Worship Development

I ministered in the same city Church twice, as Assistant Minister, then as Minister. During my first ministry, in 1983, we printed a chorus book, and introduced choruses to our services in addition to hymns. During my second ministry, in 1995, we increased the number of choruses that we sang at one time at the beginning of our services. A few years later, we introduced pre-service singing, with a five-minute silence before the service began. One person led that singing, often my wife, with an "understudy". A few years after that, we further brought the chorus book up to date. Then, in 2008, we introduced a worship team, who sang both before and (not always) during the service. This team varied in size between about six and sixteen on any given Sunday. OBSERVATION: However, it took us a while to conceive of a team that really worked. It seemed an insurmountable challenge to us, due to people's lack of transport, a problem with public safety, unpredictable hours of work, and so on. Ultimately we put up two microphones in front of the Church, and appointed one person to lead the worship each Sunday, calling up extras impromptu. On the first Sunday we did this, in 2008, the worship leader called up four people, and it worked from the word go. I think it made a crucial difference to the Church.