28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #27

In these last few installments, we're looking at how to transition to the message. One simple way to segue to the sermon is by using scripture text the pastor's message is based on. I touched on this segue last week by suggesting using video to present the scripture. That's one option.

Another option is a "worship team reader." Don't discount the power of gifted readers. They often will do a better job than the pastor at reading the selected text for that morning. Just like having team of talented vocalists who sing, build a team of talented readers who, well, read.

Here's what to look for:
A good sounding voice. They don't need to sound like the movie trailer announcers (unless you're reading from the book of Revelation). But they do need to have pleasant sounding voices.

Expressiveness in reading. Look for people with acting experience. Or people who enjoy getting up at poetry readings. Just make sure they're not over-the-top and dripping with too much expressiveness.

A love for scripture and a respect for this position. This person might have the ability to read it well even if they see it for the first time that morning. But your congregation will sense it if the reader has been soaking up that scripture during the week.

Here are some ways to facilitate this:

Communicate the passage as early in the week as possible. Be clear on which translation you want. And by the way, pastors: consider using a different translation than what you're preaching from. Especially if the passage is familiar. A paraphrased Bible like the Message can shake people from autopilot listening. But if the Message sounds too wonky ('cuz let's admit, while we love the Message, it does sound wonky in places), try something like the New Living Translation or Contemporary English Version.

Be clear on when the reader is to begin. And give instructions on moving into place before the previous element finishes. The ending of a song can provide a good starting point; the piano or guitar can just continue to underscore the reading. Coming out of this reading, the pastor can simply start his message or pray.

Be clear on where. And which mic. And does he need a music stand? Does the sound tech know this is happening?


Reinforce the scripture with visuals. Many people love having the scripture read to them. They likely are audible learners. Me, I'm checked out within two sentences, unless the reader is especially engaging. I'm a visual learner. And there's a lot of people like me, so put the text on the screen. You can also invite people to follow along from their Bible, unless it's a not-so-common translation for your church. Then people think more about the difference between the two versus what's being said. By the way, kinesthetic learners, I'm not sure what to tell you in order to pay attention. Maybe you need to be the upfront reader and do interpretive movements while you read.

Just a suggestion.


For more ideas for scripture reading, see segue #12 part 1 and part 2.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #26

Connecting to the Message, Part 2

A few segues ago, we talked about the ins and outs, literally, of using videos. In that case, the clip was the service element we were transitioning to and from. But now we’re using a video to get us to the next thing: the message.

Since the decisions for this segue are up to the preaching/teaching pastor, I’m going to direct my comments directly to the him. The rest of you can listen in. (And you may want to remind him of a few things as you’re planning next week’s service. Just a suggestion…) There are a few different kinds of videos you could use to transition:

The Movie Clip – hopefully you’re showing this because it illustrates a main point or application of your message. Remember, only youth pastors have the luxury of showing movie clips that are completely unrelated to their talks. (But at least you get the chance to show movie clips. The only videos worship pastors get to use are swirly motion backgrounds behind the song lyrics.)

For this to be a true segue to the message, you’ll need to run it between your message and the preceding element. You might need to set it up, but sometimes it’s better if you don’t. Keep us guessing while we watch it. It’s creates a little positive tension and anticipation.

The Sermon Illustration Video. You usually have two choices on these kind of videos. The first is a light-hearted, humorous sketch that gets a point across with some laughs. The second, some sort of emotion-tugging vignette that evokes either guilt or tears (or both) and usually has Casting Crowns playing in the background. Go with the laughs. None of us are ready for “Every Man” right out of the chute.

The "Man on the Street" Interview. Just make sure the question being ask actually applies to your message. Even though you like watching Kirk Cameron going all "Ten Commandments" on some pagan, that really won't segue us to a message on tithing. Unless, you promise to never to show Kirk Cameron videos again. Then we'll put more in the offering.

Testimony/Faith Story Video. This could range from some personal stories in your church, stories from the mission fields you support, or even faith stories are resonating around the country/world. That latter you can find on SermonSpice.com, etc. 

Scripture Video - This might be something produced by one of the worship video production companies, or you can go homemade. Record the scripture read by a good reader. Add some background music and text for visuals. The video part could easily be accomplished by your projection software. And if you don't have a reader, use a clip from an audio Bible - but just not that version that sounds like Vincent Price read it. There's several audio Bibles out there now that have been read by celebrities. So you could actually have Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Paisley's wife or Bo Duke reading your passage for next Sunday.

As with any videos, apply same good practice of fading in/out and setting up the clip (if needed). Go here and here if you don’t remember.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #25

For our last four segues, we'll be looking at elements we've already discussed, but using them to transition to the message. #25 is prayer.

Prayer before the message does a few things: 1) it gives time for people to prepare, both in their hearts and head. 2) It invites the Holy Spirit to work through the text and message. 3) it helps the pastor center in on what he's about to do.

We've used prayer a few times to segue between various elements. And that almost sounds crass -- no, it does sound crass. I'll just admit that writing through a series like this I've had to ask myself more than once, "Am I more concerned about segues or the Savior?" Am I using prayer - communicating with a Holy God - just to connect to the next thing in the service?

And that's something we all have to wrestle with. I go back to what I wrote in the introduction: transitions will happen whether I plan them or not. But good transitions move the congregation along from one segment to the next, hopefully without detracting from what the worshipers just experienced, or are about to experience.

With that considered, prayer (as well as reading scripture, etc) is an act of worship, something that can stand on it's own as an expression of corporate worship. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be woven in to the tapestry of the gathering in such a way that it moves our hearts and carries our attention to another moment of worship. And that's what prayer does here.


Consider a few things as you use prayer to segue to the message:

1. Who prays? Is it the preaching pastor? Or worship leader? Or does an elder get up to pray? Regardless, have a plan. As the previous element is ending, the person prayer, needs to be getting in place before it concludes.
2. What is prayed? Is this the lengthier "pastoral prayer" that some churches practice, a time to pray for missionaries and the head deaconess's sick cousin in Akron? Or is it simply an "open the eyes of our heart" kind of prayer to prepare for the message? It's good to define this, especially if you've got someone other than the preaching pastor praying. The pastor will start to get a little twitchy if the prayer starts rambling into the message time.
3. What else is going on?
   
