Why does this matter?
For all who gather on the day – believers and unbelievers – you have a crucial role in setting the tone and giving appropriate guidance. You also set the tone and provide guidance for the team who will contribute up-front as well as those behind the AV desk. Things often change at the last minute – try to remain a calm and collaborative team leader.
Before Sunday
Check for additional roles. Often the person leading church will be allocated to pray. Unless otherwise stated, it is your role to open and close the meeting. If a role is unallocated or people drop out, you do not need to recruit people. The Platform Coordinator (see Elvanto, usually Craig) will do this. If you need to drop out simply decline before COB Wednesday – earlier the better. Text the Platform Coordinator for a last-minute drop out.
Liaise (if necessary) with the Preacher. Do this early in the week. Make sure that in your planning, the way you intend to lead the morning will help the message, not distract from it or duplicate it – unless the speaker asks you to do so there is no need to explain the passage, provide background to it or introduce the key idea of the talk. Leave it to the speaker.
Liaise (if necessary) with the Music Leader. Unless you arrange otherwise it is your role to introduce the songs. You are responsible for planning how the songs fit with the rest of the morning. Songs have been chosen but it is OK to swap in other songs on our playlist but check in advance (by COB Wednesday) with the Music Leader.
Liaise (if necessary) with Church Administrator. Texts for Welcome, Close and Prayer of Confession are usually allocated (check Elvanto). Notify the administrator at admin@scotschurchsydney.org by COB Thursday regarding any change to Welcome, Close, songs, or the order of elements. Any more substantial changes to the Plan should be checked with the Platform Coordinator. All changes made need to be reflected in Elvanto.
Pray for yourself and the others involved.
On the Day: Be organised, start on time.
30 mins before
Be visible and available so that you can respond to any hiccups and be ready to start on time.
Ahead of the prayer huddle, check in at the AV desk about which mics will be used on the morning.
15 mins before
You lead the prayer huddle that involves everyone “up front” and the AV team.
Run through the order of service. Work off the live Plan in Elvanto (or the Runsheet App) on your phone/tablet.
Clarify intros, explanations, handovers and mic usage.
Clarify with song leaders and AV team regarding who will intro each song, whether to sit/stand, the need to explain any “tricks” (repeat sections, male & female parts, etc).
Pray together.
Start on time.
At the end
Look for opportunities to give positive feedback to those involved.
People should be well prepared as we value clear and thoughtful engagement with believers, unbelievers and our culture generally.
Attendees want to feel welcome but not put on the spot, so people up the front should be welcoming and relational but not over-sharing or asking attendees to turn to a neighbour and share. Nothing coercive or overly directive.
We aim for a vibe that is friendly (we value people) understated (expressing humility and avoiding emotional manipulation), serious (we are meeting with God), reflective (meeting God should be deep and life changing), and affirming of our heritage (we stand in line with Christians who down the centuries have thought deeply about how the gospel shapes the big questions of life).
In the city, people are time-poor. We love them by starting on time and avoiding unnecessary padding, chatter and happy talk.
Start on time
In our context starting (and finishing) on time communicates that you care about people. They will come to more of your stuff because they trust you to be careful with their scarcest resource. So, never wait for more people to arrive or you will be training them to arrive late! Newcomers typically get to church early and the wait before church starts is awkward enough – don’t make it longer than it needs to be. If there is a pre-church video or countdown, check that the AV team start it on time. If the video does not get people moving to their seats, use the mic to politely ask them to be seated a couple of minutes before you start. Once you begin, don’t pad things out as people find their seat.
Finish on Time
It is very rare in our context that the person who comes to our stuff spends the rest of the weekend just loafing around doing nothing. They are over-committed students, workers, carers, neighbours, family members, and community volunteers. They usually come from something important and often go to something important–even if that something is a sorely needed sleep. Every minute they are out at something church puts on, they are not also home with their children, visiting their lonely friend, having the neighbours over for dinner, helping coach a junior sport team, etc. By finishing on time, we acknowledge that obedience to God does not equal attendance at church events. It acknowledges all of life as the theatre of obedience. Being disciplined about time forces on you questions about what to cut, what to sharpen and thus usually makes for better events. As a guide church finishes at about 11:45am.
