Sunday Setlist: April 22, 2012

Westwood Baptist Church sanctuary as seen from the choir loft.

Sunday morning was...interesting..

Don't get me wrong, everything went well.

There were no musical, technical, or logistical train wrecks that I am aware of.

But things didn't exactly go as I expected.

I'll list below what we did, why I planned it that way, and what was the outcome.

We opened with a moment of silence, and a prayer of remembrance of the1 yr anniversary of April 2011 tornadoes that effected our area last year. I expected it to be a moving time of prayer and thought that would lead well into singing about " the joy of The Lord" being our strength. Instead, I stumbled over every word trying to explain what we were doing. I've definitely been more eloquent before. I know I got the point across. But it didn't go as smooth as planned.I just had trouble finding the right words and stumbled over the few I did find.

Holy Is The Lord (Tomlin)

Expected good middle to upbeat opener that would get everyone engaged in worship.

Song went well. It is nice to see more people lifting their hands in worship, especially when singing the line "We stand and lift up our hands for the joy of the Lord is our strength." Should have planned another song after this one though. It felt like slamming on the brakes to end this song and stop the worship for announcements.

Welcome / Announcements / Fellowship.

A Mighty Fortress (choir arrangement) 

This is a choir arrangement of the great hymn with an added chorus. It is a favorite of our church from approx 10 yrs ago. It is upbeat and powerful, both musically and spiritually.

The song sounded great, but I had forgotten how high it was. I could see people disconnecting from it the further into the song we got. It's a lesson I learned years ago about this song, but had forgotten.

Song Of Moses (Keyes)

We've done this newer song 3 or 4 times in the past 6 months. The first time we did it, I spoke of the history of this "Song of Moses." in Exodus. Everyone really let loose on the chorus "The Lord shall reign forever and ever." It was very moving. This time was a little different. I think the previous song had been so long and high that folks were a little worn out to try this high song as well. My voice was even strained on the higher notes. Plus, I didn't intro it well and again stumbled over my own words. The song went fine. I expect not many even felt about it like I did, but it just didn't feel quite right. (or maybe I didn't?)

Offertory prayer - Deacon

Choir Special - This Is Your House (Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir) 

Choir sounded great as always.

Transitional chorus: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Hymn, chorus only)

Message

Invitation: Your Name (Baloche)

Closing: Sing To The King (Tomlin)

Worship Leaders, Have you ever stumbled over your words and wrecked what you thought was going to be a great time of worship?

Worshipers? If you were at Westwood, what did you think? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

This post is part of TheWorshipCommunity.com's Sunday Setlist. Check it out to see what other worshipers are doing around the world.