L.T.W.M. Part 3

Leave Them Wanting More is dependent on another well-worn axiom: Less is more.

I've perpetrated the opposite - more is more - on several occasions in my ministry:

More is More, Method 1: The Shoehorn
"The senior pastor's only giving me 20 minutes for worship through music? OK, we can fit seven songs in there." The result:

• The tempo of each song jumps 18 BPM.
• I'm clock-watching instead of worshiping, wondering how soon I should cut a chorus or two.
• When it becomes apparent that it's time to bail partway into the last song, I try to signal the team to end after the first chorus. I wonder if railroad workers get the same confused look in their eyes just prior to their train wrecks?

More is More, Method 2: The Way it is on the MP3
"Hey team, we're going to do this Hillsong tune just like they do it in this live recording"

So it's:
v, v, ch, v, ch, ch, 
48-bar instrumental/vocal ad lib building to a holy frenzy, 
quiet breakdown, bridge, bridge (keep building) 
bridge, bridge, (one more, even bigger...) bridge, 
breaking into a huge chorus, another huge chorus, 
huge tag to the chorus, even huger tag, 
and then a tag to bring us down to a quiet instrumental, 
begin singing the chorus nearly a cappella, 
then we'll start building back in for a repeat of the--

The congregation switched to "comatose screen-gazing" twelve bars into the instrumental. I think one guy passed out.

Is there anything wrong with the way they did it on the recording? No. But it fit their context. Many of our churches just plain haven't learned to worship with music that way yet.

With both methods, the more didn't lead to people wanting more. They just wanted the door.

Here are a few ideas to using "less is more":
1. Use the radio mix. If a popular worship song has made it on the radio, it's likely going to be less than 5 minutes. For example, Hillsong's Forever Reign radio mix is nearly 2 minutes shorter than the live recording. Ask yourself: how do they change the form? What repeats do they leave out? Always err on the side of "too short".

2. Under-plan to your time. Figure out how approximately how long each arrangement is. Add one minute to each song. Then add all the songs together. Do they fit, realistically, in your service? (C'mon now, be honest.) If not, cut a song.

3. Cut-down a song. Can't bring yourself to cut a song? Here's an alternative: just do the chorus and bridge of the song that's most well-known to your congregation. It can be great way to end a set or transition to a different feel.


4. Create an intentional "moment." With four songs planned instead of seven and an extra 3 minutes of margin built into your worship set, you're now able to plan for some lingering. Which song in the set would be best for that? Should you throw in an extra repeat or two? Or an quiet instrumental for scripture and reflection? Whatever it is, plan for it and practice it. That doesn't negate the Holy Spirit. It actually puts us in a better place to redirect if the Spirit leads.

So there's more that we can do to create more with less to leave them wanting more...umm, more or less. But I wanted to leave you wanting more.