Here’s a list of ten things I use every week for worship ministry at our church.
Guitar
I have been playing guitar since 6th grade and have played every week ever since! The longest I have gone without playing was in 1999 when, based on inspiration from Rich Mullins, I ‘fasted’ from the guitar from Thanksgiving to Christmas. The guitar I have in my living room I purchased in 1992 and played until 2016. The frets have been redone four times and it still has the original case. My current guitar, a Martin, was a gift given to me in 2016. I play the thing at least 4 days per week and it sounds really good.
Capo and Tuner
I use the capo with the guitar nearly every weekend. And I clip a tuner on the end of my guitar and use it too, though, thankfully my guitar stays in pretty good tune week in and week out. I don’t really use any other guitar accessories, never really have. I don’t even travel with a guitar stand.
Bible
I rely on Scripture to keep me fresh and focused. I read scripture from the Bible on my phone, from verse-of-the-day emails and from the actual book on my desk and by my bed.
Phone
I typically use my phone to connect with people about Sunday. It also comes in handy, at times, as a tuner, a way to show new songs, and to take notes at meetings and during messages.
Planning Center Online
We schedule everything through Planning Center Online: the worship band and vocalists, the audio and media teams, and the hospitality teams.
Pro-Presenter
Though I’m not the one who does it all the time, I count on projection for lyrics for our worship services. I really rely on the program and the media team member who is running it to know what the lyrics to the songs are. I would say 80% of the time I have the song memorized, the rest of the time (at least in my own church) I follow the screen.
LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE #83
Slack
We use the Slack App to plan for worship details and to debrief after. This is a free app that works like a texting loop, except you can separate tasks and areas of ministry into channels and keep an ongoing history of conversation between everyone.
Songselect (CCLI)
I use this in conjunction with Planning Center Online to get the chords to songs and print music for team members. I also use this website to jog my memory while thinking of songs for worship services.
iPad
I use Planning Center’s Music Stand App on my iPad to see lyrics and chords each week. Over the last couple of years, we have purchased iPads for the whole band to use each Sunday.
Abelton
We use clicks and/or backing tracks nearly every Sunday. Though we have team members who help put it all together and operate it, I’ve come to enjoy utilizing it.
Bonus: Culture Cards
We will often have some sort of worship team circle time before church on Sunday. At times, we print out these simple little culture-building conversations and talk through them and we always pray together. [download]
