Ways to Train Engagement

You can teach your church to be engaged. Here are four ways to do it.

1. Special nights or events

A dedicated midweek night of worship (a prayer-and-praise night) gives you room to linger — to wait on the Lord, try spontaneous singing, a loud shout of praise from a psalm, corporate out-loud prayer, or different postures like kneeling. Baptism services work too: tell people to cheer and be rowdy when someone comes up out of the water. These environments stretch people’s wings, and the expressiveness carries over into your regular services for weeks afterward.

2. Keep things fresh

Engagement diminishes when worship becomes the same-old, same-old and people go on autopilot. Mix it up: flip the service order (sermon first, worship last), start slow then go fast, add a call to worship, do an all-hymns or gospel-style Sunday, re-arrange familiar songs (new chords, a fast song played slow, start from the bridge, an acoustic set, a medley, strings or a choir). There are hundreds of ways to keep it fresh and wake people from their slumber.

3. Coach, explain, and encourage

People need to be taught how to worship — and given permission. Take a moment in the set to teach what Scripture says about singing or raising hands, then immediately give them a chance to apply it. Example, in The Stand: loop the four chords before “arms high, heart abandoned,” explain that raising hands is a posture of surrender, and — the crucial phrase — say “if you’re comfortable” so it feels optional. People do far more when they feel they have the choice. And thank them: “Church, thank you for leading us in worship — your singing spurs us on.” What gets praised gets repeated.

4. Use vocal cues

At any junction where a song could go two directions, never let people wonder “what’s coming next?” — never let their brain interrupt their heart. Cues instill confidence, and confident people sing out. Typical danger spots: the end of an instrumental, between double choruses, and the bars before a verse comes back in.

Seven tips for using vocal cues well:

1. Sing them. You don’t always have to say them — sing the next line so people know you’re repeating or moving on.
2. Say them — at the right time. Not too early (people wait awkwardly) and not too late (you step over the bar). It takes practice.
3. Use variety. Beyond the literal lyric: “let’s sing that again,” “make this your prayer,” “sing it to Him,” “and now the good news…” — you’re pastoring them through the lyrics.
4. Match the tone. Speak cues in the same timbre/range you’re singing in; too low or too high is a distraction.
5. Use non-verbals. Step away from the mic during instrumentals and lean back in to signal you’re about to sing; breathe loudly into the mic; and run your lyric slides early (slide people: click on the first sound of the last word).
6. Hold notes to control entries. Over an eight-count, hold your note past the four so the band and congregation don’t come in early.
7. Don’t overdo them, and practice them. Constant cues are as distracting as none. If the church knows the song well, stay out of the way. Practice your cues out loud during rehearsal — including things like “let’s all stand together” — so you nail the timing.

Application

• Could you put a special night of worship on the calendar this quarter? What would you try there that you wouldn’t in a normal service?
• Where has your service gotten predictable? Name one thing you’ll change to freshen it.
• Pick one song this week and write out exactly where you’ll place vocal cues — then practice them at rehearsal.