   • Whenever you move from a musical element, I'd say underscore that prayer with soft keys or acoustic guitar. That adds another layer of connection in the segue.
   • Is this a time for the music team to quietly exit the stage? Some churches are into this. Some aren't. But regardless, have a plan to get the team off the stage with minimal distraction.
   • If the teaching pastor isn't the one praying, he/she should be moving into place.

This transition to the message might seem like a something that can just be done on the fly. After all, it's a time that everyone knows is coming. But the movement to the message is a turning point in the service. We are deliberately opening God's word to hear what He has to say to us. So a segue of prayer is a fitting preparation for this.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues: #24 - Videos, part 2

In segue #23 - Videos, part 1, we talked about how to keep the beginning and end of video clips from boogering your service. Part two is a discussion on the DOs and DON'Ts of verbally transitioning the video.

DO: If it is a movie clip, give enough background for people to understand the context.

DON'T explain everything they will see—let the clip do the work. And don’t explain the entire plot of the movie. If they like it, they can get it from Netflix.

DO intentionally create anticipation. If you're going to talk about it, find some way to whet people's appetites for what their about to see.

DON'T set the clip up as the “funniest”, “coolest”, “most incredible”, etc., etc. clip they’ll ever see. Because, it just might not be. And make sure you know if it really is a hip, cutting-edge video before saying so. You might just have discovered the Numa Numa kid five years after it went viral.

DO work hard on the verbal segue into and out of your video. A little thought into our talking transitions goes a long way.

DON'T give away the “tie in” or lesson before you show it. People are smart. Most of the time, they’ll connect with the point you’re trying to make before you make it. And if you have to work that hard to explain the connection, is really the right video? Or just something you like and want to sneak in the service? C'mon, admit it...

DO consider not talking at all. A lot of videos won't need a set up.

DON'T forget to tell your tech that you won't be introducing the video. (This is one of those hand-offs we talked about earlier in the series).

Before we move on to other segues, a few parting thoughts about segues to and from videos:

Lighting - If you have the capability to dim your lighting, do so. Sometimes, that's all the cue you need to get people to look up at a screens. Hopefully the same people that dimmed your lights will bring them back up for you. If you have to ask, you've got some work to do this week.

Sound - If you're sound tech is "muter," make sure he/she unmutes the audio channel for the video BEFORE it starts. (Btw, muters are those that mute every possible channel at every possible moment because of an irrational fear that someone may grab a mic and launch the equivalent of a Red Dawn invasion on our service. Relax, I tell them. They don't.)

Simple Seating Segue - If you're finishing a song and going into a video, say something simple like: "You can be seated now as this clip begins." This does a couple things. It seats our people (who, 6 days a week, know how to sit and stand without being told, but somehow we suck that decision-making process from their prefrontal cortex every Sunday). And it gives a not-so-subtle clue to your tech to start the video.

People know what dead air is. We've been trained by our TVs to squirm after 2 seconds of undefined time. The moment we direct people to the screens and nothing happens, they begin to unconsciously disconnect from the journey we've invited on. And of all the ways we hope to encourage people to express worship to God, squirming is not high on the list.

28 Ways To Create Great Segues: #23 - Videos, part 1

At my first full-time ministry job, I was the youth and worship guy at a two-pastor church. By default, that also meant I was the substitute sermon guy. (Have you ever noticed senior pastors aren't into quid pro quo. They never act as the substitute youth-talk guy. Studies show this is actually is a relief 4 out 4 students.)

So when my senior pastor was gone, I'd phone in my youth lessons for a couple weeks while I prepped a message. At that time, only the young, hip preaching pastors used movie clips. I was young and cool, so it was a no-brainer. And since Lord of the Rings was up for canonization just behind the Narnia books, it would have pretty much been a sin NOT to use them. Plus, I figured I had a better chance of escaping church discipline with a title like Return of the King versus Bruce Almighty.

After sermon subbing three or four times, I had an elderly lady approached me and said, "If you keep preaching, I'm going to end up seeing that entire film, aren't I." Point taken. Cue Bruce Almighty.

Fast forward almost a decade and video clips are as common today as bad bulletin clip art was in the 90s. We have video coming out our ears: There are at least a dozen different worship video ministries in the vein of Sermon Spice. Publishers and other ministries crank out promotional clips to hawk everything from Beth Moore Bible studies to building orphanages in Haiti. And don't forget the amateur Spielbergs in our own pews. You might even be one of the churches that have the sermon on video, taped at previous service on a different campus.

Here's one thing to remember: there's nothing so high quality in your service that can't be at least partially ruined by a bad segue.

Videos are no exception. If you ripped the final race scene from Secretariat the moment it hit Netflix, Big Red might as well have lost at Belmont if the transitions in and out booger'd the moment.

If the pictures lurches in or the sound starts at 100 dB, it will take people several seconds to get their mind on what's being shown. The same goes for a poorly executed exit. Whatever point is being made will get bumped from their brains by a bad ending.

So this segue is simple: whenever you pull clips from movies, youtube, or create your own videos, take the extra time and edit a fade to either end of the clip. And make sure you apply it to the audio as well. Windows Movie Maker is about as simple as they come and can get the job done easily. Adobe Premiere Elements will run you the better part of a Benjamin, but it'll give you more editing power than the average church video clip will ever need.

Does video editing freak you out? Here's the best news of the whole post: projection software (like MediaShout, ProPresenter, EasyWorship) can transition your clips to black or crossfade them with the graphics on either side. No editing required. This alone should make it worth upgrading to a projection software. Not to mention that PowerPoint for lyric projection went out with neck-ties for pastors. Just speaking truth in love...

There's one more segue for videos that is worth talking about. And that's talking about them. So that'll be the next installment.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #22, Pre-Service: A Preparation Time

I once attended a Sunday evening service at Parkside Church near Cleveland to hear Alistair Begg preach. A Scottish accent always makes a sermon better. It was a typical traditional pre-service time with soft music, dim lights and people chit-chatting with folks they hadn’t seen for at least a week. Pastor Begg got up and said, “It sounds like your voices are in fine shape tonight.” Folks gave the usual polite chuckle. But before the obligatory laughter died down, the Scotsman shot out a firm, “But you'd be better to prepare your hearts before the Lord.” The place got real quiet, real quick.

