45: Here at HOPE - How Worship Planning Happens

Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have conversations about faith and hope.

Hope is one church made of people living out their faith through two expressions in person and online.

We believe a hybrid faith experience can lead to a growing influence in our community and our world for the sake of others.

Welcome to Hope.

Hey everyone, welcome to the Meet Hope podcast.

My name is Ashley Black and I am so grateful to be here with you today.

And today we are having an episode where we're talking about how things happen here at Hope.

We had some feedback from some listeners that you would really love to know some of the behind the scenes, inner workings of us here at Hope Church, and so today we're going to be talking about how worship planning happens, and so I have Andrew Barber with me.

Andrew is our worship director.

Hey, andrew.

Hey, how's it going?

Thanks for having me.

Yeah, it's good.

How are you doing?

I am great.

Thank you for asking.

So we're talking about all things worship today, which is what you do here.

Yes, that is your whole job.

It's in the title.

And so, but before we get into like, more of the like logistics of how, Nuts and bolts, yeah.

Nuts and bolts of how you plan worship or you collaborate and plan worship here at Hope.

I was just curious if we could even back up a little bit and you could share with our listeners what, how, how do you define worship when you think about worship?

Yeah, and I think there's a lot of different answers to that.

Are you, could, you could, I could?

we could do an entire podcast series on just what worship is, but oh yeah, definitely, bringing it back to the simplest form of I've ever been able to is worship is an external adoration to God, in response to who he is, and I think that modern worship sometimes we get away from it.

That worship is, it makes us feel a certain way and that's why we worship.

But no, we worship God because he is worthy of our worship, but it's it's, it's an external adoration.

So there's something, there are moments in worship where we, where things can be really internalized, but really, at the end of the day, we worship God and it's sort of this it's coming from us to God.

Yeah, and I think it's important to note that that happens in a myriad of ways that often we can also fall into the catch that worship is only music.

We sing on Sundays, and it only happens on Sundays which is not, I mean.

Worship is a lifestyle.

You know, worship is from the moment you wake up.

You, you create a stance of worship.

You're worshiping your adoring God adoration.

So, yeah, no, you're right, and Sunday is more of what I would refer to as like corporate worship or community worship.

You're worshiping together with other people, because I think there's something to be said about.

You know, it talks about community.

So much in the Bible.

There are tons of moments where people come together and they worship God, who he is.

In the Old Testament too, you know, and through the Psalms, there's just these moments of people coming together, banging loud instruments.

So I think that there's something to be said that community worship, worshiping together, is a very important part of our, our health and our spiritual health.

Yeah, definitely, and I also was wondering if you could share with us.

Is there anything here, specifically when it comes to hope, that you, that you value as part of worship at hope, or that we we tried to put in the forefront?

As we're thinking about worship.

Yeah, I think I think, like you had said earlier, sometimes I think we get into this bubble not we specifically hope, but we as the larger church that worship is music and preaching and that's it.

You listen to music, you participate in music and then you listen to a sermon and then maybe there's another song but, like, worship can look a lot of different ways and oftentimes it's topical to the moment at hand.

So I love that worship can be different and that we also do sometimes like weeknight worship experiences and that's a big word.

You're going to hear me use a lot is experience.

I think that worship is an experience and I think that's one of the things that hope leadership really gets, and I think that leads to the leadership here at Hope Me and the Pastors, full-time staff, part-time staff, all of it.

It's a very collaborative experience.

We meet every week on Tuesdays.

The five or six of us, the pastors you, ashley, I, kristi, appella we all we meet together and we talk about the worship services.

And that's something that has I have never really experienced in any other church.

A lot of it is.

I would work independently with a, and then the pastor and I would maybe meet once a week once every other week, once every once a while, and it was just kind of like, well, you figure it out, you know, and that to me is fine, but the collaborative nature of creating something better than the sum of my own parts of things that I could come up with on my own is something that is so.

It's not unique to hope in the sense that no one else does it, but a lot of churches this size and smaller don't do that.

