Home Pastors Articles for Pastors 5 Ways to Engage Your Congregation This Week

5 Ways to Engage Your Congregation This Week

5 Ways to Engage Your Congregation This Week

A question we have heard more and more over the last few years in church staff meetings is, “How can we get our people to engage on a deeper level on Sunday morning?” Answers typically include doing more familiar songs, singing songs with deeper meaning or doing a worship-based series explaining why we worship. All of those options are great, but there can be issues with each. You can find yourself stuck in a cycle of the same eight to 10 worship songs and tire them out. You could go too deep with your lyrics that alienate the new believer who doesn’t understand what you’re singing. Or you could run into scheduling issues with fitting in a new series. We at Find Worship Musicians propose a new approach: Engage them DURING the week!

We’ve asked our partner churches here in the Atlanta Area to give us some suggestions on things they do to engage their congregation before they even walk on your campus on a weekend. We have added a few of our own ideas too.

1. Spotify Playlists. Most of you have either Spotify or Apple Music subscriptions. Put them to good use! Create a playlist of the worship set and send it out though your digital channels on Wednesday. Share the new song you’re going to be introducing in the upcoming weeks. Have a “seasonal” playlist of the songs that are speaking to your church linked on your church Facebook page or website. Have you ever had someone ask you, “What was the third song you sang this morning? It really spoke to me.” Having the weekly playlist will give that person a chance to continue to connect to that song throughout the week.

2. #SundaySetlists. Use a simple photo editor like Canva or PicMonkey to create a #SundaySetlist picture and post it to your Digital Channels. Give your people something to share on social media to build excitement for the upcoming worship experience. It can be a simple picture with your setlist listed out. It’s eye-catching and easy to share for your people.

3. Post Song Lyrics. You can use that same photo editor app to create and post the “big” lyrics of the songs your church is connecting with. Having a way to continue to engage even after your worship service is over will allow your people to grow in their personal worship. Again, they’re easily sharable! Got a new song you want to introduce? Pick out your favorite lyric or the chorus and post it on your church’s social media pages. When your people hear it on Sunday, it’ll be familiar to them, allowing for better engagement. Make sure to include the artist’s name in your picture! Gotta give credit to the author!

4. Video or Livestream a Worship Song. Record an acoustic worship song and send it out though your Digital Channels. Have the person in the video give the story behind the song or tell the meaning to them personally. Then sing that song Sunday morning. Your personal connection to a song could be the same place some of your people are in their lives, and connecting with you and the song can lead to a deeper worship experience. It doesn’t have to be the whole song. Pick a chorus to two. But explain the meaning behind the words, whether it’s the writer’s inspiration or your own personal connection.

5. Bring Your Pastor Into It. The worship service isn’t just the music side. Tough to hear, I know… But you want to engage your people not only in the musical aspect, but in the spoken word as well. Have your pastor give you either a verse he’s using or one of his “sticky statements” and send it out through your Digital Channels. Send out a Facebook Live video of him telling one of his sermon illustrations. Not only will this help your people connect with the pastor’s message on Sunday, but it will connect you to your pastor. Collaboration is key when it comes to creating worship environments that draw people to the heart of God.

Doing any of these five simple things can help your congregation connect with God on a deeper level on Sunday morning. If you’d like some help getting started, we’ve created an eBook with the list above, as well as EIGHT free done-for-you graphics that you can share immediately. You can get the free download at findworshipmusicians.com/free-download.