Are Your Worship Sets Like Ping Pong Balls?

I love ping pong. You want to surprise your opponent with shock and awe. You hit this corner of the table, that corner of the table, find their weak spot and smash, drive, spin or block the ball. Surprise and unpredictability are powerful weapons in ping pong warfare (OK – my ping pong playing could never be described as warfare but I like to dream).

But as much as I enjoy being a ping pong player, I wouldn’t want to be a ping pong ball. The ball never knows where it’s going and the ball must feel as though it’s on the receiving end of “Shock and awe.”

When I play, the poor ping pong ball always ends up coming at me and missing my paddle (yes, it’s my paddle’s fault) and goes spinning off and lost underneath furniture.  Poor, poor ping pong ball.

So, what does a ping pong ball have to do with a worship song set?

Many worship song sets leave congregations feeling just like a ping pong ball – bounced around, back and forth, never knowing where they’re going, lacking a sense of planned direction and focus and sometimes lost.

Don’t get me wrong – we need to have moments of spontaneity in worship and this is also lacking in a lot of worship sets. Yet, I find that one of the biggest weaknesses is planning, focus, theme and direction.

Over the next few posts I want to share some ideas gleaned over the years of putting together worship sets. Most of these lessons have been learned from my failures. Hopefully some of my hard lessons can help you to avoid turning your worship sets into ping pong balls.

My next post is on the “Four Step Approach” to worship set planning. So . . . grab your paddles and stay tuned.

Do you want to learn from some of the most noted worship leaders and songwriters in the world? Consider taking in our All Day Pre-Conference Intensive Learning Worship Leadership Workshop at Break Forth Canada 2013. Featuring Paul Baloche, Mark Hall (of Casting Crowns) and Kari Jobe. It will be a day to remember. For more information, click here.