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We’re a Catholic Charismatic group where the praise ministry/choir rehearses every Friday night (or Tuesday night if it can’t be done on Fridays). The prayer meetings are on Wednesday nights. The music is a combination of traditional hymns and charismatic songs (ala Don Moen, Hillsong, etc)
We have several prayer/worship leaders (PWL) who rotate which means each one gets to lead once every 2-3 months. This way the worship is not too-centered on the preferences of one person or group.
The assigned PWL selects the songs based on theme and Sunday readings following this format:
1. Opening (fast and lively to wake everybody up)
2. Invocation (slow and prayerful to put everyone in the mood to pray)
3. Reflection song (part of the worship is a short talk by the prayer leader reflecting on the Sunday Reading and the Reflection Song is sung immediately after this)
4. Contrition song (slow and penitential)
5. Thanksgiving/Offertory (usually lively, partly to wake up those who fell asleep in the meantime, and there are one or two who do)
6. Intercession
7. Pre-high Praise (prelude to #8)
8. High Praise (songs that allow the choir to raise their voices high up the scale. Most of the choir is female and the Alto sax provides good vocal support here)
9. Quiet Time (usually the same as the Reflection song)
10. Closing (usually the same as the Opening song)
That makes 8-10 songs. We have a huge library of maybe 200-300 songs (I’m guessing at the exact number here but it's a lot, accumulated over the years) to choose from. Of course some songs get sung more than others. There are no 12-week rules but if you’re PWL usually you don’t want to repeat a song the congregation heard just last week.
The PWL can also introduce a new song as long as he can provide a CD and/or music sheet and the choir has enough time to rehearse it. Enough time means the week before.
We have a choir master/lead guitarist (he also gets his turn at PWL) who ensures everyone is in tune and in harmony.
We also have keyboard, second guitar (both are acoustic), bass guitarist, and myself on alto.
It’s rather structured but IMHO it still provides some room for flexibility.
Hope this helps.
Thanks and God bless!
Ben
We have several prayer/worship leaders (PWL) who rotate which means each one gets to lead once every 2-3 months. This way the worship is not too-centered on the preferences of one person or group.
The assigned PWL selects the songs based on theme and Sunday readings following this format:
1. Opening (fast and lively to wake everybody up)
2. Invocation (slow and prayerful to put everyone in the mood to pray)
3. Reflection song (part of the worship is a short talk by the prayer leader reflecting on the Sunday Reading and the Reflection Song is sung immediately after this)
4. Contrition song (slow and penitential)
5. Thanksgiving/Offertory (usually lively, partly to wake up those who fell asleep in the meantime, and there are one or two who do)
6. Intercession
7. Pre-high Praise (prelude to #8)
8. High Praise (songs that allow the choir to raise their voices high up the scale. Most of the choir is female and the Alto sax provides good vocal support here)
9. Quiet Time (usually the same as the Reflection song)
10. Closing (usually the same as the Opening song)
That makes 8-10 songs. We have a huge library of maybe 200-300 songs (I’m guessing at the exact number here but it's a lot, accumulated over the years) to choose from. Of course some songs get sung more than others. There are no 12-week rules but if you’re PWL usually you don’t want to repeat a song the congregation heard just last week.
The PWL can also introduce a new song as long as he can provide a CD and/or music sheet and the choir has enough time to rehearse it. Enough time means the week before.
We have a choir master/lead guitarist (he also gets his turn at PWL) who ensures everyone is in tune and in harmony.
We also have keyboard, second guitar (both are acoustic), bass guitarist, and myself on alto.
It’s rather structured but IMHO it still provides some room for flexibility.
Hope this helps.
Thanks and God bless!
Ben
