pastor and Worship Leader: Satan would like nothing more than to drive a wedge between you and him. I believe he is actively working to cause division between pastors and worship leaders because when they are on the same page, Jesus is glorified and the church experiences powerful times of worship.

Don’t allow Satan to win. Work hard to develop your relationship with your pastor. Pray for him, give him the benefit of the doubt, never speak negatively about him in public, keep the lines of communication open and submit to his leadership even if you disagree.

Thanks for watching part 2 of this 11 part series: How To Plan A Worship Service From Start To Finish. I hope you’ll watch the rest of the videos and let us know what you think in the comments.

If you want to go deeper on this topic, we’ve put some additional links in the description.

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