Many Christians wrestle with a perceived tension between thorough preparation and spontaneous worship. Some worry that detailed planning might quench the Spirit’s movement, while others fear that spontaneity could lead to disorder in our local church gatherings.
But what if preparation and spontaneity aren’t competitive opponents, but cooperating partners in facilitating meaningful worship?
My years of hearing (lots!) and playing (some!) jazz music give me a unique perspective on spontaneity in church services. Skilled jazz musicians (this is not me!) spend hours mastering scales, chord progressions, and standard repertoire. This extensive preparation enables their creativity, rather than constrains it. Good jazz musicians have developed a musical fluency—a jazz vocabulary—that allows them to contribute something original and authentic in different harmonic and musical situations. When the moment comes to improvise, a prepared jazz musician draws from their well of musical knowledge to freshly create something meaningful. Their preparation frees them to respond authentically to the music’s call.
Ironically, musicians who have not thoroughly prepared do not have more freedom. They have less. A blank slate does not produce pure originality; it only produces predictable, rootless sameness. Paradoxically, only the musicians who have rooted themselves within a tradition have any chance of finding their own voices and generating creativity.
Worship leadership follows a similar pattern. Faithful worship ministers invest time in thoughtful preparation—crafting service flows, rehearsing transitions, exploring Scriptural connections, and building a diverse repertoire of songs and prayers. At worst, they’re creating rigid scripts to follow. But at their best, worship leaders develop resources that they can draw upon as the Spirit leads.
Consider three stages of worship ministry—(1) dream in planning, (2) dread while preparing, and (3) faith when acting. Here’s my best thinking on each of these stages.
Planning
When planning worship services, worship ministers should dream. That is, by faith they should envision God’s people fully engaged in authentic worship—voices lifted in unity, hearts turned toward God, lives being transformed through the Spirit’s work. We dream boldly about how each element can glorify God and edify the church. This vision inspires our song selection, Scripture readings, and service flow. This faith-filled vision protects our service planning from becoming mere routine as we ask the Lord to help us find fresh worship expressions of timeless gospel truth.
Preparing
Preparation moves us from vision to reality. Here, wise worship ministers anticipate what might go wrong—technical issues, missing musicians, unfamiliar songs, timing problems between segments.
While worship ministers walk by faith, they recognize that things often go wrong in our fallen world, and a bit a “sanctified paranoia” can be helpful. Reality-packed preparing means developing contingencies and redundancies. They train extra volunteers in case someone falls ill. They identify which element they might potentially drop if the sermon goes long. They have a something small they could add if they need to cover an unplanned moment (medical emergency, power outage). This isn’t unhealthy paranoia, but simply stewardship.
(Here’s a hard-won lesson: when preachers begin a new sermon series, they always preach longer than they think they will. It’s because they have a double introduction: they’re introducing (1) the series and (2) the sermon. I will often cut a song, or have something shorter planned to allow the sermon time to expand.)
By preparing for challenges, worship ministers gain confidence to handle unexpected moments without losing focus on worship. Faithful preparation enables greater freedom.
Presenting
In the moment of leading worship, wise worship ministers return to our initial vision while drawing on our preparation. Like skilled craftsmen who have mastered their tools, prepared worship ministers can guide their congregation with confidence and sensitivity. Worship is not the flawless recitation of our prepared script, but the people of God faithfully celebrating the gospel with faith-filled singing. Every song we’ve learned, every transition we’ve practiced, every Scripture we’ve meditated upon (or memorized!) becomes available for ministry on a Sunday morning.
In my experience, compelling worship leading comes from this partnership between our prayerful preparation and God’s guidance. When we invest in planning and preparing, we develop the spiritual and musical vocabulary to follow the Spirit’s leading while maintaining a service’s purpose.
Paul reminds us that "God is not a God of disorder but of peace" (1 Corinthians 14:33). Paul isn’t calling for worship services under rigid, pharisaical control. Instead, we should pursue the confident freedom and musical agility that comes through disciplined preparation. Through faith-filled planning (dream!) and reality-packed preparation (dread!), worship leaders can embrace (faith!) both order and spontaneity, structure and Spirit-led moments.
May we approach worship leadership with renewed appreciation for how preparation enables Spirit-led spontaneity. As we plan thoughtfully, prepare thoroughly, and present worship skillfully, may we help God’s people to celebrate the gospel in fresh and compelling ways.
If you are a “thinky” worship person, consider studying with me at Southern Seminary! We have residential and distance worship programs at the MA, MDiv, DMin, or PhD level! Our seminary preview day is October 10, 2025, and you can stay at the school’s hotel for FREE!
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Thanks so much for writing this! As a planning type surrounded by spontaneous types, I've had to learn a lot about embracing the unexpected, and sometimes I can forget that there's nothing wrong with wanting to have a plan in place. I appreciate how you brought out the beauty of both sides and showed that they each have their place in Spirit-led services. This is an inspiring vision for beautiful, God-glorifying harmony between the two.
Thanks for this post Matthew. I will swear in court to the veracity of the extra length needed for the first sermon in a new series. Eventually, I embraced and planned for it, but it took some time.