5 Keys For Effective Congregational Support In Worship - Part 3
"It's important to have congregational support as we lead the worship - we want to avoid a situation where only a few members of the congregation are singing, because the others don't know what's going on."
How can we best help the congregation as we lead them in worship?
Over the last couple of weeks, we've been looking at how to cultivate effective congregational support in worship. We've seen the importance of knowing our role, leading by serving and likewise serving by leading, and also being sensitive to each song's style and lyrical content.
We'll now be covering the last two points.
Learn to read the congregation and service leaders
This is something that definitely shouldn’t be ignored, as it really does make a difference to the flow of things in a worship service.
We should never lead or play the piano in church in such a way that we are so caught up in what we are doing, just going through the songs, that we are totally unaware of the congregation or those leading the service.
This really doesn’t help because part of our responsibility also includes being alert to, and reading, certain obvious and less obvious “cues” that come from both the leadership and the congregation. Our responsibility isn't limited to just playing the piano and leading the music.
For example, part of providing an effective intro to a song is being very aware of when the leader asks people to stand. However, even then, he may have some other words to share before the song starts, so our eyes should always be on the person leading, watching for hints and cues.
In some churches, a leader may want to speak in between a song, and you don’t want to just be playing away with your head down, while the congregation gets distracted watching the pastor trying to subtly get your attention.
This is also important when playing incidental music for communion or perhaps the offering. In your church they may not want you to play for another 10 minutes after the bag stopped going around!
It’s all about watching for cues.
Another time this may happen is towards the end of a song, as a leader perhaps comes up to address the congregation. It's important for you to watch so that you can gauge the best time to pause or fade the music in a sensitive way.
As far as reading the congregation, this is not something you can learn overnight, but rather, over time. As you get a feel of whether the congregation is engaged in worship or not, and I certainly don’t say this so you can then hype them up, it will allow you to be sensitive to the flow of worship. It may be that many people are struggling to follow along with the songs you are playing. If that is the case, it's a sign that you need to address something from your end.
Remember, we shouldn’t just try to “read” our congregation just by looking at outward expressions of worship, as genuine worship involves a heart response which may or may not be obvious externally.
Help to prepare the congregation
Although this is just a practical point, it really can help to support your congregation in their worship.
Familiarity with songs is a huge key to having the congregation fully engaged in worship. For example, there might be a new song being introduced on a Sunday morning, and so the congregation isn't going to be familiar with it.
While it is possible to play a line or two of the song to help people get an idea, that can also be a distraction if it’s done too much.
Of course a strong vocal lead certainly helps, but there’s also another couple of things you can consider.
Firstly, if you know the songs at least a few days before Sunday, and you are able to source YouTube links where they're sung in a similar way to how you will do it, then you can send this out to the congregation by email. Making sure the song is similar, at least in the way the melody is sung, is quite important or you will have the opposite affect and make it even harder for people to learn the new song.
Sending all the songs is helpful, as there will always be songs that are new to some people, and not to others.
There is also the idea of a “song pool” which I talked about in a previous post. Just to recap, that's when you take 20, 30 or 40 songs, after checking with your leadership, and then use those songs for the church singing. This allows the whole church to get familiar with a bunch of the same songs. You will tangibly notice the difference on a Sunday when the congregation are familiar with all the songs, not just a few of them.
You can also make playlists of songs you sing in your church on streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music, so that people can access these playlists and play them anytime they want to, familiarizing themselves with the songs.
I do realize that particularly in churches where they have older congregations, we can’t assume everyone has email or a smart phone. In these contexts, still think about what you can do to serve the people in your church and help them get familiar with the songs. It might involve making a CD of commonly sung songs, or asking your leaders if you can have a hymn sing evening, where you learn a bunch of new songs and get more familiar with ones you already sing.
Essentially, this is about doing what you can to serve and support your congregation so that their worship experience (and I don’t use that word in a mystical way), is edifying and as unhindered as it can be.
I'll just recap those 5 points again…
Learn to read the congregation and service leaders
Help to prepare the congregation
It's important to have congregational support as we lead the worship - we want to avoid a situation where only a few members of the congregation are singing, because the others don't know what's going on. And likewise, we need to be supporting the congregation by the way that we lead them in worship.
Hopefully these five pointers have been helpful as you seek to cultivate effective congregational support in worship.
Above all, remember that our primary aim in worship is to glorify God, and encourage and exhort each other as we sing biblical truths.
[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]
This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back from New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.
Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.
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