A quiet preparation time before the service is likely a thing of the past for many churches. But it might not hurt to implement it occasionally. And I say occasionally just because anything that’s done weekly runs the risk of losing its effectiveness.

If you’re church wants to try to create the pre-service preparation time, consider what you need to create that environment.

• A sign outside the worship center encouraging people to enter quietly.
• Doors closed to foyer/lobby. This will create a feeling of “entering in”. It also cuts the noise from the yakkers in the lobby.
• Soft music – it could be canned music or live acoustic guitar/piano playing softly.
• Dim lighting – quiet and reflective times aren’t encouraged by bright overhead lighting.
• Scriptures or short devotional quotes looping on the screen.

Consider other elements that might help create an environment of quiet preparation: candles, pictures of nature or people in prayer/worship, a written “guide” in the bulletin or on-screen to help people know how to use prepare for worship, etc.

Here are a few things that you should consider with a pre-service preparation time:

• You’ll always have the chit-chatters in the foyer, so you’ll still have to figure out how some way to bring them in. (Besides wishful thinking that they're conscientious of the time and care when the service starts.)
• This time could be off-putting to guests, especially non-Christians. But it also might be just what they’ve been looking for. You can’t please everyone. Just be clear about what you want. Don’t try to make it conducive for preparation and chit-chatting. People won’t know what to do. My two cents: if you’re not going for quiet preparation, I’d always go for the other end: a bright and celebratory environment.
• Your service may need to begin differently. Jumping right in with the typical upbeat opener will be a little jarring to those who have been in there. Consider starting with a quieter slower song, and building up. Or sing the chorus of a faster song in a “worshipful” manner. Then build tempo and volume to move people into the song as usual.

As we wrap up the segues that deal with the pre-service time, here's a last thought as you think through this stuff: Whatever you find that works to bring your people in at the beginning will most likely not work next month or even next week. People will start ignoring that countdown after they’ve seen it a few times and the live music will become background noise. That’s just how it is. So it’s up to us to be creative and segue people into worship.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #21: "The Herding Song"

Photo from stock.xchng

We've been talking about the "pre-service." I suggested in the last post that the pre-service time is one big transition time - comprised of several of small segues - that moves people into our worship gatherings.

We can try to spiritualize this time, but let’s just be honest: it's sometimes like herding cats to get our people into worship. We're competing with coffee and chit-chat in the foyer, people catching up at the kid check-in and the culture of the chronically late. Often our opening song feels like a sacrificial lamb—it gives its life to bring people into the worship center. And while changing the culture of lateness in our church might be achievable before Jesus returns, it's not the point of this series. We're dealing with current reality at the moment.

So rather than fight it, or get mopey about the fact that our first song is a musical martyr, let's just re-frame our thinking and call it the herding song - as in, it herds people into the worship center. Here are a few options for the herding song:

The Pre-Service Song: Time this song so it ends right at the beginning of the service time. Make it more of a "sit and listen" song for those already in the service. Also, give people something to look at: put the announcement graphics on the screen, or a countdown (or both, if you've got the technology). The one big issue with the Pre-Service Song is that people are still in your parking lot at "start time." So many aren't even there to be "herded." 

The Opening Song: Again, get over the fact that this is a sacrificial lamb. But don't overlook that there will be people worshiping with this song. So pour everything you've got into this one, but don't throw your "high impact" song here. You know - that song we don't want people to miss. Save that tune for later.

By the time you’re done with this song most everyone will be in except those with pathological tardiness and your youth pastor. I think Celebrate Recovery is developing a program for them - youth pastors, that is. Nothing can be done for the certifiably tardy.

Photo from stock.xchng

The Hybrid – Use a Pre-Service Song, but begin it about 2 minutes before the posted service start time and let it spill into your service. This means your service will actually start 2 – 3 minutes late. (Which actually might be early for some of you.)

"But," you ask, "isn't this enabling lateness?"

You betcha. But remember, we're dealing with current reality.

And this is my church's reality. At some point, we’ll need a course correction. But it will probably require more than moving our pre-service song back a couple minutes. I'm thinking there'll need to be at least one or two good shunnings. At least that’s what I’m voting for.

Before we wrap up this post, let me throw out a few options for your pre-service (or hybrid) song:

• Use a familiar, upbeat song that the worship team can play in its sleep. That way there’s not extra work for the team. Plus they can relax and have fun with it. People will be drawn by that.

• Introduce a new song. When I introduce a new song, I'll run it 3 - 4 weeks in a row as a live pre-service song. This sounds like a lot, but the average church attendee will likely hear it twice. At best. And it gives my team the chance to play/sing it at least once, depending on rotation.

• "Pre-prise": Use a song that you’ll be doing later in the service, especially if it’s a new one. That will help get it in people’s heads. Just don’t do the opening song, or it will feel really long if you play it twice back to back.

Again, each of these pre-service segues are best used in conjunction with others. Try different combinations. And remember what works now, won't work for long. People can become as conditioned to a pre-service song as they are to Muzak in a department store. When's the last time your heard the music in JCPenney?

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #17 - 20

Segues #17 - 20: The Pre-Service, Part 1

Photo from stock.xchng 

I look at the pre-service time as one big segue: it's a sequence of elements used to transition people into corporate worship. The issue with most churches in American culture is this: the majority of people don’t actually come into the service until right at the start time, or likely a few minutes later. We can use a few segue elements to help move them into the flow of worship. But honestly, none of these techniques will change the culture of lateness in your church, or mine. But these transition elements can help. And while each can be standalone tools, they’ll likely work better when creatively combined with other elements.

#17 - The Countdown Video. This won’t really help if only 15% of that week's attendees are in the worship center when the last 30-seconds tick off. Consider running a feed to a monitor in the foyer or the kid ministry drop-off area. If running video feeds isn’t in the budget right now, just run a countdown off of an independent monitor in the high traffic areas outside the sanctuary.

#18 - Lighting. You know what will get people’s attention? Flipping the foyer lights on and off like they do at the end of intermission at the theater. OK, that's a little crass for our setting. Save the flicking to cue the pray for the potluck or to start the next congregational meeting.

But subtle lighting changes can be an effective way to move people from pre-service chit-chat to worship. Most often, house lights (the lights above the seating area of the worship center) are bright during the pre-service time and then are dimmed noticeably as the service begins. Inversely, the stage lights brighten and bring attention to the beginning of the service. Even if all you have for lighting controls are the switches on the back wall, you’ve got someone in your church who’d love to serve as lighting tech.

