WRSP 440 Strategies for Worship Leading

This is a methods course that deals with strategic planning for worship ministry. Attention is given to the principles for developing services that encompass a variety of worship models. Students will learn about established patterns of worship and how they can be adapted not only for worship style, but also for churches of all sizes.

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After reading the Syllabus, Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will participate in 2 discussions in the course. The initial thread will be based on ministry or church knowledge and experiences, as well as insight gained from the course. In addition, the student will reply to at least 2 classmates providing substantive responses and offering original content in each post. While there is no required word count, students normally write between 250 and 300 words for the original thread and 150 words for the replies. 

Students who want to participate in optional Live discussions must download a free version of Microsoft TEAMS. For more information, please see the Discussion Assignment Instructions document attached to the Discussion Assignment.

The student will write a 3-page reflection that explains the current structure and foundation of worship services in their home church. The paper should include an overview of the biblical foundations and Christocentric nature of the student’s church’s services based on themes presented in the Cherry text. The paper should also offer an overview on the role and focus of music in their home church. Turabian formatting is required. 

The student will will create a 10 to 15 minute PowerPoint presentation that contains 13 slides with audio narration on each slide. The PowerPoint should focus on foundation of worship, worship models and voice and should also include direct application to the student’s home church. The presentation must include a bibliography slide to recognize sources used in the PowerPoint, including the Cherry text. The PowerPoint should be constructed in a way that could be presented as part of a worship team meeting or small group study.

The student will create an active library of worship songs and hymns for worship ministry using the Song Cycle Model as presented in the course text. Submitted songs must reflect appropriate keys and a variety of tempos for moments of celebration and reflection in worship. A Song Cycle Example is provided in the Song Cycle Assignment Resources and should be used as a guide for the student to create their own Song Cycle. 

The student will conduct a personal brainstorming session to design a creative worship service. The student will select a service theme/sermon topic and design a mind map as part of the creative worship planning process. The student will download a template from a provided website to create their mind map. The mind map requires the central topic, 5 unique creative elements, and detailed extensions that show clear connection to the worship service being planned. 

The student will compose three 3-page papers highlighting the insights gained from the various modules on church size. The first page should be a summary of the key insights learned about worship ministry based on church size. On the second page, the student will provide an analysis of the aspects of the service that are similar as well as parts of the service that may be different from his/her current church’s worship services. The final page should include the following two headings: Benefits and Challenges. Under each heading the student needs to add bullet list of at least 3 benefits and 3 challenges associated with the church size.

The student will utilize Planning Center, an online planning tool, to create unique service orders for small, medium, and large churches in the three most common worship styles: (traditional, contemporary, and blended). For each style of worship, the student will create unique plans that indicate the appropriate numbers of volunteers/staff, instrumentation, worship flow, music, and other worship elements that are representative of the size and style of worship being designed. Service orders must include at least 5 team notes to aid in worship flow. Service orders are created in Planning Center and must be saved as PDFs when submitting this assignment.  The assignment also requires the student to complete a Worship Service Orders Template that includes the selected theme, list of participants, and explanation of how the songs and other worship elements reflect the theme, church size, and worship style. 

The student will list strategies for working toward excellence based on personal spiritual development, worship/music planning, and servant leadership. The student will use a provided template to list at least seven strategies for each category. The statements must be written in complete sentences, use correct grammar, and exhibit connection to course content.