Don’t Finalize Your Easter Set List Until You Read This!
Easter is just around the corner!
By now you are starting to finalize your Easter worship set. And whether your Easter service is completely planned or you are just beginning, now is the time to go through your worship order and make sure you have selected the best worship set for your team this Easter.
Below is a 5-point checklist that we use every year at The Journey, and that will help ensure that the music of your Easter service is powerfully focused.
Here we go:
#1 – Sing Celebration Songs
Easter is a day of celebration! When I read the story of that Easter morning my pulse quickens as I see Peter and John running to the tomb and hear the joy in Mary’s voice as she recognizes Jesus. It’s a day of celebration and our songs should reflect that.
I’m all for a quiet moment in the service, but on Easter Sunday start and end your service “BIG” (and by that I mean with upbeat songs of celebration).
#2 – Focus on the Resurrection
On the way to church this past Sunday I was teaching my kids the classic hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross”. Our worship style at The Journey is very modern, but I grew up on the classic hymns and look for ways to integrate them into our worship service as much as possible.
And while I love “The Old Rugged Cross”, we won’t be singing it on Easter Sunday.
Why? Because Easter Sunday isn’t about the cross . . . it’s about the empty tomb.
Sing about the cross the next two weeks leading up to Easter (and especially on Palm Sunday) but on Easter Sunday choose songs that celebrate the Resurrection and the new life we have in Christ because of it!
#3 – Select Songs that are Known by your Congregation
Easter Sunday is not the day to try out those 5 new songs you’ve been waiting all year to sing. Easter Sunday is a day to sing worship songs that the people in your congregation know by heart.
Why? Because your church will be filled with First Time Guests. Let me explain.
If you choose songs that your congregation already knows you will keep your congregation connected to the the worship set.
AND because the people around them are clapping and singing your First Time Guest will feel more comfortable clapping and singing as well.
On Easter, sing some of your church’s favorite songs of worship. And if you want to do a new song, teach it in the weeks leading up to Easter so your church will know it.
#4 – Select a Song that is Known by your First Time Guests
Put yourself in the shoes of a first time guest at your church on Easter. They will enter your service uncomfortable (could be the suit and tie) and unsure of what to expect. They will be asked to stand and sing songs they don’t know.
So be kind to your First Time Guests . . . choose a song that they are likely to know. Sing a hymn like “Amazing Grace”. Or you may perform a popular radio song that ties in with Easter or your message series.
However you choose to do it, help your First Time Guests experience something familiar on Easter Sunday. It will go a long way toward taking the edge off and helping them relax for the rest of the service.
#5 – Don’t do what you can’t Replicate
This is a big time mistake that some worship leaders make… and I can understand why.
Easter is a BIG DAY, so the tendency is to pull out all the stops, bring in the guest worship leader, the big lighting show, or even the guest orchestra for your Easter services.
But what happens the NEXT SUNDAY when the people that you reached on Easter Sunday come back expecting to hear the guest worship leader or orchestra but only find a guitar, piano and vocalist.
Easter is the PERFECT day to do your very best NORMAL service.
Go all out and make it great… just make sure you’re able to replicate what you do on Easter in the Sundays that follow.
Be who you are, prepare in advance and present the Gospel in the very best way that you can. And remember, the results aren’t up to us anyway.
Praying that you have the best Easter ever!
Your partner in ministry,
“We have been implementing many changes in our Sunday Service System. The result has been less stress on Sunday mornings and throughout the week, an increase in attendance and retention of new attendees, better communication between myself and the other staff and volunteers, and an easier rehearsal time.”
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“I would not be exaggerating to say that in my case this network has been life/ministry transforming. In this past year the Worship arts Department has grown more than in the last 7 years combined. This network really helped to de-stress my life and increase my effectiveness as the Worship Pastor.”
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TUESDAY MORNING INSIGHTS is Jason Hatley’s free weekly training resource specifically designed to provide you as a worship leader with proven principles, tips and practices to help you lead a healthy and thriving Worship Arts Team.