Even though the anointing is always necessary to make a service, you still have to have a plan. If you are like me, you've got a certain formula for how you'd like P&W to play out.
At our church we sing four songs each Sunday so I typically go upbeat, slow, slow, medium tempo/upbeat. I like to start and finish with something peppy. However, considering the way our congregation trickles in, I should save the upbeat songs for last. (Note to self.)
We have a small congregation so we typically don't sing complicated songs. That means we don't do songs that require a lot of vocal skill. I try to select songs that are in a singable key for the average person, don't have a crapload of words, songs that rhyme, and songs without a lot of parts. For example, we sing things that tend to have one or two versus with a chorus in between. (Not a whole of lot vamps, bridges, etc.) I love call and response songs so things like Judith McAllister's High Praise goes over very well with our congregation.
We have song books (actually they are folders so that we can easily add more pages as we increase our repoitoire), but I don't like to use them. People start to focus on the book itself, turning pages, looking down, etc., rather than focusing on worshiping. We also have lyrics on PowerPoint, but that requires someone to do AV. (small church problems) I strongly suggest the use of displaying the lyrics if you have visual capabilities. You'd be surprised at how many people don't really know the words to the songs you've been singing for months. Shoot, I even miss the words at times!
Hats off to the people who wear uniforms; I'm not a uniform kind of gal, but we do coordinate for special services or events. By coordinate I mean we have matching scarves or a flower and we wear black as our base, but ladies can wear skirts, dresses, pants, etc. Guys can wear the color of the scarves in their tie or wear a shirt in that color. We used to buy matching blouses, but that can get tricky when sizes vary.
There's so much to consider in terms of P&W! Sometimes we get asked to sing certain songs by the pastor or others and I try to accommodate. I try to find songs from both Christian and gospel music. We sings some oldies too. You've gotta have something for everyone! I think it's sine qua non that you consider your audience when planning for P&W. You have to know what goes over well and take small risks incrementally. Needless to say you won't please everyone every Sunday, but without a plan in mind you're more likely to flop.
Blessings
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