“We don’t have drums. That’s why we can’t reach young families,” a smaller church near me explained.
One of the challenges every smaller church faces is musical worship. Who is going to lead worship? How do we do it well? Is our music the reason young families don’t come to our church? I pastor an average-sized church of 65, and before this I pastored a church plant. I’ve never led a church with drums, and we’ve always had children and young families. If you pastor or lead worship in a smaller church, you don’t need drums. You don’t even need more than one instrument. Here are five guidelines for pastors and volunteers leading worship ministry in any smaller church.
Sing Together
First, commit to singing together. The church service is not a performance. Biblically, worship is intended to glorify God and to encourage the saints. Historically, the church gets in trouble when our gatherings become performances to watch. Practically, a small church can never keep up with the performance ability or production value of a larger church. Instead, decide that you want your church services to be a time to sing together to God and to build up one another. Anything that doesn’t serve those goals gets dropped. Did we sing together in a way that honors God and speaks truth to one another? If so, then we’ve been successful.
Keep it Simple
Second, use a simple order of service. When you have worship led by a volunteer, it’s hard to match every element to the theme of the sermon. You could end up learning 5 or 6 new songs each week in that case. At our church, we use an order of service that tells the story of the Gospel every week. We start with Who God is. Then we sing and read Scriptures about man, sin, and brokenness. Then we turn to Christ in prayer and sing songs about Him and His work. The sermon fits next, because every passage of the Bible points to Jesus (Luke 24:27). Then we respond to God’s Word with another song. Here’s a typical service:
- Call to Worship: Isaiah 6:1-6
- Song about God: “Holy, Holy, Holy”
- Song about Man, Confession, or Lament: “Lord, From Sorrow Deep I Call”
- Scripture Reading
- Pastoral Prayer
- Two Songs about Christ: “In Christ Alone” and “Jesus Paid It All”
- Sermon: Colossians 1:9-14
- Song of Response: “Be Thou My Vision”
Our music leader and I work together to pick songs that fit each section of the service. He already has lists of songs that fit each category and can plan ahead even before he knows the sermon text. When we include Scripture readings, prayers, and the sermon, then the whole service flows together and requires a lot less work to prepare beforehand.
Keep it Familiar
Third, choose fewer overall songs. People sing songs that they know. Don’t make the congregation learn new songs every week or sing songs that they haven’t sung in years. Don’t make the worship leader learn multiple songs for every service. I’ve heard it said that you really don’t need to sing more than 60 different songs in a year. Our church has four lists that include both hymns and modern songs that fit in each category of our service plan. We have enough that we don’t have to repeat a song for 3-6 months, but we often return to a song like “Great is Thy Faithfulness” because we love it. A 70-year-old woman in our church commented that she really liked the newer song “Jesus Strong and Kind” after we introduced it. We can easily sing that four times a year without wearing it out. Build a list of songs you can lead with confidence, keep the list rotating regularly, and add new songs at a rate the congregation can sing confidently.
Refresh the Classics
Fourth, choose updated arrangements. Once, I attended a service where it was really difficult to sing the familiar songs. The songs were traditional hymns, but the style was close to an old-timey saloon where a bar girl was sitting at the piano. Don’t give up on hymns, but don’t play them the way you always play them. A fresh arrangement can use the same melody but make it singable and appealing.
Get Help When You Need It
Fifth, find the right resources. There are many resources available to help musicians who lead worship with one instrument. Reawaken Hymns has modern versions of hymns for guitar and piano. Citylight writes modern songs that are simple, singable, and theologically rich. They have printable versions of their songs for multiple instruments. Sunday Sounds has videos explaining how to apply piano skills to modern arrangements, as well as suggestions and equipment for upgrading your keyboard or piano. You might be a one-man worship band, but you’re not alone, so don’t hesitate to utilize the tools these other believers have provided.
You don’t need drums or a full-time worship leader to honor God and build up his people with your singing. I think, however, we would be surprised at the beautiful attractiveness and power of small-sized, Gospel-preaching, congregational-singing churches.