Yeah, yeah, so yeah, that's so interesting.

So so we you mentioned so part of how we get to Sundays is we meet as a worship team on Tuesdays, but I know you all enough to know that you, you don't just wait till Tuesday to plan that Sunday.

So when you're thinking about worship, how far out are you thinking?

The average is two to three months.

Two is usually good at any time, like I will have music picked and some components and some.

These are what we're doing up to three months ahead.

Sometimes it does so.

The pastors great Rick and pastor Rick and pastor Jeff meet weekly and they they plan sermons.

But we also meet quarterly as a larger group to just look at like from a big picture of sermon series and where we're going and what we look.

So sometimes we'll look at six months worth of sermon series and then I have those in a Google doc and I can look at them so I'm able to plan out oh, these are the muses, this is the, these are the themes for church and so yeah, so it's anywhere from like two to three months.

Sometimes, like right now, I probably only have a month ahead, but that's also because where we are right now, like we're kind of near the end of summer, kind of going into fall, and like fall really just picks back up, so like really as soon as we hit the ground in, like the program and like I'll be thinking about Christmas.

We've already been thinking about Christmas, Right, I'm sure you are yeah, no, it's fair, yeah, and that's so.

That's really important.

So so you're thinking further ahead, and I mean we and we all are, because we want to be intentional about, about what we know about this church and this community and what themes are coming up or what we feel, like we hear God saying in that, in this community.

Intentionals are really important work Cause I've also been a part of many worship experiences where it's like, well, let's just do this.

But like I think we, I know I have a reason for almost every song that I pick.

Every worship component, every prayer, every everything in my mind from a worship experience needs to point to the same thing, and oftentimes it's the theme of the sermon.

So if Pastor Jeff is preaching on the love God has for us, it's really important that we're singing songs about how God loves us and we're not singing songs about community, or I mean we're, we're, you know we're singing.

Yeah, you're trying to help, like you mentioned, this experience of getting of, you know, corporately or in a community, drawing all of our hearts towards this focus on, like you said, for example, the love of God or generosity, or like helping your neighbor, or whatever the theme might be, and so so you mentioned a couple of those components.

So so we plan further out on a weekly basis.

You mentioned we need his worship team for about an hour and then the pastors need to talk through whatever their message is going to be.

That that also that's really important to know that that for them, that that's also a very collaborative process.

Like that they don't just whoever is preaching, they don't just go off on their own and plan, a message Like they actually work together, like they have shared Google Docs and they meet and talk through what one another is going to be saying, and I think that they're always very prayerful about it, I think that's one of the things that I love about about this.

I think we do everything very prayerfully, so there's not just a we never, almost never do.

Let's just throw this to the wall and see if it sticks.

We, you know, we say, well, let's think about this for a minute.

I think that's Jeff.

Jeff is very Proudful in all things and I love that about Pastor Jeff.

Yeah, and I appreciate that in both of you that you will start when I meet with you guys for worship team.

I'm only in a small piece of all the different components, but that you always no matter.

Like you know, like we're a group of people, we get together, we're talking about where we're getting for lunch or vacations or whatever, and and you always kind of help us to pause and start the meeting With prayer and ending the meeting with prayer, and I think it it helps Me, as someone who works in ministry, to also remember that, like All of what we do in the end is God's and and it's not mine and I have to give that up you know, I think that that Is a great practice, and that's what I'm.

I'm called as a worship leader to create an experience of God, to bring people to connect with God in ways that they wouldn't necessarily do on their own.

So, whether it be through music, through scripture, through some sort of spoken words, some video, like all these different things.

Being able to Explain this is.

This is what this song means, and this is the person that wrote it, like any of those things to get people to go Into a deeper relationship with God or to start a relationship with God, because we acknowledge that I often pray on Sunday mornings.

I pray for that one person that's walking in this building that doesn't have a relationship with yeah because there's always, almost always, somebody that's walking in.

