The Nuts and Bolts of Music and Worship Arts Ministry: Part 1 - Checklist

As we enter a new calendar year, we are introducing a new article series centered around the nuts and bolts of music and worship arts ministries. It can be tempting to focus only on music and worship arts as they are experienced in worship, but none of that is possible without the administrative work in the background. The “Nuts and Bolts of Music and Worship Arts” article series offers guidance to church staff and volunteers on how to set up systems that keep your music and worship arts ministries running well. This first article provides a checklist for administrative tasks and systems that you will need to address over the next year. We will provide an in-depth article on each of these areas as the year unfolds.

Beginning of the Year Checklist

AV/Technology

• Plan and calendar a time during the first six months of the year to inventory equipment owned by the church and equipment either rented or borrowed from others, including but not limited to:
  • Microphones
  • Mic stands
  • Speakers
  • Monitors
  • Cameras/iPads/iPhones
  • Internet equipment
  • Computer(s)
  • Projector(s)
  • Screens
• Inventory subscriptions currently used (such as Microsoft Office, Subsplash, ProPresenter, Wirecast, Boxcast, etc.) and whether any changes may need to be made in the next year.
• Verify that all subscriptions are up-to-date and put renewal dates in the calendar.

Copyright Permissions

• Verify that all licensing subscriptions used by your congregation are up to date (i.e., CCLI, OneLicense) and put renewal dates in the calendar.
• Schedule a time once a week or once a month to submit song usage on licensing website(s).

Communication and Volunteer Development

• Verify that all contact information for volunteers (choir, band, altar guild, Communion servers, ushers, etc.) is up to date and entered correctly in your church’s communication database.
• Develop a meeting calendar with tentative dates for the worship committee, altar guild, and/or other worship-related committees.
• Evaluate communication with volunteers during the previous year and plan how you would like to maintain and/or change communication for the upcoming year.
• Write short job descriptions for volunteer roles in the music and worship arts ministry. This helps potential volunteers better understand what they are agreeing to do.
• Identify two to three key times to celebrate volunteers during the upcoming year and put those dates on the calendar (even if only tentative).

Music Library Maintenance

• Plan and calendar a time in the first quarter to evaluate your music library (including choral anthems, cantatas, congregational song resources, handbell music, chord charts for band, etc.).
• Determine gaps in your library that you would like to fill in the coming year.
• Determine gaps in your library that you would like to fill in the next five years.

Worship Supplies

Altar Supplies

• Plan and calendar a time in the first quarter to inventory and assess the church’s worship supplies, including paraments, candles, vases, crosses, patens, chalices, other Communion supplies, pitchers, basins, and other items used on the altar (statues, cloths, silk flowers, sacred symbols, icons).
  • This is an excellent time to assess the state of your Advent candles, Advent wreath, and smaller candles used during Christmas Eve, and note what needs to be addressed before December.
• Determine what items need repair or polishing.
• Determine what items need replacing.
• Determine gaps in your worship supplies that you would like to fill in the coming year.
• Determine gaps in your worship supplies that you would like to fill in the next five years.
• Assess the state of robes and stoles for choir members, liturgists, and/or clergy. Determine what needs to be repaired

Robes

• Assess the state of robes and stoles for choir members, liturgists, and/or clergy.
• Determine what robes or stoles need to be repaired or replaced and plan how to accomplish those needs.
• Calendar at least one cleaning of robes and stoles for the year. Consider scheduling this during summer break when many choirs take time off and/or do not wear robes.

Instrument Maintenance

• Schedule maintenance for organ, piano(s), and other instruments regularly used in worship or rehearsal. Organs and pianos need to be tuned at least twice a year. A good rule of thumb is to aim for after the last freeze in the spring and after the first freeze in the fall/winter.

Budget

• Determine the best system for keeping on track with this year’s budget, making notes throughout the year of changes that you would like to make for next year’s budget.
• Compile stories and examples throughout the year about how funds were used and their impact on your volunteers, ensembles, the congregation, and even the community.

Remember, not everything on this checklist has to be done all at once. Let this be a guide that helps your congregation start the year with a proactive approach to managing, maintaining, and growing your worship arts ministry, no matter the size of your congregation.