Download a sample service order from the night of worship in this video to get started on your planning (FREE).
In the video above, you get a behind the scenes look at a night of worship event at our church. Toward the end of the video (about the last half), Brian and Fuller share some insights for how to execute an event like this at your church. Here are some take-aways…
1. Pray the Holy Spirit to lead you, and to do a great work within your congregation
The first step in this process is to pray. God wants to do incredible, miraculous things through you and your church. Seek the God’s heart – pray for the Holy Spirit to come down in a mighty way in your church and through a worship event. The Lord delights in and inhabits the praises of His people, so expect God to move and people’s lives to be changed.
2. Develop a theme
As you plan your event, develop an overall theme. It could be as simple as worship itself – so every element of the event might point to why we worship and what happens when we worship. It could be centered around a major event in your church like the anniversary of it’s founding or something like that. But have a central theme that the whole night points to.
3. Plan. Plan. And plan some more. And then get people to help you plan. And do it well in advance.
You cannot overplan an event like a night of worship. There will be so many moving parts and so many people involved, so clear planning and communication are absolutely necessary. Invite people into the planning process – both from a planning perspective (like choosing songs, orders, etc) and from an administrative perspective (like sending emails and communicating with people). Give your team and your church plenty of time to prepare and to talk about the event. A few months minimum. Finally, rehearse, and then rehearse some more. If you throw this together at the last minute, it will most likely be a disaster.
4. Involve others
Recruit your highest level volunteers to help pull this event off, and then invite them into the planning process. This will give them more ownership. Ask your pastor to prepare a short sermon on the topic or theme of the evening. The more you involve others, the better it will be.
5. Celebrate what God does through your night of worship
Zechariah 4:10 states: “ Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin”. If 15 people show to your worship night, celebrate what God does through it, and remember – God rejoices when we begin the work. It may start small, but if you continue to seek God’s heart and honor Him through worship, He will bring about a great work through you and your church!
