Ready for Easter? Read this before you answer!

They say “The Devil is in the Details” and nowhere is that more true than in preparing for your Easter service.

He (the devil) would like nothing better than to minimize the impact of your church this Easter, and one of the simplest ways he does it is through overlooked opportunities and missed details.

As you’ve no doubt heard me say before . . . when it comes to our worship services, the details matter!

Harvey Mackay says, “The little things don’t mean a lot. They mean everything!” And Charles Swindoll says, “The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.”

As worship leaders, part of our role in preparing for Easter (or any worship service for that matter) is to pay attention to the details and don’t allow little things to become big things.

So today, I want to share with you a very personal 7 point check-list. You’ve heard me talk about the power of a check-list in the past. I love check-lists because they help you account for all the details and not miss even the smallest things when it comes to your worship services.

Here is my personal 7 POINT CHECK-LIST for this week that I’m working through in my final Easter preparations. It’s a little unpolished, but I think can be a big help to you, so here goes (in no particular order):

#1 – Double confirm all volunteers. – Don’t leave this to chance. They may have said yes weeks ago when you sent out the schedule, but this week we need to double confirm all of our volunteers to make sure there is no “surprise” rescheduling next week.

#2 – Finalize all videos. – Don’t wait until next week where a small missed detail can add a ton of unnecessary stress.Finalize all clips, backgrounds, bumpers, etc. this week . . . and then test them on Sunday before or after the service.

#3 – Pray for Easter services and your team everyday.

#4 – Fine Tune your Music Plan for Easter Sunday. – This is a BIG one! Every week we develop a music plan for Sunday. This isn’t the set list (that was done weeks ago).

This goes much deeper into making sure that our song selection is consistent with our worship planning values, that we have a plan for all transitions, all spoken sections or scripture readings, and most importantly that we are working to identify the “transformational moments” in the worship set.

That is, those moments where we want to allow room for God to show up in a big way.

Yes – we plan these moments, so before I give you the last 3 items on the check-list, let me tell you a little bit more about the resource behind how (and why) we do that — the Leading with Authority in Rehearsal Seminar.

The Leading with Authority in Rehearsal seminar will teach you how to locate the moments of life transformation in your Easter worship order and make the most of the opportunities you have to lead your congregation in worship.

Here are just a few of the things that you will discover that will actually help you maximize your Easter service next week:

• How to bring the best out of the musicians on your team on Easter Sunday
• How to develop your vision for the worship set and inspire your team to embrace it
• How to create your Music Plan for maximum impact on Easter Sunday
  
• How to invest personally into the lives of your Worship Team members at rehearsal and your Easter services
• Building momentum, removing distractions and leading your church into powerful worship this Easter!
• How to guarantee that every team member arrives on-time, prepared and knowing their parts for your Easter rehearsal this week and next.

In addition – you will learn these powerful leadership principles to help you build a strong music team:

• The Journey’s Nine Core Values for Music Planning and how to begin writing your own
• How to lead a music planning meeting
  
• The Five Questions you need to be asking every week to get ready for rehearsal!
• How to turn “difficult” team members into your biggest allies
• The 4-Step process that will radically transform the culture of your team, create accountability and ensure everyone lives up to your expectations
• Plus much more!

This 3-CD resource also includes a Full Set of Resources:

• A fill-in-the-blank printable notebook
• Expectations of The Journey Music Team
• Real-life examples of emails and communication that I use to prepare our team for rehearsal every week
• Notes from Music Planning Meetings with The Journey’s planning team.
• Worship Orders with in-depth notes and instructions to help you communicate with your team.
• The Journey’s “famous” Top 10 list for new team members PLUS The Journey’s Sunday Dress Code for Music Team Members

PLUS over $150.00 in Bonus Resources:

• FREE 2-hour mp3 of Jason teaching values and expectations to The Journey Worship Arts Team that you can use to teach your team as well. (a $99.95 value)
• FREE Download of the “Creating Servants, Not Superstars” audio resource (a $29.95 value)
  
• FREE Download of “Run to Conflict” audio resource (a $29.95 value)
  

As you can see, this 3-hour training is designed to help you not only lead rehearsal, but to create a complete music planning system for your church that empowers your team and maximizes your worship sets.

You can . . .

Immediately download the complete 3-hour training and Bonus Resources and SAVE!

OR

Secure your 3-CD set here

Now . . . for those last three items on your check-list . . .

#5 – Send music notes to the band. – A good music plan does your team no good if you don’t share it. So this week I’ll be sending specific notes to each band member about songs, parts, and overall flow of the worship set. The goal . . . help my team know everything I know before we walk into rehearsal.

#6 – Invite my unchurched friends to Easter services. – Yep, that’s not just for the people in our congregations. It’s for us, too!

#7 – Test Set Pieces and Screen Graphics this week. – You don’t want to find out on Easter morning that your set pieces don’t fit together just right, or that your screen graphics have the wrong aspect ratio. So, test those this week to leave time for adjustments.

So there you go . . . that’s my 7-Point Easter Sunday Check-list for this week.  I’d love to see (and learn from) yours, so feel free to reply to this email and share it with me!

Your partner in ministry,