The Worship Service Checklist

As a creative ministries director, my job is to oversee EVERYTHING that goes on during our Sunday morning worship services. 

If I don't maintain a solid checklist, then I risk all kinds of problems sneaking up on me and causing chaos.

Here's how I keep everything running smoothly. 

Order of Operations

Just like you learned in math class with multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction, the worship service has to follow an order of operations. Each step depends on the one that came before, and while you can mix and match some of the steps, generally, some pieces are of a higher priority, since they lay the foundation of what follows. 

1. Get the Content and Roles Together

It should go without saying, but if you don't know the Scripture/sermon focus and you've not scheduled roles out, then you're more likely to run into major problems with fulfillment and alignment. 

Even still, there are bound to be last-minute changes in focus and availability, so have a back-up plan ready to go when (not if) that comes up. 

This extends to getting all of your charts, on-screen lyrics and sermon slides, plus any other special media assets in place during the week prior to the service. This way, you're free to troubleshoot any problems that arise the morning of service, or have a relatively easy and stress-free run-through before the congregation arrives. 

2. Do a Systems Check First Thing

Tech seems to be the bane of any worship ministry leader's existence—especially mine. (Ha!) On a Sunday morning, we usually have rehearsal/soundcheck downbeat at 8:00am, so I arrive about an hour early to get things up and running. Here's my list (the sound board, poweramps, and subs steps are SUPER important, as they could be damaged if turned on out of sequence):

• Turn on room lights.

• Turn on sound board and visual media machines (computers, projector, monitors, etc.).

• Turn on power amps for FOH and stage.

• Turn on subs and distribution rack.

• Turn on stage lights.

• Swap out batteries in wireless mics and bodypacks.

After getting everything up and running, there's always a chance of a glitch occurring between our projection computer and the projector itself, so sometimes, a reboot is needed. When that's taken care of, I check to make sure all visual elements are accounted for, and then proceed to make sure our live streaming set-up is good to go. 

On a good day, this takes about 20 minutes, but more often, it's an additional 15 minutes troubleshooting an issue or inputting needed media. That leaves about 15–20 minutes of leeway to get other tasks done. (This is where I print out the order of service with estimated time codes, along with any extra charts, if needed.)  

3. Rehearsal Should Be Planned Out

Sometimes, your rehearsal can be simple as doing a soundcheck and running through the songs from top to bottom, especially if they're tunes that are super familiar to your band. At other times, you may need to focus more of your rehearsal on one song than the others, especially if it might be new or a bit complex to simply sight read. Here's my method:

• Start with a quick prayer.

• Do a line check, one piece at a time, allowing for IEM and FOH adjustments as needed. (This works WAY faster than several people noodling and "CHECK, CHECK, CHECK"-ing all at once.)

• Depending on your setlist, either run straight from the top or spend more focused time on the new or complex arrangements. 

• If there's time, start/stop songs or circle back to a "problem" area to polish it a bit more. 

• This is important: END REHEARSAL ON TIME. There's nothing more stressful than putting a set together until the last minute and then immediately kicking things off. Unexpected problems are sure to arise, but you can mitigate them by sticking to your system and checking one item off at a time.

4. Take Time to Breathe and Realign

It's crucial to have a quick talk-through of the service with all the team members to make sure you're aligned on the "when," "who," and "where" of each service element. In these talk-throughs, focus your words not only on the technical info, but give encouragement and above all, pray together in reverence to God, asking Him to bless the time that you get to share in worship of Him. 

5. Let It Flow

From there, you let your preparation and training take over, but be mindful of where, when, and how to shift things when the service is led into a slightly different direction. if prayer time is going a bit longer, then that's OK! If you want to circle back to certain song sections, then go for it. You just need to find that balance of when it's time to stay put and when it's to move on. 

After the service is over, we usually gather charts into one place for sorting out later that week, and our tech volunteers turn off the system in reverse order from when it was turned on. (This is SUPER important; just as in turning things on, you can damage equipment if it's turned off in the wrong order.)

Now, this systems checklist needs to be tweaked to fit your unique situation, but fundamentally, it's a great blueprint to make sure everything is fulfilled and executed well from start to finish. You can maintain order and yet still be flexible to change, all because you know what's coming and you've prepared for it. 

Be blessed 👊✌️