Contemporary Worship Without a Band

From on of our listservs

Worship is a challenge.  Does anyone have any suggestions about creating uplifting, celebratory worship with just a few people and not much music?  I don’t want it to feel like a funeral every time we have a service.  HELP!

Response

I’ve known of some people who use music tracks that the people sing to rather than live music.  You put the music on CDs and use the tracks during worship.  Inter Varsity has some videos with the music and the words on the screen.  The titles are Worship I and II, they may have more now.  All you need is a vcr and a CD player or recorder of some kind.

Response

There's also the iWorship series that has dvd's with several songs on them, and multiple audio tracks.  They work ok; but the song selection is rather limited.

Response

I learned 3 lessons:
1.  People find it easier to sing to a good cd than a bad band.  Not all worship cd's are singable, so you have to pick and choose.  We found the Michael W. Smith worship songs and Joel Engle songs from spin 360 to be good.  
2.  I tried using midi files, but the person leading had trouble knowing when to come in and too many times missed his cue, which is why we switched to cds.
3.  You may be able to have another local worship leader record songs that have sequenced on a synthiser with vocals added.  When our worship leader will be away I have him do this for us.  The rest of the band plays as usual and it sounds pretty normal.
  
Response

You can also do good music with less people than you might think - one instrumentalist - guitar or keyboard, and one vocalist (and they can be the same person) can effectively lead a large group.  One key is to sing at first music the group knows so you create energy in the service, then slowly introduce new stuff.  If you don't have a volunteer candidate, you can check with local music schools, studios and music teachers; you can get someone young without a whole lot of experience for $100 - $150 a week.  And if you decide to use recorded music, I'd recommend having a couple of people up front leading the singing, otherwise the congregation can freeze.  

Response

Don Moen and a CD he recorded for worship in small settings: www.integritymusic.com/worship/artist/10-00.html