# 19 - Pre-service Music. Play a CD or iPod during the pre-service time. Make sure you create a CD mix or playlist that fits the mood you’re trying to create. And don’t be afraid to push up the volume. Just keep it comfortable to talk over. Most people won’t even be thinking about the music, until you fade it down quickly. That will grab people’s ear and help move their attention to the front.

Couple the music fade-down with a lighting change and you’ve got a strong transitional element to draw people’s attention. Some will still ignore it and keep talking. They need to be shunned like a poker-playing Amish woman.

#20 – Video Element. Dropping the lights and starting a video will move people in. Most don’t want to miss a good video. It could be a funny sketch from the Skit Guys, a thought provoking vignette that will tie in with the theme of the opening worship song, or a fun promotional video for a ministry or event.

In the next two installments we'll look at two more pre-service segues.

28 Ways to Make Great Segues: Segue #16: Vision & Mission

Vision and mission are two big buzz words that keep buzzing. They sometimes take on new forms or variation, like "missional" and "purpose". And they all get attached to a "statement." At worst, a church's vision/mission/purpose statement is ripped off from another church and then slapped on a banner or bulletin cover. At their best, these statements offer clarity about and direction towards the heartbeat of the church.

This post won't deal with the differences of mission, vision and all that. What I want to say about it is this: If you got it, flaunt it. And here's a place to flaunt it: segues.

If you're moving towards the offering, say something like, "Here at [insert some trendy metaphor] Community Church, we believe God has called us to [rattle off mission/vision statement, without sounding canned]. The money you give helps us fund [name one or two specific ministries/events/initiatives, etc.]. Thanks for giving to help change lives.

If you're inviting people to stand and worship - something in your statement likely points towards worshiping God with our whole heart and life. At a previous church, we had simple mission statement - "love God, love others, live to serve." So inviting people into our corporate worship would go something like this, "One of our primary missions is to love God. Through worshiping Him and experiencing His love, we are able to love and serve others."


This isn't rocket surgery. But a few extra minutes of prep during your worship serving planning can make a difference. Reread "Talking Transitions" for other ideas on how approach a verbal segue.

Andy Stanley says it best: "Vision leaks." You need to keep repeating and reinforcing vision in multiple ways for people to remember it and engage with it. Your worship segues are a great way to do this.

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What are some ways that you've incorporated vision, mission, purpose, core values, etc. into worship segues? Let me know in the comments here, on Twitter (@jonnicol).

28 Ways to Make Great Segues: Segue #15 - The Offering (part 2)

In part one, we looked at some of the potential pitfalls that can lead up to the offering. And we also looked at ways to prepare our people and flow smoothly into it. Part two is going to give some more suggestions for flowing in, out and through the offering time. Some may work for you, others could get your fired. So as with all my ideas and suggestions - take what works and ignore what doesn't.


What to do during the offering...
I know, this series is about segues, but, if we're honest, what accompanies the offering is, in a sense, a segue. The offering is the main thing--what we're really after. Not a in a greedy way, but in a "let's keep our lights on and feed the youth pastor's kids."

The offering might be the most tangible act of worship for some people: a true sacrifice unto God. But unlike other elements of corporate worship, it's highly individualized and momentary. Once a person chooses to give and prepares his offering (writing a check, putting cash in an envelope - or in many cases now, setting up online bill payment), the actual offering only engages that worshiper for the 6 seconds that he watches the plate arrive on his right and 2 seconds to pass it left.

So it might help us to look at whatever accompanies the offering as a secondary element of worship, and really, one big segue. It's not less important, it's just serving the main thing of the moment. It moves us from the prayer, throughout the passing, and on to the next element.

So let's get back to "what to do during the offering." The usual suspect is the "offertory" - often referred to as "special music." Does that cause anyone else to shudder? I've heard everyone from Bible college professors to armchair theologians rail against the notion of "special" music, i.e. "and our other worship music isn't special?"

That's not my issue with it. The problem with special music is, after awhile, it's not that special. Especially if your soloist line-up isn't too deep.* And let's face it, ever since the Church Lady, the word special isn't what it used to be in our culture.

So to bring the specialness back to specials we should probably 1) up the ante significantly, but that's hard to do week after week. And even excellence gets taken for granted over time. Or 2) limit the number of specials, so they are unique, high-quality moments that bless people.

So without the special, what do we use to segue through the offering?

Can we keep being real here? Few churches struggle with filling time. Most have enough content to fill two services. So is it wrong to look at our offering as a time to accomplish some other things? Like...

...a scripture reading...
Maybe one that tees up the message, or one that leads to the next set of worship songs. 

...another set of worship music...
We do this most Sunday's at my church. It's a great place to do a new or newer song. People are sitting and more relaxed. They can just take in the words. And here's a segue within a segue: think about an an appropriate moment in that worship set to invite people to stand, that is, if you're folks aren't spontaneous standers. (Spontaneous standers - that sounds like a medical condition a drug company would make up). A side benefit to this is that it eliminates another hand-off -- it allows the worship leader, or even one of the vocalists, to intro the offering and pray into it. 

...faith story/testimony...
We'll talk about transitioning to these in an upcoming post. 

...a video element...
A well-done, well placed 3-minute video can move and prepare a person in ways that singing and sermons can't. Google some of these names - Shift Worship, Worship House Media, Sermon Spice, or just search "worship videos". 

...begin the sermon...
Really? Why not? The pastor is probably up front already. And the beginning of most sermons is light, so the passing of the plate wouldn't detract from it, or vice-versa. 

...dismiss kids....
So the ushers may have to dodge a few ankle-biters on the way to their program. This is a much better spot to let the kids go than stopping the flow between songs. 

...announcements...
"As the plate is being passed, grab your bulletin and let's see what's happening this week at our church." OK, now we're stepping in it. The once-sacred moment of tithes and offerings is now used to hawk bake sales and Beth Moore Bible studies. Look at it this way: it's a perfect time to connect the offering to the church's vision being played out week to week: "The reason we can have this incredible outreach this next Saturday is because of your faithful giving." And the plate being passed is a visual reinforcement of that.

