Creating set lists is an essential skill to leading worship. It's the foundation of what you do when you lead. It sets the structure for what is going to happen (of course, God can still choose to work outside of that structure - but God honors our preparation. Especially if he's involved in the process of planning and not JUST when you lead on Sunday).
So, if you level up your understanding of crafting set lists, it sets you up to lead worship well. How do you create better set lists?
Here are 3 tips for crafting better worship set lists:
1 | Coordinate with your pastor
You don't have to do this alone! You should be working alongside your pastor to support their vision for where God is leading your church on Sunday. What specific truth is he revealing? How is that truth going to be communicated? When you work with your pastor, both of your duties of leading your church support one another.
The songs you sing at the beginning of your service prepare your church for the message they're about to hear. The message reinforces and expounds upon the truth your church has already started responding to. And the songs you sing coming out of the message allow your church to respond to the detailed, expounded upon truth your pastor laid out. This process allows your church to make deeper connections to the truth you're focused on.
2 | Consider transitions
An important element of worship set lists is cohesion. A set list shouldn't be a list of random songs but, rather, a group of songs that all work together. That cohesion is reinforced through transitions. How are you going to get from one song to the next? What are you going to say? How are you going to change keys?
3 | Realize that there are no rules (switch things up!)
When you've been creating set lists for a while, you usually settle into a routine. A fast song at the beginning. Then, the tempo gradually slows down headed into the message. But the truth is: there are no rules when you create set lists! So, switch things up every once in a while. Start with a slow song from time to time!
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