Not Everything Needs Explaining
Not everything needs to be explained. As a rule of thumb, trust the songs, prayers, and preaching to sufficiently explain themselves. Work out ahead of time which items need introduction and which ones do not. Plan your introductions. Plan how to start and finish. Don’t try to say something profound at every point. Avoid small talk and extended anecdotes. Err on the side of saying less.
Model that church is important by staying engaged.
Try not to drop out of the singing or Bible Reading in order to organise something. At the close give a brief personal reflection to model how to respond to the word. It needs to be crisp. (Don’t attempt to correct the talk or explain something left unclear – that is above your pay grade – and usually, it creates more issues than it resolves.)
Do things with feeling…
The gospel shape of our gathering (moving through adoration->confession->repentance->thankfulness, etc.) will make the church a place where a wide variety of emotions will be encountered. Your communication (words, tone and body language) needs to be true to the moment. So, if you are welcoming people up the front, do it in a way that communicates that you are actually happy they are here. If you have just prayed for children killed in Syria, don’t try to lighten the mood by being cheery and upbeat.
…but don’t tell us how to feel
In our context people are very wary of manipulation and inauthenticity. Give people the space to feel whatever they are feeling. As tempting as it might be (especially as a smallish, new church), we don’t need to manufacture a sense of excitement, intimacy or community – instead, point us clearly to our awesome God and saviour and give people room to respond emotionally as they choose. Don’t tell us how to feel or suggest that some feelings are wrong. Church is a place for everyone – no matter how they are feeling as they arrive.
Don’t just focus on your role. Lead the team
Part of our training culture at Scots is to engage lots of people in serving; this means that the number of people upfront and at the prayer huddle might be large, and this requires more planned and intentional leadership from you.
Part of our culture at Scots is that people are encouraged to see themselves as part of a service team rather than just turning up to perform their allotted task, and to understand that discipleship is part of our team culture. This means thoughtfully leading the team to think in a gospel shaped way about service and about the nature of church.
Part of our culture at Scots is that we engage people in serving quickly and stretch and equip people to serve in new ways training them on the job. It is likely that someone in your team is serving in a new and stretching way. They may be feeling stressed and uncertain.
Don’t leave a gap (unless you mean to leave a gap)
Avoid dead time while we all wait for you to amble up the front after the song has finished. At Scots, the default is that it is not the task of the song leader to ask people to sit down, but the person doing the next thing. They need to start their journey to the front early enough to be there in time to give clear directions, such as asking people do be seated. Come up the back stairs and sit on an on-stage stool before the previous item ends.
Can People See and Hear?
Nothing hampers peoples’ edification more than not being able to hear or see. Make sure you are close to the mic and speak clearly into it.
Don’t let others (such as Bible readers) speak until the mic is picking them up – stop them and make them start again if they are not being heard. If people on your team are new to upfront roles (for example, the Bible reader), be seated on a stool at the start of their reading so you can assist with the mic. At the very least, sit in the front row so you can get on stage quickly if needed.
Tech Happens
If a tech issue (for example, we need to start without music) consult with the Platform and AV Coordinators, who will make the final call on what happens.
Fire, Lockdown and Evacuation
The Greet Team Coordinator and the Platform Coordinator are our Fire/Evacuation Wardens. Let them make announcements and give directions. Be available to assist them as needed.
www.bettergatherings.com
Steenwyk & Witvliet, The Worship Source Book [Borrow from office] [PDF]
Gibson & Earngey, Reformation Worship [Borrow from office]
Platform Coordinator
The Co-ordinator(s) manages the team. This is a behind the scenes role. A coordinator is available (rostered in Elvanto each week) to deal with last minute drop-outs and other issues where you and the Up Front team need support.
Platform Coordinator Job Description | Who is the coordinator
(note that the Greet Team Coordinator and the Platform coordinator are the fire and evacuation wardens)