Our Weekly Worship Rehearsal Routine

I’ve been leading worship at our church, officially, since 2003. Though it seems to flux here and there depending on the season, here’s what we currently have working for our worship teams at church:

Wednesday Evenings

The tech team arrives about 6:45 on Wednesday evening to begin getting everything in place for rehearsal. Worship team members typically arrive around 7:15 pm or so to plug in and be ready to begin. We try to start with a quiet sound/line check since student ministry is still wrapping up in the same space.

Right at 7:45, we typically pray together and jump into the songs for Sunday. We continually strive to have all the songs in Planning Center Online the week before the Wednesday rehearsal, and for sure by Monday before, although, often, a song may change as sermon prep ramps up for the week. We’re trying to make fewer changes, but still remain flexible if needed.

Additionally, the computer graphics team is there during the Wednesday evening rehearsal to make sure all the words flow smoothly for Sunday worship.

Since we begin later on Wednesday evening, we try to end rehearsal by 8:45 pm and 9:00 at the latest. Still, even after the practice, worship team members stand around and visit and talk for a bit before heading home. Space and time are limited around the building, so for this season, 7:45 is the best arrangement and there really aren’t other evenings available in the schedule.

Sunday Morning

Four worship services take place in two different areas of the building Sunday mornings. The two in the sanctuary are at 8:00 am and 10:15 am and the two in the Family Life Center (where the worship team leads) is at 9:00 am and 10:45 am.

The tech team arrives about 7:00 am on Sunday mornings to make sure things are good. Worship team members begin arriving around 7:15 or 7:30 to plug in and prepare. Each team member sets up their space, logs into an iPad or another device, gets prepped with the monitor pack/cord, and we try to jump into a smaller rehearsal time slot on Sundays. We typically spend about 30 minutes talking through transitions, double checking details and running through some of the songs, especially newer ones or ones that were tougher during rehearsal.

About 8:15, we meet together in a circle with the band members, sound team and tech team for some conversation and prayer. Lately, we have been using some little cards we created to help spur on thoughts and build the worship team culture of serving and leadership. Though it’s only about 15-20 minutes, it’s become a neat time of community with the whole team. By the time we get to prayer, we invite ushers or others who are around to join us and often they do.

From there team members get a donut and coffee and just visit around the worship center until 9:00 am. We have a break from 10:00 am until the next service begins at 10:45. The whole morning is wrapped up around 11:45 am. It’s a full morning for those who are serving, but one thing that has helped recently has been this community circle time slot.

We have created about 15 different simple cards to use during these times and it’s been fun (and seemingly effective) to talk together about worship ministry issues with the team each Sunday.

Take a look at the culture conversation cards here!

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