Taking Flight With Creativity: Worship Design Teams That Work

by Len Wilson

Pastors and church leaders in many congregations have attempted to form teams for the purpose of planning, or designing, worship. Getting a group of people together in one room is fairly easy. But whether large or small church, staff or volunteer, most discover that it is difficult to form a team that actually works. Using the metaphor of early flight, this resource analyzes how to be a part of a worship design team that works. Major sections include discovering a strategic approach to worship, tips for team composition, a look at how to overcome a series of obstacles that frequently keep teams from finding success together, and some of the usual “mechanical difficulties” that keep teams grounded.

Genres: Nonfiction

137 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2009

About the author

Len Wilson is an author, speaker, and advocate for creativity in faith and life. He is known for his pioneering work in visual storytelling for churches and has consulted with organizations and ministries across the country. Len is the author or co-author of ten books, has been featured in dozens of articles for major religious periodicals, and has acquired leadership books for Abingdon Press, a division of the United Methodist Publishing House. He currently serves as Creative Director at Peachtree in Atlanta, one of the largest Presbyterian congregations in the country. Follow Len at lenwilson.us or on Twitter at @Len_Wilson. His latest book, Think Like a Five Year Old, releases June, 2015.

Reviews

[Steve Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors make a great case for planning worship as a team. As the authors point out, a pastor working alone to build a worship service has a more limited capacity for creativity than a group of people working together. And creativity is something that many worship services lack. The authors assert that life-transforming worship takes place when worship planners combine sermon, music, visuals, and other elements to focus on one theme. The authors begin by making their theological and philosophical case for planning worship as a team. They then delve into how to put an effective worship planning team together. They also discuss how the team should spend its time and what roles the team members play. They then explain the importance of developing a small group feeling to build trust among the group. They finish by discussing the nuts and bolts of worship planning and offer some tips on maintaining the group and getting groups off the ground. They explain the importance of developing a unifying theme for worship and a metaphor to help people visualize the theme. They practice what they preach by using the Wright brothers' efforts to be the first in flight as their metaphor for making worship services take flight. I highly recommend this book for those who are tired of lackluster worship, but who don't want to settle for just entertaining worship. This book will definitely challenge your thinking about how worship should be planned and executed.

[Djacksonprice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been a worship planning classic to me for a couple of years. It's both foundational and functional and oozing with truth and application.