Epilogue Worship leaders Guidance Notes

Thank you for agreeing to lead one of the evening epilogue sessions. As you know these are a vital part of camp, and your job as worship leader is extremely important.
Below are just a few ideas as to best prepare and lead the worship, but we stress these are only ideas, you may have some of your own. We know you will know all these things, so forgive us for reminding you of them again.

If you aren't where you should be with God at the moment, please put that right before any preparation.

1.    If you can, have a chat, or even better, pray with the epilogue speaker before any preparation. Find out what the subject matter is, and if the speaker has any special requests. This will help loads in your thinking.

2.    Pray really hard before you even think about what songs, and what you may do or say in the epilogue. Ask God for guidance, and seek His wisdom and discernment. It really helps to try and find God's mind in this. Tell God that what you are doing is for Him and His glory.

3.    Please don't try to compare yourself with any other worship leaders, nor to impress anyone except God! Just be yourself and 'keep it real'. Give God the praise for everything

4.    You need to open with some lively songs to encourage us to worship, reminding us all why we should. Having two or three songs together is fine, but try to say something in between some of the songs rather than just reading out the numbers. Try a verse from the bible or try reading out some of the words of the song we are about to sing, and why you think them important and special, or again any of your own ideas.

5.    New songs are always good, but can we suggest no more than one new song per epilogue.

6.    You have about 20 - 30 minutes in the first part. It's sometimes good to have a short time of reflection perhaps, so some quieter songs at some point are useful. You may think a time of prayer appropriate, and after one or two epilogues, a time of sharing. Speak to the leaders about this if you wish. Times of sharing are often best after the epilogue talk when we are not so restricted with time. Below are some ideas for other creative things you might like to try. Remember though that God loves to hear us singing praise to Him, so don't feel you have to include anything too 'different' into the evening if you don't feel it's appropriate.

7.    Please hand over to the speaker no later than 30 minutes after we've started worshipping, and pray for them before they start.

8.    Have some more song choices ready for after the talk, but try not to deflect from what the speaker was saying. Include some of what was said perhaps, underlining some of the points that stuck in your mind. Give us time to 'think in' what God has been saying to the group during the talk. It might be useful to have a time of sharing (see note 6 above), but probably not every night.

9.    Try to discern what God wants now. Should the worship continue, or had God done all He is going to. This is very difficult to know, and that's why prayerful preparation is necessary and so important. If you still aren't sure, keep your eye on Rob, and he will try to liaise with you.

10.    We need to finish at about 9.30pm, but if we feel God is still speaking and ministering to us, and you feel it's right to go on then that's OK. We can sort that out between us.

Thank you again. I really hope you will thoroughly enjoy leading worship, and doing something really worthwhile for God.  You may feel nervous – good! Then you will have to do the leading in God’s strength and not yours!   Please speak to any of the leaders with ANY concerns or problems.    God will bless you in this………

 

Suggestions of other things you might like to incorporate into worship:

· A time of sharing, or an open prayer time as already mentioned

· Reading a suitable story or poem for people to reflect on

· Sharing bread between one another – a different way of sharing the peace maybe? Has been quite powerful when done before

· Foot or hand washing – An act of serving, used to symbolize whatever you like (e.g. clean hands ready to serve God?)

· Shout out praise prayers – just one liners

· At YF squashes we have done some more creative worship activities – you might like to use one of those again or try something new.
Ask a leader if you think it would be appropriate beforehand though.