We don't want to get too utilitarian with all this. The offering is an act of worship. But we are stewards of the time our congregation has given us on Sunday morning. Let's make the most of it.


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*My other beef with special music is the sense of entitlement it can breed among the singers. "It's my turn to do a solo," etc. That's another article I hope never to write. Three words: a soprano's wrath.

28 Ways to Make Great Segues: Segue #15 - The Offering (part 1)

"We'll be taking the offering in a few moments." [hint to ushers: please come to the front]

Some off the cuff announcements, then, "And now, as the ushers come forward, we'll be giving our tithes and offering." [hint to ushers, PLEASE come to the front].

Pause. The pastor looks back to see the one usher give the sideways head jerk to two other ushers still in their seats.

"Alright, AS THE USHERS COME FORWARD, let's prayer for our tithes and offerings." [a slightly stronger hint.]

Pause. As the ushers come forward.

They've arrived. The pastor's chest starts to untighten just a little. "Let's pray."

For each person a segue depends upon to flow smoothly, the chance for a derailment increases. Exponentially. The segue to the offering is one of those transitions. Here are all the potential people involved:

• The music/worship leader ending the song
• The pastor or elder stepping up to pray for the offering
• The worship tech turning on the pulpit mic or pastor's wireless
• The ushers
• Whatever element you're using to fill the time as the plates are passed:
• video - then you have worship techs to depend on
• musical element - soloists, band, accompaniment tracks to cue

With all those moving parts, it's no wonder that, for so many churches, this is the segment that grinds momentum to a halt. Here are some ideas to create smoother movement in and out of the offering:

1. Script out your services. 
Don't just make a list of the service elements in the order they occur. Plan out the details of how we're getting there and who is getting us there. A few thoughts about scripts:

• The act of writing it out is at least 75% of it. It forces you to think through all the details.
• Get other eyes on it before finalizing. Forgot to put in the "dismissal for kids church"? Your kids' ministry leader or a mother of preschoolers would've caught it.
• Put it in the hands of everyone involved. And put their names in the area for which they are responsible.

2. Keep a musical bed going throughout.
Rather than stop playing at the end of the song, the guitar or keys can underscore the verbal transition and prayer to the offering. The musical bed, while hardly noticed by most, will be a constant thread from the previous song, throughout the prayer and prep for the offering and into the next element.

3. Keep comments brief and focused on the offering.
Often pastors and lay leaders will use this time to add or augment announcements. If you want to keep a worshipful flow in to and out of the offering, take the advice Red Leader: Cut the chatter, Red Two. (sorry, inner Star Wars geek leaking out.)

4. Prep your ushers.
These are good guys just waiting to be told what to do, and willing to do it. So don't wait till the prayer before the offering to give them instructions. Also, create a "default mode" for them that will work 99% of the time. For instance, instruct them that they should be getting into place during the song (or whatever the element is) before the offering. As the pastor or leader steps up to pray, they walk forward. No verbal cues needed.

5. Cue up whatever is next.
Whether you're watching a video, singing another worship song, having a special number, etc., make sure that element is ready to launch as soon as the prayer finishes. Again, keeping that musical bed up until this next element will further connect the pieces.


In the next post, we'll continue talking about how to make a great segues in and out of the offering, and even ideas on how to "do the offering" in a way the creates flow.

28 Ways to Make Great Segues - An Intermission

We’ve just progressed through 14 different segues that can move us between songs. We’re shifting now to look at segues between non-musical parts of the worship service. Many of the transitions we looked at in the first half of the 28 will re-emerge in the second half - only tweaked. The good news is, the 2nd 14 will go much quicker than the first. As we crest this hill for the downward ride home, let’s take a short intermission to prepare for what’s coming next.

Segues from different segments of the worship service are often trickier than song-to-song transitions. Anytime a transition involves shifting responsibility different people, you’ve got a chance for a break in the flow. Or a complete break-down. We almost need to think of our services as a relay race:

• The worship leader starts with the baton as the team kicks off the opening song.
• The pastor takes baton to make the announcements.
• It’s handed back to the worship leader for a “worship through music” set.
• Next the baton is passed to an elder for prayer and offering.
• The baton is then Hail Mary’d back to the sound booth where the audio tech makes a diving catch to start the accompaniment track for the special music soloist. The baton’s now in her hand.
• Solo done, the baton is flung back to the worship leader for a hymn before the message.
• Another hand-off to the pastor for his sermon.
• 30 minutes later the worship leader takes the baton again for a closing song, only to give it back to the pastor for the benediction.

Finish line – everyone leaves for Golden Corral.

There’s at least a half a dozen places in the average worship service to drop the baton. So the remaining 14 segues will focus on the smooth hand-off to and from each segment of the service. We’ll begin in the next post with the offering.

28 Ways to Make Great Segues: Segue #14

Segue #14: A Talking Transition

Words are very 

unnecessary

they can only do harm

~"Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode

From #13 to #14 we swing from silence as a segue to a talking transition. Honestly, after my bumbling beginnings as a young worship leader, I took the Depeche Mode lyrics to heart--better to let my guitar or a scripture carry us from one song to the next.

Some people have the opposite approach. The senior pastors can back me up here--the worst is when you've got a worship leader who wants to be a preacher. He's exegeting Isaiah 6 between a Chris Tomlin tune and a Hillsong chorus while the bass player's nodding off from 10 minutes of inactivity. Can I confess something? I tended to think my golden silence was some sort of holy high road that was much preferable to the over-talker. While it might've been more welcome than a three-point sermon following the opening song, it was just an avoidance of the preparation it takes to make a great verbal segues.

And that's the key to great verbal segues: Preparation.

Think it through. Prayer it through. Let it simmer.

Read the lyrics of the song you're leaving. Ask, "Where have we just been?"

Read the lyrics of the song you're moving to. Ask, "What is the moment we're moving towards?"

Direction
As you craft your verbal segue, pray for clarity of direction. We've got a Point A and a Point B. What should I say to get us there? (Remember the straight-line principle)

Think of your verbal segue as a mini-journey. Every journey has a beginning, middle and end. The beginning needs to move us out of the first song.  The end moves us into the second song. The middle is the meat. The meat can tie the two songs together, but it doesn't have to. It can prepare us for the "worship moment" contained in the next song.

