Setlists...Part 2

Now, you might have noticed that I mentioned that I burn CDs for my team on Tuesday. Sometimes, I'll try to get CDs to my team on Tuesday or Wednesday, but for the most part, I'm actually work one to two weeks ahead. This allows me to hand CDs to my team immediately after service on Sunday. That way, they pop the discs in their car on the way home and go download charts whenever they want.

Sometimes, I'm two weeks ahead of time and sometimes I'm just planning the sets week to week, but if at all possible, I think working ahead of time is the absolute best way to operate.

WHY PLAN AHEAD?

Most worship leaders that I know are pretty good. Most of them can roll up onstage, strap on a guitar and pretty much fake their way through a set. The only problem is that most people can't. That's why I believe planning sets ahead of time is so important for many churches. Naturally, a worship leader has to know his or her team and plan accordingly, but in my opinion, planning ahead is almost always a good thing.

Planning ahead communicates a couple of things to my team.

1. It communicates to the people who serve under me that I have given serious thought to what it is that we do on a given Sunday morning. It says to them that I have used my position wisely and have organized my time so that I can give them plenty of time to feel comfortable with the tunes.


2. It communicates trust - my folks can come into a set knowing that I've thought it through, and that if anything goes wrong, I can negotiate the hard places because I've mentally walked through the songs numerous times.

Planning ahead makes my sets better.

1. I'm willing to admit that most of what I'm saying is highly dependent on my specific church and team, but I can honestly say that planning ahead makes my sets come off better. When I plan ahead, my team has given the songs some forethought. (My team is comprised of busy people - they're not dedicating hours and hours to practice, but I can guarantee you that they've mentally walked through the songs and thought about what they're going to play and how they're going to approach each section.)


2. Planning ahead also prevents me from doing the same thing and over and over each week - I'm much less likely to fall into using the same transition if I'm devoting time each week to assess and plan.

Planning ahead also protects my time.

1. Since planning ahead almost always improves the quality of my sets, my bosses respect my time when I'm working on the songlists.


2. Planning ahead works great especially when a hard work-week hits. Being a week or two ahead gives the "out" in case I have to devote time to some emergency project that's come up. I don't like to do it too much, but when I have to change my schedule, the planning ahead really makes it much easier.

If you're not planning sets ahead of time, you really ought to give it a try. I think you'll find it's a rewarding discipline to practice.