Turn Out the Lights

April 10, 2011 in Sunday Setlists, Worship with 9 Comments

There are times when we need to give our congregations a break and maybe even turn out the lights. Turning out the lights might just be the thing to help the worshipers engage in a deeper conversation.

This week we took a big detour in musical style having the worship choir present a more traditional piece, Holy Is the Lord by Franz Schubert arranged by Jay Rouse. Presenting this piece was a stretch for us and outside the box of our normal. (Take a moment and listen to this piece. If you cannot use it in your corporate worship you can use it in your private worship. The link is posted below.)

It is a great piece of music but we didn’t want it to be about the music, we wanted the music to help the people focus on and engage with God. As the choir worshiped and presented this song we turned out the lights and placed on our screens descriptive words for God that corresponded with the text of the music. It was a powerful few moments. The attention was on God, not the choir, the lack of light made it almost impossible to miss God’s attributes being projected on the screens.

Here are some take-a-ways:

1.      It is good to stretch our worship teams out of their comfort zones

2.      It is good to give our congregations new settings to focus on God.

3.      Having a worship choir prepare a challenging piece of music makes them better at all styles.

I wouldn’t recommend turning out the lights every week but occasionally it can be a great way to see God.

Here is our set list:

Holy Spirit Rain Down by Russell Fragar

Come Now Is the Time To Worship by Brian Doerksen

How Can I Keep From Singing by Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Matt Redman

Scripture: Psalm 99

Holy Is the Lord by Franz Schubert arr by Jay Rouse

Christ Is Risen, by Matt Maher and Mia Fields

Wonderful Cross, by Jesse Reeves, Chris Tomlin

You can access more details about this plan here.

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This post is my contribution to the blog carnival Sunday Setlists which can be found at The Worship Community.


  • http://terrytimm.com/blog Terry Timm

    What a wonderfully creative idea Michael. It’s one thing to change things up just for the sake of change – it’s a mature act of leadership to shape a moment like you did; well done.

    terry

  • Anonymous

    Terry,
    Thanks for reading and thanks for the comment.
    I hope we are passed the days when we add things in the service just to be creative. My conviction is that we plan a service around the story of God and the gospel and that the things we add only help us see God’s revelation and respond appropriately.

  • http://twitter.com/kimthebruce Kim Bruce

    The church I attend does very contemporary worship. One Sunday morning, the sound board suddenly crashed…NO sound. Our worship choir went ahead and started the service without the microphones, drums, electric guitars, etc… It was BEAUTIFUL!!! Just the voices…I was actually a bit sad when our sound board came back to life!

  • http://www.mamasgonecrazy.wordpress.com Kristina

    I loved singing Holy Is the Lord. Thanks for stretching us and placing us outside the box of normal!

  • Anonymous

    I think sometimes we make corporate worship too complicated, trying to create something, when all we really need to do is help our people start a conversation.

  • Anonymous

    Kristina,
    Thanks for the comment. I am so glad to have you as a part of the worship choir and so appreciate your faithfulness.

  • Lori Biddle

    I LOVE to change things up – so important – great list!

  • Anonymous

    Lori,
    Thanks for taking the time to read this post.
    It is important to change things up in our worship so that the routine doesn’t drown out the message. But on the other hand we have to make sure the ‘change’ doesn’t get in the way of the message.

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