That doesn't so we need to make sure that we're accessible to someone who has the deepest of faith and the newest of faith.

No, I love that.

It's really beautiful and I can yeah, I can comment on that.

That often.

That often becomes a part of our conversation in in our worship planning as a team, that we often will say how does this apply to someone who's coming for the first time and how much that that matters.

So, so a lot of what we've been talking about in terms of a week at hope, that all happens in the first half of the week and I Kind of see you then for worship and then I do like my things with communication.

I don't really have a Hand in the second half of the week, so tell us about what the second half of the week, getting up closer to Sunday, looks like for you guys.

The big thing is this Thursday nights we have worship rehearsal, so that's the people who are on the schedule for Sunday morning come Between 7 and 7, 30, depending on yeah, just depend on people's schedules.

And that's like your band, my band band tech team.

And that's another thing that, like I, I could this could be a whole separate podcast but the tech team like the next time you Are walking out of the church and you see people standing back at the soundboard, just tell them that you appreciate them or tell them that they're awesome because they are so instrumental to what you're doing.

I apologize for that tangent, but it's important.

It's fine because I, if they're curious, we did an interview with Frank appello, who is the tech director.

And he talked really intentionally about how tech for him is a kind of worship and I never really had that kind of conversation and it was really beautiful.

So if someone is interested, just to add to your tangent.

Yeah that would be a great episode to listen to, yeah.

And and that, like they are as much of part of the worship experience as anything.

And especially now that we are a church of two expressions, so we have this online component where people are watching.

It would not work without those people in the back.

So, yes, on a Thursday night, our band, our tech team, we come, we get together.

We always start in prayer a few minutes and then we run through the songs.

Sometimes it's a okay, we have a new song to learn, so we're gonna spend a little bit more time on that.

Or sometimes it's okay, we've.

We've done these songs before.

Let's figure out.

Oh.

And then this is.

There's another collaborative aspect of it.

I really love being able to say well, what if we tried this?

And then to sort of say, like, what do you think?

And kind of.

And this is something that I think, as we continue as a worship team, to get more comfortable and familiar with one another and become like a deeper community, because that's what we are this worship team is.

We're a community of people.

You know there's about 50 of us, which is awesome.

Yeah, that's crazy.

I don't think people realize that that if you combine all the people who volunteer in the tech team, everyone who serves in band, like all those different components, it's 50 people.

It's a lot of people.

It's a big community.

I know you guys even have your own, like you, slack, to communicate as a team.

We have a worship art slack, and I try to use it as a resource where I have each individual week as a separate channel.

So if you're on the schedule, you get put in that channel.

So you know, this weekend we have our own slack channel and I communicate hey, you know, here's a new song, or you know this is the time we're going to get together, or hey, you know we're going to try this.

But then we also have I have a separate channel that's called the new song ideas.

So it's just a channel where if you have a, if you hear a song that you think is really cool and you want to share it with us, you just put it in that and then it's something that I actually will pull from when we're looking to do new songs, so it's, it's.

So you have like a big community conversation and then also these all these little communities that happen, which is really awesome yeah.

And then we also have like a weekly devotion that's built into that.

So I schedule a weekly devotion on Thursdays that the whole team has access to, but then at the end of our rehearsal we do that devotion together and it's a, you know, like a three or four paragraph devotion, and then we have a conversation about it and we actually move into the hub, which is the room that's off the side of the worship space where there's some couches, so we sit in a circle, we talk and then we end in a time of prayer.

So that is another time of preparation and collaboration of this is what we're doing Sometimes.

If there's like a logistical thing where, oh, you know, there's some hoops that we have to jump through on Sunday morning because there's something like we'll actually practice it, like we're not just practicing the music, sometimes we are practicing the oh, there's spoken parts that I need you guys to do.

So that's really that time is we're preparing for Sunday.

Yeah, yeah, I know sometimes I've I've even heard you talk about like you practice how to be welcoming to people in the space or how to communicate beyond just the music, and that's so important.

