STAGE 3: Execution

Stage 3: Execution

It’s go time! No stopping or turning back at this point. 

If Stage 1: Explanation has been clear and Stage 2: Preparation has been thorough – then this is the high point. 

A God-given confidence fills each team member because they are about to fulfill the vision. 

Teams are not worried about knowing their place or their cue because they are prepared. 

This is when plans and prayers meet the people in the seats.

Now it is time to do a quick team huddle to confirm everything that’s been talked about - then pray, and head to our areas of service.

Those that are attending have taken time out of their weekend and even brought friends and family members to experience what God has to show them. As Nancy Beach, longtime Worship Arts Director says, “opportunity hangs in the balance.” 

Potentially, an element of the service is going to connect in a powerful way so that:

• A marriage may take a step toward restoration.
• Someone who has been out of church for years may walk through the doors and sense that it’s time to come back to their faith.
• A guest who has never gotten into the habit of church attendance may decide to come back next week and learn more.

The Stage of Execution begins at a set time by each team leader. Set the start time and stick to it.

Execution happens best when everyone knows what is expected of them. Consider providing a written job description for each team that spells out what is supposed to happen and when it is supposed to happen.

Host / Guest Services Team

Parking team needs to be out in the lot at a set time to welcome cars and organize the chaos that is typically found in a church parking lot. They should have a place to put on their reflective clothing and grab their radios. Whether everyone is on time or not, they need to head out and be ready to assist. For them, execution may look like waving, smiling, assisting guests, and guiding the traffic flow.

Greeting team should have assigned doors and aisles – inside and outside, weather permitting. They should have fresh breath, a friendly handshake, and be able to point people where they need to go. All ages are welcome on the greeting team because all ages are welcome to walk through the doors!

Info / Welcome Desk team will have maps of the campus, connection cards, lost and found, and best case scenario – a few “runners” who can take people where they need to go.

Ushers have a wide variety of duties that can include receiving the offering during the service, walking the offering to the designated place for the finance team, seating the crowd, helping with communion, counting attendance, opening and closing doors at a set time, passing out items during the service as directed, and so much more. 

Production Team

Audio team is running the front of house sound and possibly the monitors as well. They may be playing pre-service music from their computer. They will be watching for mics that start the service and also ready for any last-minute changes. Once the service starts, they will be adjusting, mixing, possibly recording and/or livestreaming, and probably listening to someone in their ears telling them to make additional adjustments. This is a critical role in a well-done service. It’s often wise to split the duties between at least two people as it can get crazy pretty quickly.

Video team is running cameras, recording, broadcasting, directing camera shots, livestreaming, and so much more depending on the scope of this team and your church. It’s best to equip them with some way to communicate immediately with other Production team members. If they have to walk over somewhere to talk about an upcoming moment, the moment may have already passed by the time they get there. Sometimes this team is responsible for the videos that will play during the service, but most of the time it is embedded in the PowerPoint / ProPresenter package and will be handled by that team.

Lighting team is possibly relaxed. They have programmed everything ahead of time and may just be hitting a button to take care of the next cue. Sometimes things don’t always go as planned, though, so they are alert and ready to make changes on the fly.

PowerPoint / ProPresenter team and/or person is possibly on edge. Depending on how your church uses the projectors and screens, this team is responsible for song lyrics, before and after the service announcement slides, announcement slides during the service, video packages, notes for the speaker, Bible verses, and anything else that gets shown on the screens. 

They have to be ready to deal with everything from someone calling an audible - to a worship leader that completely misses where they are - to a speaker that wants a last-minute verse ready to be put up immediately. “Do we have that verse? Can we get it really quickly?” 

Execution for them is more of an art than a science, and they need to be ready to follow along, skip, go backwards, and sometimes take the blame for a missed slide.

Music Team 

This team is pumped up and ready for the service to start. They love to be on stage and perform. They are most likely doing this for the right reasons, but even so, they will naturally feed off of the energy of the music and the congregation. 

Whether it’s a song leader with or without a choir and orchestra, a worship team with a band, or one person with a guitar or keyboard – this is an important part of the service. 

Execution for this team involves:

• welcoming the crowd
• setting the tone for the service 
• introducing the songs
• playing and singing the songs
• staying with the tempo (hopefully a “click”) 
• transitioning smoothly between songs 
• sensing the moments to be excited and when to be subdued 
• playing and singing together as a team 
• encouraging the congregation to participate – not just spectate 
• If there is a special song or communion – explaining the moment that is about to happen and giving the people something to reflect on while the song is being “sung over them.”

For this team to be successful at execution, the service itself cannot be the first or even third time they’ve played this music together, or done these songs in this particular order. There should be a level of comfort during the service for this team, and that only comes from rehearsing on their own, understanding the road map, dynamics and transitions, rehearsing together, and running the set list as a package several times before the service.

This team may also execute by playing and singing during a later time of the service, such as offering, communion, or the closing. Execution will look like knowing their cues, entering and exiting stage at the correct times, and adding the appropriate feel for different parts of the service.

Teaching / Preaching Team

The pastor is focused at this stage. Though they may greet the crowd before and after the service, or even help during announcements and offering from the platform, their complete attention needs to be on the sermon. 

They cannot be expected to answer pre-service questions regarding the flow, lead music, welcome guests, check the sound system, make every announcement, pray every prayer, sing the special music or conduct many of the other service elements.

Many people can step in and perform those other roles. This particular role of speaking requires space, time, prayerful reflection, a moment to review, a sense of calm, and the confidence that the other service elements are being executed with precision.

This is the most important part of the weekend service. All the other parts point to this time where God’s Word is read, it is explained, it challenges, it is applied, and then there is a call to action. 

The pastor should have devoted their best hours of the week to being able to execute. 

There should be: 

• Engagement with the audience to make a connection
• A tension developed that is common to many
• A passage of Scripture – that speaks to the tension - explained in such a way that is clear. 
• Specific application that gives the people a next step to take, with an understanding of why this next step is crucial to the life of a Christ follower. 
• Time set aside to specifically welcome guests, explain the sermon in a way that is accessible to them, and share the gospel with an opportunity & system for people to respond.

In summary, your team needs to pay attention to:

• Stage 1: Explanation of “why” we do weekend services and “what” our weekend services are about so that they understand the target. 
• Stage 2: Preparation which can be only specific and detailed when the explanation is clear. 
• Stage 3: Execution so that people know their responsibilities as well as the timing of when to do their part, and so they will strive for excellence with humility, consistency and the focus to do it week in and week out.

The payoff for successful execution is huge. Powerful worship happens. Moments of connection are experienced. The truth of God’s Word meets the messiness of people’s lives. The crowd that gathered senses that God is at work, and they decide to come back next week!