Let's say we're going from Tomlin's "Our God" to the "Revelation Song" this Sunday. I might plan to say something like this as Our God ends... 

"Our God is greater, amen? No matter what we can imagine or think about God, He's always greater. Whatever we think about His love and grace, his love and grace is always greater than we can imagine. God is always greater. And even when we see His glory with our own eyes, we will never exhaust the praises and honor that can be given to him. John describes in Revelation 4 that those gathered around the throne never stop worshiping Him day and night. Let's worship Him and His greatness with the words that are being sung even now around His throne."

A so-so segue. Given a little more thought, this verbal segue could be improved. But it's a start. As you're preparing and thinking through your transition, consider a few things:

Be Brief.
Follow Rusty's advice. At least the part about brevity: "Don't use 7 words when 4 will do."

Brevity for brevity's sake isn't the point. The point is to be succinct. Merriam-Webster defines succinct, well, succinctly: "marked by compact precise expression without wasted words." Most of us don't have the gift of being succinct on the fly. It takes a little preparation.

Besides the Five Bs (Be brief, baby, be brief.) here are some other Be's:

Be Specific. 
"God is great and we should praise him forever" is a true and good statement. But a few specifics gives the congregation something of substance to connect with. Revelation 4, even paraphrased as it was, gave us an event to relate to - the past, present and future worship around the throne of God.


Be Memorable.
And this goes against the Ocean's 11 advice, but we're trying to facilitate worship, not outwit a mark. If we're going to say something, let's say something worth remembering. People aren't going to remember your whole segue. But try to make some part of the the main point, or the meat, easy to remember. Memorable is succinctness coupled with repetition. In the example above:
1st sentence - "greater"
2nd sentence - "...He's always greater."
3rd sentence - "...His love and grace is always greater..."
4th sentence - "God is always greater."

The fourth sentence is, hopefully, the memorable takeaway. As people's voices are pouring out the high praise of Revelation Song, their hearts are bursting with the thought "God is even greater than this!"


Be Accurate.
In the last segue post, I was talking about the Selah in Psalm 77. I attributed the Psalm to David. It wasn't a Psalm of David - Asaph wrote it. (btw-I've fixed it, thank goodness for the grace of the edit button) Authorship didn't change the point I made. But the inaccuracy of a small point can discredited the veracity of the main point.

If I make an inaccurate statement in worship, it has two ill-effects. 1) Those who catch the mistake are immediately taken out of the flow of worship because their BS-alarm just went off. And 2) those who don't catch it might believe it and repeat it, especially if I've done a good job of saying something memorable. So take a minute to check your facts and references.

Be Careful.
Avoid controversial issues. I'm not talking about what people in the world or liberal churches would call controversial: the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, the resurrection, etc. We can be bold about what we believe. But I'm talking about the gray-area stuff. The stuff that no matter which side you fall on, it probably won't keep you out of heaven. A worship service segue is probably not the time to bring up the role of women in the church or spark a Calvinism-Arminianism debate.


Be Submissive.
If you're new or haven't yet gained the confidence of your senior pastor, worship pastor, or elder you're serving under, submit your segues in writing to him or her before Sunday. He may not ask you to do this, but it can be good to create a trust and solicit advice for improvement. At some point, if he's not a control freak, he'll probably say, "I trust you" and give you free reign in this area.

Be Confident
A lot of us musicians are great behind the guitar or piano. But the microphone becomes a scary place when you take away our music. Confidence comes from preparation--not just for what you're going to say, but how you're going to say it. So practice it just like you would a song.

Be Conversational
The danger of writing something out is that it could sound too formal. Remember, you're talking to friends. This is especially important if you're telling a personal story. If it sounds like something you wrote out as an assignment for a class, it won't ring authentic. So as you prepare and practice, work at keeping it natural and "you."

Be...Spontaneous?!
I know, that goes against everything I just laid out. But the more we plan and practice our segues, the easier it will be to go off the cuff when we feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

So is there a rule for how long and how often when it comes to segues? It's really up to you and what you think connects with your church. I personally wouldn't plan more than one verbal segue per service. In many services, I don't have any spoken transitions between songs. I still have the tendency to err on the side of keeping my mouth shut more often than not. At least during the worship service. If I could learn that in other areas, my life might be a lot simpler.

28 Ways to Make Great Segues: Segue #13

Segue #13 - Selah

Selah is one of those words that scholars guess at, kinda like how we guess at what's going on with Donald Trump's hair. I like how the Amplified Bible describes it: pause, and think of that. Selah that is, not the Don's bangs.

Our cultural ADD doesn't do "pause and ponder" well. We pause, but it's usually to turn our attention to something else. Stopping and being quiet--that's tough. But that could be one of the most needed practices in our church. And just like prayer and scripture, the purposeful pause of Selah can be both a segue and it's own element of worship.

One of my favorite Selahs in the Book of Psalms is in chapter 77. Asaph's is in a bad way. God does not seem to be there. Verse after verse he focuses on his present anguish and God's inactivity. Then we have our first Selah.* He's is now digging through his memories of the good days when God was there and songs poured from his heart. This only makes the present pit worse. It takes Asaph to where his heart has rarely gone: Has God forgotten me? (it's even more raw in the Message).

And now we have my favorite Selah. After sinking deep inside himself, Asaph pauses and unfolds himself outward. He begins to think about God, His mighty works, His awesome wonder. At the apex of Asaph's gut-wrenching song he declares:

Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so great as our God

Asaph's heart had turned inward on itself. God couldn't be found there. But he turned and acknowledge through the pain that not only is God holy, but His ways are holy. Asaph doesn't understand it. His pain isn't gone. His circumstances haven't changed, but his focus has.

And that might be the power of a Selah -- a pause to allow us to wrestle with our circumstances, our pain, our shame, our sin and idolatry, and see that God is there. Not inside our self-focused heart. But outside. Outside waiting to come in and be our focus, our center. And it's out of a Selah like that we sing not the I, the me and the we songs, but a song that proclaims

Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so great as our God

*note: you won't see the Selah markings in the BibleGateway link to NIV - if you want to see them, click on the ESV translation

28 Ways to Make Great Segues: Segue #12, pt.2

Segue #12 - Scripture, part 2

We talked in part 1 about why scripture is a "segue on steroids." Now let's look at how we can use this muscle to carry us between between songs.

