Why Worship Nights and Special Services?

Worship is not limited to one hour on Sunday mornings; thanks be to God! God is with us and worthy of our praise every moment of every day. Adding worship nights into your church schedule is a great way to add more opportunities to worship God collectively as a body of Christ. It might also be an opportunity for people to join you who might not be available on a Sunday morning or who might not be comfortable attending a Sunday morning service yet. Worship nights can also be an opportunity to teach, serve, and move beyond the normal parameters of a regular Sunday morning. Keep reading for general and specific planning ideas as well as sample services.

How to Plan a Worship Night

There are many approaches to planning a worship night. The one requirement is coming together to worship God. It’s helpful to first discern what type of night would benefit your congregation the most at the chosen time, i.e. jubilant praise, soaking in the Lord’s presence, prayer, service, etc. Let the Spirit guide your creativity in planning the rest!

A few ways approach planning:

• Theme First: Start with a topic relating to Christian life, such as trusting in God, choosing faith over fear, God’s faithfulness, etc., then choose songs and scriptures that relate to that theme.

• Songs First: Choose songs that the Spirit has put on your heart to lead the congregation in, then choose supporting scriptures to share between songs.

• Scriptures First: Choose scriptures that the Spirit has put on your heart to share with the congregation, then choose supporting songs to lead between scriptures.

Worship Night Theme Ideas

• Songs/Scriptures That Speak to Us: Ask worship team members to share songs and/or scriptures that speak to them. Then pair songs and scriptures with a brief testimony on how the Lord speaks to the team member through that song/scripture. This is a great way for the congregation to worship the Lord with you and get to know those who lead worship.

• Month/Calendar Theme: Choose a theme relating to the month or time of year, such as Irish Songs and Prayers in March, Thanksgiving/Gratitude Songs in November, or Hymns during the summer if your church has a tradition of Camp Meeting in the summer months.

• Sermon Series: Incorporate material either as an intro or conclusion to the sermon series. A worship night can be a great way to introduce new songs for the series and preview the message themes for the series. You could also conclude the series with a worship night to recap what has been taught/learned during Sunday morning worship.

• New Material: Share songs you plan to introduce over the next series/quarter. This works well with the Sermon Series idea. Include a few songs that the congregation already knows to begin and end the night. If you are not working in sermon series material, sharing scriptures related to the songs or related to newness would be a great addition to the worship set. This can also work well to introduce new songs relating to the Church year like new Easter or Christmas songs.

• Colossians 3:16 Night: “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Share the message of Christ through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

• Biblical word study: Choose songs and scriptures to support each word. Example: Seven Hebrew words for praise. Holy Roar by Chris Tomlin and Darren Whitehead gives definitions and examples of scriptures and songs for each word.

• Joy/Holy Humor: The Bible tells us that there is a time to laugh (Ecclesiastes 3:4) and the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10); there is certainly a time to share in the joy of our salvation. The empty tomb is proof that the worst part of our story is not the end of our story, and that is a reason to celebrate! Some churches have a tradition of Holy Humor Sunday or Bright Sunday the Sunday after Easter. Google Holy Humor Sunday for additional ideas. Holy Humor Sunday could be celebrated during a morning service or a worship night.

Other Components to Consider

Let me preface the following ideas with telling you that I am in the “all of life can be worship” camp. 1 Corinthians 10:31 reminds us that whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God. I’ve referenced Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin in other areas of this website, and he has some great words on this subject beginning on page 206. “Biblically speaking, there’s no sacred/secular distinction in our lives. Every moment is an opportunity to worship God (p207).” Worshiping God is not limited to the sermon or the music; there are so many ways we can worship God and draw closer to him. It is our heart posture and intention that makes our actions worship. By this token, one could be in a Sanctuary on a Sunday morning during a worship service, and not actually be worshiping the Lord. Keep reading for ideas on other components to include in your worship night.

• Service Projects: Serving others is one of my favorite ways to worship God. Hebrews 13:16 NIV says: “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” And Romans 12:1 NIV: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Serving others can be a very meaningful way to worship, draw near to God, and return our thanks to God for all that he has done for us. A worship night service project could be packing food bags or hygiene kits, or making cards for homebound members or college students. The idea is to share God’s love out of an overflow of gratitude and praise for what God has done in your life.

• Art Projects: God is the Great Creator, and he created us in his image. Creating something in response to how God is moving in your life can also be a very meaningful way to praise and commune with God. This could look like having water colors, crayons, or modeling clay stations in the space during the worship night.

• Prayer Stations: Prayer is such an important part of our Christian journey and relationship with God. Sometimes people need the opportunity to make space for prayer in their lives. We live in such a fast-paced world, leading the congregation in an extended time of practicing prayer can be a very meaningful time of worship. Choosing to make space for God is an act of worship in itself. Guided prayer stations can help others foster this practice.

• Testimonies: Believers are called to share their testimonies with others. Incorporating testimonies into a worship night can be an opportunity to collectively give God praise for what he has done in someone’s life. We can also encourage and strengthen each other in the faith for God’s glory.

• Include Others: Consider inviting others who are not on the worship team to participate in songs, scripture readings, or prayers. Worship nights are a great opportunity to include children, youth, and choir, or to team up with another church.