And sometimes, like I can exercise and listen to, like one of my most beloved and favorite things about worship, is that sometimes things go off script.

Yeah, you know the congregation is really into the song and sometimes a worship leader will just say let's go back and sing that bridge again and we need to be familiar with people enough to.

I mean, this is turning into worship leading, which is a whole different conversation.

Well, we can have a different conversation, but it's, yes, definitely.

But this is all this to say is that our worship planning what that looks like, it really that's an important part of it.

So let's get our ducks in a row so that the music instrumental side of things is prepared, so that on Sunday we're not scratching our heads on what's happening.

Yeah, and so then when you get to Sunday, what time does everybody get here on Sunday?

Our tech team at 730 in the morning, everyone else at 740.

So what we do is we have a quick run through of our tech team where I just tell them everything that's going to happen, if there's any oh, this is going to be a little extra and then everyone else comes at 740.

We warm up the vocals and then we run through all the songs one more time before the service, trying to get done no later than 830.

And then, about 10 minutes before the service starts, we all gather together, we pray and then we do a final run through of hey, this is what the service is.

If anybody has any questions, ask now, are there any things that we forgot?

If the pastors have any questions, those sort of things, and then we do the service.

Amen, and there's a lot.

We spend so much time meeting and communicating, like communication is so important.

Well, you know that I'm a fan of that.

That's my job here, yeah.

But yeah.

So and so, obviously, like those are all the logistics and knowing that, I think, is all so helpful to just to hear how much goes into one week and this happens every week, right, and and that kind of commitment to making something like this, making this experience possible for people every week, not just in the room but online, so that, no matter where you are, you can have an intentional moment of worship in your week.

So you kind of talked about what some of your values are for worship, or what the worship team, what the we value, um, but what about for those who come to church every Sunday and they're there to worship, so they're not volunteering that Sunday, they're, they're simply here to experience worship, to do church.

And I say it that way too, because I know we, we want to be intentional and saying, like you know, if you're coming to church on Sunday, you're, you're participating in this experience, and so what, what is your hope for for everyone in the room?

Yeah and my.

So my biggest hope, my biggest desire is that this is not a passive experience, that it's an active experience of God, and I think it's really easy To to passively experience church.

We watch the singers, we watch the but that you are coming and engaging With one another, meaning the congregation.

You're engaging In the spirit, because the Holy Spirit is moving in these beautiful ways and that you're engaging in God like that.

So to engage and to experience God in a way that you couldn't or aren't doing every other day, you know like this is a different experience happens differently when you're amongst others.

Yeah, exactly.

Whether physically or digitally, that happens differently and my and my.

I love one of my favorite words and I use it With the worship team a lot is either unhindered or undignified.

I think that sometimes we fall into this, and this is an old church mentality that you need to dress in your Sunday Best three-piece suit.

You know Puffy hat, like and come and you and it's where you are seen.

But and and you, you don't want to look unruly and you want to have your stuff together.

But no, church is a place where Not you are seen, but that you are seen by God, not by other people.

Yeah, that's where you should just show up as you are.

Yeah, come as you are and be completely unhilled, unhindered and unfiltered and experience God in the way that you want my.

My Saddest days are when I see people looking to people till after the right, wondering if what they're doing is okay, because I want to tell you that what you are doing is okay, because you are coming to have an experience of God.

Yeah, yeah, and I really love that.

I, you know, I've heard you from from when you lead on Sunday encourage those of us participating, you know, to really kind of lean into that experience of what we feel like what's going on between you, know, me and God, and do I need to stand with my hands up or do I need to sit, or you know what is it that I am, I in my worship that day?

and one thing that's really, and this kind of goes more towards the principle of Creating a service.

I always talk about songs and services as in like a flow chart of like peaks and valleys.

There should never be a service that is one sort of level of energy, sort of flat across the board.

So there are moments in worship that there are higher energy Woo go Jesus.

But then there's other moments where it's very, where you're internalizing the stuff.