A Connector of Themes
This Sunday we're singing Crown Him With Many Crowns and then moving into Hillsong's Hosanna. Hosanna's lyrics are heavily drawn from Psalm 24. As the last chord of Crown Him... is ringing out, the leader will read verses 24:7-10, which connects to the King theme in Crown Him.... As the leader concludes with...

Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.

 the vocalists will begin singing the opening lines of Hosanna: "I see the King of Glory..."

This scripture connects the different--but related--themes between these two songs. It also helps transition us from the big ending of a big anthem to the more subdued beginning of Hosanna. And here's a bonus: we're revisiting the Psalm 24 during the instrumental of Hosanna by using verses 3-6, which is a great set up for the bridge.

Stories
Often we look for verses from Psalms or an epistle, but don't forget about narrative passages of scripture. Once I wanted use John 11:25-26 (where Jesus tells Martha that he is "resurrection and the life") to segue into a song focused on new life. Some wild hair struck and I decided to use the whole passage, starting at verse 17 and concluding with Martha's confession of belief and faith in Jesus as the Messiah. I honestly don't remember what specific songs I was bridging that Sunday, but the power of reading Jesus' (and Martha's) words in context of the story is something I won't forget. As I read Christ's words, "I am the resurrection..." a flood of emotion hit me. I could barely finish. Not only did the story help deepen the experience of verses 25-26, but that scripture then stayed with us as we sang about new life in Christ.

Collage

Don't limit yourself to one passage. Maybe you're singing Redman's Blessed Be the Name and moving to Baloche's Your Name. Try a collage of scriptures that focus on the Name of God. This page contains an example you can download and use (scroll a bit to find it). I have available a few other scripture collages you can swipe: God's "Greatness", "Who is Like You" and the "Love of God."

Multiple Voices
When using longer passages or multiple scriptures (like the collages), consider using more than one reader. Multiple readers can add energy and variety. This could be a whole article in itself, but I'll move on with one admonishment: encourage your readers to use inflection and emotion--and at a pace that doesn't drag.

Great Tool
The links on the scripture references above took you to BibleGateway.com. Outside of personal quiet time, I use this site more than I use a hard copy Bible. Within a couple clicks you can see scores of translations for the passage you're looking up. Can't remember the reference? Just type in the phrase or word you're looking for. The same keyword search also allowed me to easily assemble those scripture collages. As you're planning these segues, having a tool like this gold.

Underscoring
Should we put music under these scripture readings? When it's a short scripture connecting two songs with disparate styles or keys, don't use music. Let the reading do the heavy lifting of the segue. Also, the non-musical moment will cleanse our sonic palette for the next song.

Almost always use a musical bed or underscore during longer scripture. You can allow the reader to fly solo for a few moments after the previous song ends, but ease in some guitar or piano noodling that can easily take us to the intro of the next song.

We'll talk a little more about using scripture as a segue when we look at connecting non-musical elements of the service.

Small Church/Big Worship - 10 Ways The Senior Pastor Can Make This Sunday Remarkable

I believe the senior pastor of any church is the CLW: Chief Lead Worshiper. He sets the tone for corporate worship. For the solo pastor of a smaller church, he may be actually leading the worship, or at least doing most of the behind-the-scenes work for Sunday.

Here are ten ideas to reshape your worship experience.

1. Plan your segues.
Let's face it, smaller churches are known for poorly planned, start-and-stop, no-flow services. Small churches can produce a "wow-factor" for guests (and regular attendees) by simply creating intentional transitions from one service element to the next. (see blog series for more on segues)

2. Create a musical bed for scripture and prayer.
Underscore any scripture reading or longer prayer with light guitar or piano, or even soft recorded music. If using a recorded song, instruct the sound tech to avoid the abrupt on/off. Those little plastic "slider-thingys" are called "faders" for a reason.


3. Addition by Subtraction, ONE: Cut the number of worship songs in half. 
Inform the team (yes, even the pianist) that since they only have three songs versus six, you're "strongly encouraging" them to memorize the words and music. They may balk, but throw it out as a challenge. If they rise to it, they will find the worship experience to be much deeper because of their ability to sing and play from the heart. And since the team won't have their heads buried in their stands, they will draw in your congregation more than usual. [If they really won't buy it, put a sanctified wager on who looks at their notes more: you during your message or the team during their songs.]


4. Addition by Subtraction, TWO: Get rid of the musical clutter.
Ask the music director/worship leader to encourage the team to play only half of what they normally would during the verses of each song. Less strumming on the guitar, less beats on the drums, fewer fingers on the piano, fewer voices on the mics (the others can sing, just "off mic"), and sing only the melody, no parts. Heck, you might even want to take a few instruments completely out of the mix. Here's why. First fact: verses usually contain more words than the chorus or bridge. Second fact: most worship teams overplay. Couple those facts and you get musical clutter competing with worship.


5. Addition by Subtraction THREE: Cut your announcement time by 75% (or even 100%).
Make announcements that only pertain to 60% or more of the church. While you're at it, script them. That doesn't mean read it word for word; it's just a clearer path to succinctness. And...(file this in "I hate to say it")...you're probably not as good on the fly as you think you are. I know I'm not.

6. Tie each remaining announcement to the vision or mission of your church.
"We're trying to reach the five-square mile neighborhood that surrounds our church building. A significant number of those people drive past our church everyday. What kind of impression do we give them when our paint is peeling, our gutters are sagging and weeds are overtaking the landscape. We're having a massive work day this next Saturday...."

7. Visually connect with emotions versus intellect.
When using PowerPoint for announcements and the message, use pictures to emotionally reinforce the point instead of a written summary of what you just said. People remember pictures and emotions more than bullet points.


8. Stop letting your sound guy play the PromiseKeepers '99 CD before the service.
Create a mix CD of uptempo, fresh songs that will set a great tone as people walk in. Bonus: if possible, use your CD creation software to crossfade the songs. This will eliminate "dead air". You can also create a cross-fading playlist on iTunes and run it straight from your projection computer.

9.  Choose one element that occurs each week and scrap it.
Or, at the very least, change it significantly. (Communicate really, really well to those it might affect...)

