Limited time in music ministry forces you to find ways to save time in service planning.
One way to do that is plan congregational hymns a month at a time.
Here are a few benefits:
- Planning mode. Only entering that planning zone for hymns once a month.
- Seeing the big picture of the balance in music. At-a-glance, you can see if you are singing only gospel songs or just hymn style. You can see if there are too many new songs that will overwhelm the church or only older songs.
- Quicker prep each week. It takes time to think through a service. I find if I do that all at once, I save time coming in and out of that zone each week.
- Aids in teaching songs. When I plan the whole month, I can incorporate teaching a song, repeating it several times.
- Scramble less. As with anything, more forethought cuts down on last minute scrambling.
Even if you are full time and have more time available to plan your services or whether you are part time or unpaid volunteer, it’s worth considering planning your hymns for the entire month in one sitting.
How often do you plan services?