Worshipteam.Com Is a Great Resource for Worship Planning

I have been helping coordinate our church's Praise Band/Team for years. We have tried various methods of planning and organizing our worship music, services, schedules, etc. At best, it is a very time consuming (albeit rewarding) task. Communication within a large team is very important, although difficult to implement. Another struggle most churches face is acquiring new music while still having integrity in regards to copyright laws.

A friend recently showed me the www.worshipteam.com website. After browsing through the demo, I was amazed at the capabilities of the website. Here are just a few of my favorite features.

Songs - First of all, the website has literally thousands of songs on file, many of which have audio files attached. For praise team purposes, this is wonderful! It is so beneficial for the praise band members and singers to be able to hear the tempo and melody/harmony lines of new songs. Drummers can listen to fills and rhythms; bass players can hear walk downs, keyboardists get an idea of voices they might want to try, etc. The song list is extensive with many titles by famous song writers such as Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, Paul Baloche, Darrell Evans, plus many more. Currently signed publishers include Vineyard Music, sixsteps Music, Kingsway's Thankyou Music, Sovereign Grace Music, WorshipTogether, Vineyard UK, and many others. Chord charts and lyric sheets are available for all songs and everything is covered through CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International.) The website also offers the capability to transpose the music. For instance, "Trading My Sorrows" is often played in the Key of G, but if you want you can transpose and print it in the key of E. This makes worship planning and flow so much easier because you are no longer limited by the key of a song. For more on worship flow and planning check out http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/831721/how_to_plan_a_blended_worship_service.html .

People - This section allows you to add your team members by name and email address. You can invite band members, singers, tech crew, ministers - whoever you want to have access to the songs, charts, sets, communication area, etc. This enables your team to communicate more effectively with each other. You can post a bulletin on the website stating that practice time has been changed, or notification that you'll be learning a new song this week. Then every member will receive an email of the news.

Sets - This is quite a tool for the worship planner. You can incorporate text, such as scripture passages that coordinate with the sermon or songs. Just cut and paste from your favorite online bible such as www.biblegateway.com . You can listen to songs and then add them to your set list, re-order the songs once you have them all picked out, add any additional notes needed such as "chorus only" or "Third time a cappella." Sets, once completed, can be scheduled to the calendar and activated for other team members to view, print and practice with.

Documents - This section allows the administrator to upload any documents such as schedules, meditations, guidelines, sermon topics, etc. Then, any members can download, view or print.

Communicate - As mentioned earlier, bulletins can be posted on this website (viewed by your team members only) such as announcements of upcoming events, practice reminders, inspiring stories, changes, etc. You have the option of emailing everyone this information or just posting it for whoever checks in.

Price - Yes, this is one of my favorite parts. The price is very user-friendly as well. The first month is FREE! After that, you are billed monthly with no commitment needed. $20 will give you access for twenty users; $25, up to 25 users. The pricing follows about $1 per user per month. For all you will gain from this tool, I believe it will be money well spent.

Try it free for a month. What have you got to lose?