10. Make prayer during your corporate worship both corporate and worship. 
Change your prayer time from being request-driven (Betty's cousin's former classmate is having cataract surgery) to being worship-driven (we seek His face and give Him glory and honor before asking for anything...hint: pray scriptures). And from being pastor-led to pastor-prompted. For example, when praying for those who are sick, invite people to say aloud the first name the person. Then after a moment, pray for those names as group. (Again, a great place to pray scripture.) God doesn't need the details...you know, as an omniscient Being and all that. This works for praying for lost people, people who need jobs, and--be bold on this one--corporate sin to be confessed.

Worship leaders and larger churches, you can try some of this stuff, too. But I want to encourage the senior pastors of smaller churches that transforming their worship services is in their grasp. Small, continuous efforts over time will create a new culture of corporate worship in your church.

Let me know how it goes. And if you have other ideas, post a reply.

28 Ways to Make Great Segues: Segue #12, pt.1

Segue #12 - Scripture

Transitioning from one song to another with scripture is like segue on steroids. (Without the 'roid rage.) Here are several reasons:


ONE - It's a Compass
Using scripture, especially amongst man-written songs, is a compass. Are the songs we choose based in the Bible? We sure try. Are many of them "inspired"? Yes, but "little-i" inspired, not INSPIRED. As in God-breathed, inerrant Word of God, needle-pointing True North.


As we flow from one song to another, a segue through scripture re-centers our heart and re-orients our minds.

TWO - It's Common Ground
As I lead my congregation from the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy into the Revelation Song via a reading from Revelation 5, I'm creating common ground for a diverse crowd. For instance, the older generation in my church have a long history with Holy, Holy, Holy. The younger generations, not nearly as much, if at all. Likewise, the Revelation Song may move many of the us Xers, Millennials, and--thanks to Phillips, Craig and Dean--the Boomers; but our Builders may not connect as well.

So to bring in chapter 5 of John's Revelation, it reflects where we've been (Holy, Holy, Holy) and where we're going (Revelation Song), and is neither "old" or "new." It is ancient and future. The living and active Word becomes a common ground for the generations.

THREE - It Provides a Unique Context
We don't know what God might be doing in people as they encounter a scripture in a different context. Maybe someone slogged through Job a few years ago during a painful "One Year Through the Bible" attempt. Imagine him now seeing chapter 9 as your team moves out of "Indescribable" into another song describing His greatness. His ears are still ringing with "you place the stars in the sky and you call them by name..." and then he encounters:

⁴ His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
       Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
 ⁵ He moves mountains without their knowing it
       and overturns them in his anger.
 ⁶ He shakes the earth from its place
       and makes its pillars tremble.
 ⁷ He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
       he seals off the light of the stars.
 ⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens
       and treads on the waves of the sea.
 ⁹ He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
       the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
 ¹⁰ He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
       miracles that cannot be counted.

FOUR - It's a Catalyst
Our well-meant words of encouragement and cajoling from the stage hold nothing compared to THE WORD.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Scripture, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, can stir and convict, rip and tear, melt and move. It puts the responsibility for changing hearts squarely back into the lap of Jesus Christ, where it belongs. It's not our job. That, friends, is very good news.

We'll put a comma here and continue this segue in part two where we'll talk about some practical application. But before I sign off, I gotta get something off my chest: the alliteration with compass, common ground, etc....yeah, well, to all my Boomer friends who like that sort of thing - glad I could give it to you. To my GenX cohorts and younger Millennial brothers and sisters, I apologize. I was three words in when I realized they all started with a hard C and I just couldn't resist...

28 Ways to Make Great Segues: Segue #9

Intro
Segue #1-3

Segue #4
Segue #5
Segue #6
Segue #7

Segue #8

28 Ways to Make Great Segues

Non-Musical Segues: #9 The Clap Offering

Over the last few sections of “28 Ways,” we were looking primarily at musical transitions. These next 6 non-musical segues are designed to either go from song to song; into a song from a non-music element; or out of a song to non-music element.

Segue 9: A “Clap Offering”

One of my drummers at my last church asked me why I always planned musical segues between songs. He had been to a large Vineyard church and commented how they end a song and just count off to the next. Having been to that church (and thoroughly enjoyed it), I knew that after most of the faster/bigger songs the congregation spontaneously applauds and cheers. That “clap offering” is the segue.

Applause is a natural occurrence in some churches; in other churches, it would precipitate the forced resignation of the worship pastor and the revocation of several memberships.

If you’re somewhere in the middle where clapping is OK, but just not natural, here are steps to cultivate spontaneous, post-song clapping in worship:

• Teach that clapping is Biblical and that the applause isn’t for the people on stage. This doesn’t need its own sermon; it can be done in 90 seconds during a call to worship. Say something like this:

Psalm 47 says this:

1 Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.

2 How awesome is the LORD Most High,

the great King over all the earth!

During our time of worshiping through music this morning, we can worship God through applauding for him for him. We’re not clapping for me or the musicians, or how great we just sang as a congregation. We are simply celebrating the Great King who has invited us into his presence.

• Prompt the congregation. During that same service, after a song where clapping would feel appropriate (“Softly and Tenderly” is probably not one of those songs), say to the congregation: “Let’s applaud for the Lord.”
  
  You as the leader will set the tone: look up as you clap– God isn’t exclusively “in the sky,” but our gazing upwards is symbolic of His otherness, His transcendence and His kingly loftiness.

• Prepare your band members before the service. Make sure they aren’t taking a posture of “receiving” applause. That will kill it quick. But have them follow your lead. It takes the focus off the music and band and puts it on the King.

• Repeat this encouragement at least once a service for a couple months. It’ll take awhile for it to become a natural part of your worship gathering experience.

• Another way to encourage clap offerings is to “plant” clappers in the congregation. That sounds a little underhanded, but hang with me for a moment. At a previous church I served in, we were NOT a clapping church, unless someone mentioned The Ohio State Buckeyes. (That was probably part of the issue – scarlet and gray idolatry.) There were a few people in my church that I knew wanted to clap, but didn’t want to offend. I encouraged them to clap and affirmed that it was good thing. Two or three pairs of hands clapping are often all that’s needed to start a full applause.

Clapping, like any element in your worship service, can become an empty ritual if it loses its heart motivation. Don’t just use clapping as a way to get from one song to the next. But if it is a way that your congregation worships, or has the potential to, by all means, the clap offering is a viable segue.