Church and Leadership:
Service Planning Tips
by Steve Inman
Note: This was originally an email, which explains its casual nature; it has been slightly edited.

Since I'm on vacation this week and have a few extra minutes, I just thought I'd use this Sunday's service plan as an opportunity to pass along a few tips / strategies that I typically use during service planning, using this as an example. Perhaps something here will be of benefit to someone else.

For the Worship Segment
I suppose you can start with a collection of songs you want to use, a theme (probably preferable, but I seldom do this), the Scripture you want to feature (another version of a theme), etc. If you start with the "main thing" being Scripture you want the congregation to focus on, or special music, etc, then you're essentially taking a theme-based approach. For the congregational songs, I usually look for songs that I think are among the "better" ones (personal opinion), that haven't been recently used, and make a short list of candidates. I always try to include one or two hymns, per Pastor Ed's requirement for a service plan.

Music
I usually try to divide up the first 20-25 minutes into a section that focuses on exalting / praising God, and a section that then allows us to express thanks, love, adoration, etc. (vertical aspect of worship) There may also be a segment (song or scripture) that deals with a challenge, responsibility, exhortation, encouragement, etc. (horizontal / edification aspect). So I choose songs that fit into these categories from my short list.

Dave Cabush provided valuable input a few years ago, asking that I consider a maximum of 2-3 songs in a row. Anything longer seemed to be too much singing, all at once, for Dave. I think this is a good idea and I've tried to follow this recommendation. I insert the Scripture readings in between these groupings of songs as the logical place to focus on God's word. You could also insert "special music" or a drama as other elements.

Scripture
Since I call my worship segment: "Psalms, Hymns and spiritual songs", I try to include a Psalm as one of the Scripture readings, and I prefer to start with a Psalm that exalts God. One aspect I've tried to borrow from more formal or liturgical churches is to use three Scripture readings: one from the Old Testament, one from the Epistles, and one from a Gospel. I use this approach frequently, but not always.

If I haven't started with any particular theme in mind (except for a section with songs of exaltation and a section with songs of response), then I will choose Scripture that either bridges the theme of the previous song with the theme of the upcoming song (I feel really fortunate when I can find a passage that does this), or at least I choose a Scripture that introduces the theme of the upcoming song.

I try to always have one responsive reading of Scripture in my service plan.

Logistics
I asked Jane to start a list of the songs we use, and when we use them, to avoid reusing a song too soon. Pastor Ed cleverly sends me his upcoming service plans so I can ensure I don't choose a song for my service plan that he has already planned for the next week. (This usually works well--when I remember to double-check!) This is the file that's available upon request.

(Editor's note: We did not include our database with a list of songs and an "X" for each Sunday it was used.)

Note that this file also has the song times for many of the songs we use, which is very helpful as you knit your service plan together!

Song / Scripture / "Body Life" Times
Song times are found in the file above. If missing, I take out my watch and mumble the words of one verse of the song at about the right tempo and time it. Then I multiply by the number of verses. Then I add 10 seconds for the time it takes to play a musical introduction. This is the "official" time for the song.

Scripture times: 7 verses = 1 minute (more or less, pretty close) If in doubt, get out a watch and check.

Adding everything together: After I use the above information to figure out the times, I assume the times for the Scripture readings are accurate and don't fudge these. However, I always add 15 seconds for each congregational song. This fudge factor allows for time for musicians to turn pages, for a brief introductory comment etc. It allows the estimated total service time to turn out very close to reality.

My overall plan also includes 5 minutes for announcements (about right on average), 2 minutes for a pastoral prayer (usually a little more than needed), and 4 minutes for the offertory (Usually the offering only takes 3 minutes maximum to collect--so this also has about an extra minute included.), and 4 minutes for greetings. Hence after the final chorus is finished, I have 15 minutes in the service before the sermon starts at 11:10, with about 2 extra minutes included. Also, the greeting time can be shortened a bit if announcements eat into my 2 extra minutes.

Based on the 15 minutes for these parts of the service, the worship segment must end by 10:55. I usually try to end by 10:53 at the latest, with an additional 2 minute buffer in the total plan. This Sunday is scheduled to end at 10:54--longer than I'm completely comfortable with, so I have included a 2 minute "bail-out" strategy. You can do this by either choosing a song that can be skipped--a non-critical song (not part of your overall theme, or sort of a duplicate function to another song), OR (as I've done this Sunday) you can choose one or more songs to drop verses from, to limit the overall time. You will note that if we are not starting "Holy and Anointed One" at 10:41 (I've included a small text cue in the document.) then we will only sing this 4 minute song through one time, making it a 2 minute song instead.

This Sunday's plan as an example:

 

Highland Park Church
July 8, 2007
 

Prelude

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs [24:00]

Scripture Reading: Psalm 103:1-5 [0:45]

Psalm 103:1-5
¹ Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
² Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
³ Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
⁴ Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
⁵ Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Awsome God Medley [2:00]
Join All The Glorious Names (Getty) [2:00]

Scripture Reading: Psalm 103:6-14 [1:00]

Psalm 103:6-14
⁶ The LORD performs righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.
⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
⁹ He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
¹² As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
¹³ Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
¹⁴ For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.

Hymn #333 Now Thank We All Our God [2:30]
Here I Am To Worship [2:30]
[10:41 a.m.]
Holy And Anointed One [4:00] (1 time = 2:00 if running long)

Responsive Reading: New Testament Medley [2:15]

New Testament Scripture Medley: God’s love for us and our responsibility to “pass it on.” John 3:16-17, Romans 5:6-9, Romans 10:13-15, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:18-20

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved."

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

How Deep The Father’s Love For Us [2:15]
My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness [3:00]

[1:00 buffer]
[10:55 a.m.]
Announcements [5:00]

Pastoral Prayer [2:00]
Offering Kelley Swinehart, offertory song [4:00]

Greeting Time [4:00]

[11:10 a.m.]
Sermon Pastor Ed
Closing Prayer [0:30]
Closing Song

 

This Sunday's plan (above) is designed to include a section for praise and exaltation, followed with a transitional "New Testament Medley" of Scripture that ties together the themes of God's love and our responsibility to "pass it on" (without resorting to using the well-worn chorus!). This responsive reading is then followed with a song that focuses on God's love and a song of thankfulness. One thing we can do because we are thankful, is to share God's love with others. I will try to come up with a very brief comment to that effect when I introduce this final song. This section is planned to tie into Pastor Ed's message this week.

The service will then transition to announcements, prayer, offering, greetings, sermon as discussed above.

Final Note on Worship Segment Theme
Do you relate it to the sermon or not? Although Pastor Ed plans ahead at a high level (and usually preaches book by book, verse by verse), at the recommendation of the Elder board, he leaves himself freedom from one Sunday to the next for the specific text for his sermon. This seems to work out the best as it allows him freedom to reduce the text he planned to cover or to extend it or, on rare occasions, to deviate from a series. As a result, a service planner may not know the exact text or theme for the upcoming sermon. In this case, you'll have to plan the worship segment with its own, independent theme--as a self-contained part of the overall Sunday service. This is fine.

In my case, since I usually wait until about a week before the Sunday service that I am planning, I often can find out something about the upcoming message, and I can try to adjust the theme of the "worship segment" to complement the message. For example, I may choose to use Pastor Ed's main text for one of the Scripture readings (preferably the responsive reading). Or I may choose a Scripture passage that is related to his message, although not the main text (occasionally, I guess right and choose some obvious, related text that he has planned to use--which works out well).

That's all I can think of at the present. I hope some of these observations are helpful to others who may plan a service from time to time.

Steve Inman