Running into Overtime
How much time do you allow for music in worship?
Rick Muchow
April 1, 2007
Q. How much time do you allow for music in worship? Does it depend on how the Holy Spirit leads you in that service?
A. The question of "how much time" is like a river that flows between two banks. If your church's philosophy of ministry is speaker-driven communication, this will result in less time for music. If the approach is experiential, this may result in more music. The congregational worship experience for most churches flows somewhere between those banks.
The issue of time and the leading of the Holy Spirit is a common struggle. The good news is that the Holy Spirit knows how to work within time and cultural constraints. The Holy Spirit works with great power, but in our humanity we often feel that we need to do more, to go longer. Longer does not necessarily mean more effective. Many times, longer is less effective as we start to lose the attention of parts of the congregation.
Careful preparation starts with the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Many services I plan are done by faith with as much info as I have at the time, asking God to bless it and remembering that flexibility is an essential quality of the servant worship leader. Proverbs 16:1 says, "We humans make plans, but the LORD has the final word," and Proverbs 16:9 says, "We make our own plans, but the LORD decides where we will go."
It's common to underestimate how long it takes to do a song. Very few songs are three minutes. I allow five minutes per song as a rule. It's important to time your songs. Go through the flow of worship, imagining how these songs connect the congregation in worship and help people to understand the theme, working out natural transitions including keys and song arrangements.
Assuming you don't talk between songs, then three songs ...
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