Communicate To Your Team:

After prayer, communicating with your worship team, might be the most important thing you can do to create a quality worship service each week. If your team is informed they will be able to thrive. If they are left in the dark, they will struggle.

Welcome to part 9 of an 11 part series called How To Plan A Worship Service from Start to Finish.

In this video, we will explore how we can be better worship leaders and better communicators to those on our team.

Let’s get into it!

If you missed any of the other videos, I encourage you to go back and watch them on our YouTube Channel or go to 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.

We’ve put a link in the description.

And if you like this video, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any of the new content we produce.

The ninth step to take when planning a worship service is: Communicate To Your Team.

Now that you have everything planned and arranged, it’s time to communicate with your team.

The key to every successful team is great communication – and that goes for worship teams as well.

When I was in college one of my professors told us – “an informed choir is a happy choir.”

I’ve never forgotten that and have tried to use that as a reminder to regularly communicate with my team – to keep them informed so that they stay happy!

If you’ve ever been on a team that had poor communication or where you felt like you were always kept in the dark, you know how frustrating and uninspiring that can be.

As the leader, it is your responsibility to keep your team informed. And it really doesn’t matter if you have one person on your team or 100 people. Communication is a vital step for planning worship and shouldn’t be taken lightly or overlooked.

Let’s look first at WHAT you should communicate.

If you’ve watched the previous videos you’ve probably picked up on many of the things you should communicate.

1. First of all, communicate the order of service and specifics about the music.

What is happening and when it happens in the service is information that everyone involved in the service needs to know.

You should also let your team know about specific arrangements or music requirements each song has.

2. Second, communicate transitions.

We talked about this in the previous video. But everyone needs to know about the transitions so that those transitions can be made as smoothly as possible.

This is something that should be crystal clear – so it might take some extra effort to make sure everyone is on the same page.

When communicating transitions, I try to be as detailed as possible and usually tell those that need to know two or three times – and then we practice them until we get them right.

3. Third, communicate anything out of the ordinary.

For instance, if you want a female soloist to sing the first verse and chorus of the second song, you need to tell her (and everyone else) so that she can take time to prepare that song.

If you have a baptism at the beginning of the service (when you normally have them at the end) take time to communicate that to the appropriate people so they can be prepared.

4. Fourth, communicate any sound or tech needs you require.

Keeping your tech team in the loop will not only improve your relationship with them, it will help you have a better overall service because they have advance notice to give you what you need.

Communicate if you have a video that needs to be played, or if the choir will be singing with a track, or if you will have an extra band member playing with you.

These are all details that the sound and tech crew need to be informed of before the service begins.

5. Fifth, communicate expectations.

Be sure to let your team know of any expectations you have for them.

Things like: what time they need to be at rehearsal,
how long rehearsal will be,
what time the service starts,
what they need to wear,
and any other details that will help them succeed.

Here’s a tip about communicating with your team: make it your goal of answering all their questions before your team asks them. If no one responds with a question or to ask for clarification, consider that a win!

Let’s look second at WHEN you should communicate.

This is actually pretty easy to answer. As early as possible. 🙂

Communicating early to your team will give them ample opportunity to prepare and practice before rehearsal or the service.

The first time your musicians see the music should not be when they sit down to play on Sunday morning. That means you will need to be intentional about getting them the music early.

If you have a mid-week rehearsal, make sure your musicians have the music several days in advance so they can practice at home. This might mean that you need to work two or three weeks ahead so that everyone gets their music in plenty of time.

Not only should you communicate early, you should also communicate often.

One email is just not sufficient communication – especially if you have younger team members. You will often need to reach out several times and in several ways, to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

Here’s a tip: send a reminder email or text a few days before the service to help keep your team connected.

Let’s look third at HOW you should communicate.

You will probably end up using email, text, face to face, messaging, social media and other outlets to keep your team in the loop.

I want to encourage you to develop a system for communication to help make your job easier and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

For the last almost 10 years, I’ve been using a tool that is specifically designed for churches to help them plan and communicate their services.

Planning Center Services is an outstanding tool that makes planning, scheduling and communicating with worship teams fast and simple.

There’s a reason they are the industry leader. Planning Center allows your team to access all the music, charts, lead sheets, mp3s, and video tutorials from any device so they can be fully prepared before rehearsal begins.

And before you write them off because of the cost, their plans for small teams start at just $14 a month.

Our team loves Planning Center so much that they would rather see me go – than for it to go. 🙂

I’m joking – sorta – but I promise your team no matter the size will love the features and accessibility to the music that Planning Center Services provides.

If Planning Center Services is not right for you, there are other Worship Planning resources available as well. The key is to pick a system and use it to help make your job of communicating the best it can be.

Now, let’s look finally at WHO you should communicate with.

The simple answer to this question is: everyone who has a role in the service.

Here are some of the people you should communicate with regarding the worship service.

Your pastor,
Other pastors or leaders,
Your band or orchestra
Your choir,
Your vocalists,
Your sound guy or gal
Your lyrics, video and lighting personnel
And anyone else who has a role in the service.

The person giving announcements, reading scripture, leading the prayer time, etc.

All of these people should be communicated with ahead of time so that they are informed and can prepare for their specific responsibilities.

Communication is key to any great team. And if you want your team and by extension your worship services to be great, you must communicate clear details of the service, early and often to everyone who has a part.

When you communicate well, you communicate how much you care.

One more thing about Communication:

Communication is a two-way street. Ask your team to speak into the instructions that have been given so you know if the instructions were clear.

Ask for ideas in the mid-week rehearsal of the instrumentalists and tech crew.

The way you want it done, may not be the best way for your team to accomplish it. So give your team permission to speak into the process and utilize all the gifts of your team.

Thanks for watching part 9 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 below.

Be sure to like, subscribe and click that little bell so you don’t miss out on any of our future videos.