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Worship & Tech Series: Part 3
If you keep asking, “Why aren’t people singing” or are looking for the right way to engage your congregation in deeper worship, here’s your answer! Keep reading to learn:
- Why the right song in the wrong key is a huge mistake, and how to choose the right one
- Tips to minimize distractions from the platform
- How everything changes when the congregation becomes the lead worshipper
The Shared Experience In Small Churches
Before we understand why people aren’t singing, it is vital to understand what makes small churches different and what experiences we share. In small churches, it is often much easier to get involved and feel a sense of belonging. It is such a welcoming space that invites you into their family. However, in large churches, it can quickly become corporate-focused, and it is so hard to truly connect and break through that barrier.
One of the biggest advantages of small churches is getting the opportunity to spend quality time investing in people and building your community together. I want to emphasize though, that both small and large churches are valid and good. Small church is not less, but it is different, and that difference needs to be not only recognized but celebrated.
Sadly, one of the shared experiences within small churches is the feeling of failure. So easily we become focused on the number of people who showed up on Sunday or the number of people who attended a potluck you spent weeks planning. Although this is a shared experience, I want to caution you from becoming obsessed with these numbers. This can easily paralyze a church. I encourage you to shift your focus to be outward-looking. Focus on other people, on your community, so that you can become more unified as a church. When you shift your focus outwardly, the things that used to matter like numbers, seem to be less important.
Why Aren’t People Singing?
There are many reasons why the congregation isn’t singing. It could be because the song isn’t in the right key or they feel uncomfortable, or maybe it’s because they couldn’t focus. Zarc Porter, creator of iSing and a person who is dedicated to helping small churches said,
The number one thing is to not distract the congregation, is to let them engage in worshiping God and provide a platform that lets them do that, and that means just holding it back, keeping it simple, letting them go on a journey in worship.
Zarc Porter
The reason people aren’t singing is often not because they are trying to oppose you or because they don’t want to, it’s because they don’t feel comfortable enough to do so. It is our job to create an environment that allows them to worship. I want to provide you with some key tips to help engage your congregation and give them the opportunity to go on their journey of worship with God.
Shifting From Leader To Facilitator
I think the first step to take is to understand that the phrase “worship leaders” isn’t necessarily the right phrase. Zarc Porter suggests that the right phrase would be “worship facilitator” or “worship guide”. The goal isn’t to lead worship and make sure that the congregation is following you, the goal should be to cultivate an environment that allows people to worship in whatever way they want. The congregation should actually be the one leading. We are there to simply provide the foundation, to give them the platform and space they need to engage in worship with the God of the universe.
Keep in mind, that when facilitating people in worship, you need to create a platform that isn’t distracting. Going too fast or too slow, or singing too high or too low can be very distracting for the people in your congregation. We need to work hard to provide them with a solid, stable platform so that they are able to fully relax and feel it all. The focus isn’t on you, it is on them and God. Our job is to get out of the way so that they can fully worship God.
2 Main Things That Get In The Way Of People Worshiping
1. Picking The Wrong Song
Song choice is undeniably crucial. When picking songs, try talking to the service leader or whoever is going to be preaching that week. Find out what the service is going to be about, and try to choose songs that fit and lead into that. Try to create a steady flow and create a worship experience that can lead well into the sermon or message.
This is all about intentionality. Don’t just pick random songs that you like and that you know you can play well. Remember, this isn’t about you. It’s about creating an experience for your congregation and allowing them to relax and prepare themselves to dive into the word of God.
As worship facilitators, we are trying to create a journey with music. This will depend on what traditions are a part of your church. If you can do two or three songs that succeed each other, that is fantastic. This allows you to take people on a journey.
Another thing that can cultivate this journey is doing a call to worship or even a hymn. Zarc Porter explained that “some of the best songs are the ones that people can sing without looking at the lyrics on the screen, the ones that are simple, like a refrain or something.” This allows people to shut their eyes and really meet with God, and just sing. These are some of the best moments.
2. Picking The Wrong Key
It is so important to recognize that we all have different vocal ranges and we all have a particular sweet spot. However, generally speaking, 99% of women’s singing voices, whether they’re soprano or alto, can reach every note between middle C and the octave above middle C comfortably. Male voices, whether they’re bass or tenor, have a vocal range between middle C and the octave below middle C, comfortably.
Unfortunately, a lot of worship songs go beyond this range, and that’s a problem. This means that our job is to choose a key that is a compromise. Something to know regarding these compromises is that it’s easier for men to sing too low than it is for women to sing too high. When there is a compromise to be made, we should bring the key down a little bit to ensure that the women can still sing the high notes comfortably.
It is the worship facilitator’s job to pitch a key for the song that is best for the average mixed congregation because if the congregation is comfortable, the volume from the congregation doubles as the participation rate increases. If the key is good for them, they will be more inclined to sing along.
The Importance Of Team Unity
Creating unity within your worship and tech team is vital. I want to encourage you to make an intentional effort to go out and spend time together. This isn’t something that needs to cost a lot of money. You can go get food together or even spend time at someone’s house. You could play music together or games, or even just have coffee and get to know everyone. It doesn’t matter what you do, all that matters is that you’re building a feeling of trust between everybody.
What this does is, on a Sunday, you trust your team and your team trusts you. You can take each moment as it comes, and change things around if you need to. You don’t have to stick to the only way you practiced if a moment comes up when you want to play an instrumental or take time to do a call to worship. This only works if you all trust each other. If you’re relaxed and are intentionally in the moment, then the congregation will be too. With a united team, you’ll be able to strive for excellence without offending people. This is why it’s so important to be kind and build each other’s confidence.
Let The Congregation Lead
Remember that the focus is not on you, the focus should be on creating an environment that isn’t distracting and allows people to journey into powerful worship with God. Pick songs with intention, and remember to change the keys to allow the congregation to comfortably sing along without strain or distraction! If you’re looking for extra resources to find songs in perfect keys for your congregation, check out Zarc Porter’s website theworhsipzone.com! It has resources to help you find the perfect keys as well as backing tracks that are flexible to work towards whatever needs you might have for worship services in small church!
For more on this, hear Zarc Porter here!
Read More:
Different Ways To Worship God And Why They’re All Important
