Contemporary Christmas Worship Planning Tips with Cliff Duren

Planning worship during the Advent season can be tricky. Yes, we all love the music of the Christmas season – at least, I’m assuming you do if you’re reading this article – but planning worship services for the Advent season has its challenges. Having served in a few churches with varying approaches to Advent, I wanted to walk you through my own personal approach to worship planning specifically for these services.

First, it’s paramount to know how your pastor feels about music during the Christmas season. Some pastors prefer a steady diet of Christmas carols or seasonal worship songs throughout, while others prefer to tighten the window of Christmas music down to one or two services. If you’ve only recently come on staff, I recommend having this conversation with your pastor as soon as you finish reading this article! It will be a great help to you as you plan. Is your pastor new to your congregation? While he may be comfortable moving forward with the Christmas traditions of your church, he may have strong opinions or preferences that you’ll want to know about before you get too far down the road with your worship planning.

Even if you and your pastor have served together for years, I’d still recommend talking it out. Your pastor may have an Advent sermon series in mind that he would like for you to support musically. Or it could just be that your opening the door for his opinion is what he’s been waiting on in order to weigh in with more clarity. Once you have clear direction from your pastor, you’ll also have a much more solid framework as you begin planning.

Second, there is value in including both seasonal and nonseasonal congregational songs in your worship services throughout the Christmas season. If you’re like me, you probably approach worship planning from a broad view in some respects. How many new songs do I want to introduce this year? What is my current canon of songs, and how do I plan to strategically use these songs over the course of the year?

I prefer to continue using nonseasonal hymns and worship songs during Advent in addition to Christmas carols and worship songs. There are a few reasons I feel this way. First, if I have a new congregational song or songs in rotation, not using those songs for a month could potentially make me feel like I’m teaching them to the congregation all over again in January. Worship services in December shouldn’t be a groove-buster for the new songs you’re teaching your congregation. Yes, there needs to be a balance of old and new – just like every other Sunday of the year – but keeping new songs in front of your congregation in December will give you a lot of momentum and engagement when January comes around.

Another reason I prefer using nonseasonal songs during Advent is that the Christmas season gives the congregation a fresh perspective as they sing these songs. There are many great worship songs with lyrics that easily tie into the Christmas season. Chris Tomlin’s Jesus Messiah is a great example. When I sing the opening line of that song (“He became sin who knew no sin that we might become His righteousness”), I reflect far beyond Christ coming to earth as a baby and consider a broader scope of what His arrival would accomplish. There are other great phrases in that song that connect well with Advent, like Emmanuel and Light of the World.

A few years ago, Paul Baloche wrote and released a wonderful worship song called Behold Him. These lyrics do a masterful job walking through the life and ministry of Christ from the dawning of time through the resurrection. Included in the lyrics is a powerful verse that is perfect for Advent: “He who heard humanity’s cry left His throne to wake as a Child; He became like the least of us. Behold Him.” Using this song right after the carol O Come, All Ye Faithful is a powerful combination to encourage your congregation to fix their eyes on Jesus. In the same light, I love using the Getty–Townend hymn In Christ Alone during Advent because of the second verse: “In Christ alone, who took on flesh; fullness of God in helpless Babe.” This verse complements the lyrics of Infant Holy, Infant Lowly so well. Collectively, they will create a meaningful moment in any Advent service.

Finally, I encourage you not to shy away from the use of new congregational Christmas songs. There have been many great Christmas worship songs written in recent years that are accessible to any congregation and could possibly help breathe new life into your worship services. Recently, Phil Wickham has written several congregational Christmas songs. I have used Manger Throne and Behold and saw them both engage the congregation in a powerful way. When adding new Christmas congregational songs, I recommend using them multiple times during the season. Before using the song with your congregation, it could be that your choir presents the song one Sunday as a way of teaching it to the congregation. Remember, every Christmas carol was new at some point. Let’s continue to add new songs that celebrate the Savior and His arrival. Similarly, be willing to use new arrangements of familiar Christmas carols. A new setting can often give your congregation a fresh perspective on a timeless lyric and melody. Just a few months ago, I released a collection of new carol arrangements for this very reason.

God’s richest blessings to you as you plan the Advent worship services at your church!

– Cliff

Five Sample Congregational Advent Worship Sets:

1. 1. Joy to the World
      Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin)
      Manger Throne (Phil Wickham)
   2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
      What a Beautiful Name (Hillsong)
      It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
   3. Behold (Phil Wickham) – includes the carol O Come, All Ye Faithful
      Behold Him (Paul Baloche)
      O Holy Night
   4. In Christ Alone (Getty–Townend)
      Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
      Same God (Elevation)
   5. Open Up the Heavens (Vertical Church)
      O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
      What Child Is This?