So I think that, like leaning into those moments and knowing that, like you know, sometimes we'll say please sit, please stand, that those are just suggestions.

If you need to stand a little bit more, or you need to sit a little bit more, if you need to fall to your knees and weep Openly, like that is okay, like this is hope, is a safe place.

Yeah, yeah.

So I was gonna say is I know that's that's the goal, is that it's a safe place to just To experience worship how you feel comfortable and how you feel led, and that like the only rules are, is like Just just love God.

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.

So, so, as we start to wrap up, what, what would you suggest to someone where this feels kind of new to them?

Like whether they've been coming to church for a long time and they're thinking well, I kind of, I guess maybe I am more of a passive person and how do I become more active?

Or they're Brand new to church and it feels a little weird Like what is this?

You know?

How would you encourage them to maybe take the next step in their worship?

Yeah, I think, um and this is maybe a preview to what we might have a conversation about in the future, about Worship leading but I always tell our worship leaders are people on stage, that we are facilitators, we're not leaders, so we facilitate the worship and that we model our worship.

So just know that, like, if you are unsure, we are up there on the platform to facilitate and to model Worship.

So if it's something that's happening on the platform, it is okay to happen in the room and that, like God is the most forgiving, I was gonna say there's no, just forgiving God is giving grace filled.

Yes, all of those things.

Yeah, and that all God desires is for you to be in relationship with him.

He doesn't ask us to be perfect, he doesn't ask us to have it all together.

All he says is I want to have a relationship with you, I want eggs, I want you to accept me into your hearts like I love it when Jeff says I'm gonna ask you to do some business with God, yeah and that means to have a one-on-one conversation with God and that if you're doing that on a Sunday morning, I am telling you you're doing it right yeah and it doesn't need to look like the person to your left or to your right.

It doesn't look like need to look like the person on the platform.

It needs to look right for you and you need to be intentional about Doing whatever you feel comfortable to experience God in a deeper way.

Yeah, no, that's really beautiful.

I love that you're kind of we're kind of wrapping up with you talking about relationship, because that's what it's all about.

We like we talk about this a lot at hope that everything we do is about you know relationship, love God, love others, and and so for worship to be a place that that that's what our hope is is that when you're, when you're in a worship service, that it's a place for you to Learn more about your relationship with God and, you know, grow in that and discover New things about God in that.

So and to lean into your community.

Yeah, like hope is a community of people who love God and want to love you.

So if you're unsure if you're loved.

I'm from town, you know you are that's great.

No, and that's one of my favorite things I am I'm often the staff host on our online services.

Yeah and just to watch people Every once in a while.

You know, Someone responds in the chat about an experience they're having during worship and to watch everybody else in the chat kind of chime back in In support of them.

It's just it's so cool to watch that kind of love and community happen and I've seen it happen in the in the room as well.

Well, andrew, I know we could, we could keep talking about, I know you could talk about worship for days and days and days, and I probably could too, but, um, but, thank you for giving us a little bit of insight into how worship planning happens at hope and why we do what we do.

Hmm, thank you.

And yeah, I hope that we're gonna have some more conversations down the road, maybe with you and some of your worship leaders.

Like that yes.

But yeah, until then, thanks for doing this with us, and If someone, if you're listening, and you haven't, for some reason, yet checked out worship at hope on Sundays or even during your week, you can do so.

You can go to our website, meet hope org, and you can find information about services on Sundays.

We do them at 9 am, at 10 30 am, and they're both in person in Voorhees and they're online, and we even have them available on demand afterwards.

So if you a Sunday for some reason doesn't fit with your lifestyle or your schedule, you can still make worship a part of your week.

So it encouraged you to check that out.

We will put it in our show notes and that's pretty much all that we have for this week, and so until next time, have a great day.

Thanks for being a part of the hope community as we continue our conversations about faith and hope.

If you don't already, please join us for worship on Sundays or on demand.

You can learn more at meet hope org or find us on socials at meet hope church.