The service leader plays a key role in ensuring a Sunday gathering fulfills its goals!  Here is a mixture of practical tips and principles to inform your thinking. 

Last updated Sept 2022 - see note on prelude at the bottom

Planning the Service

1. You'll be sent a run sheet template early in the week with various components already added.  You need to put these in a sensible order and add extra elements as appropriate
2. Read the Bible passages carefully and think how they might inform your planning of the service
3. For the first 10 minutes we have all ages together in the service  We want these first 10 minutes to be as multi-age-engaging as possible.  
   1. There might be a song that's traditionally labelled as a 'kids song', but it will have been chosen as a song that adults can also sing meaningfully.  So don't introduce it as "the kids song" but as a song for us all to sing.
   2. There might be an 'adult song' that's been chosen on the basis that we can get little kids engaged in it somehow - eg by joining in for the chorus, or highlighting a key word, playing instruments etc.
   3. There will usually be an "all-age special" segment - either a bible learning spot, or book review etc, that consciously engages all ages and involves kids.
   4. Because this whole segment is for "everyone together", we won't generally call kids down the front at all - we want them to be doing church with their families during this segment.
4. The Liturgy Library is at https://drive.google.com/file/d/194iy7R6c_qoxo4EU4lhyf5x87NWk7_Rf/view for you to choose things from.  Try to consider what we've done in recent weeks - if we've said the Lord's Prayer for the last 3 weeks, maybe it can have a rest.  If we haven't said a confession together for 2 weeks, it'd be good to include a confession, etc.  
5. Think carefully about what songs will go where.  Not all songs do the same thing!
6. Not everything in the service has to relate to the sermon.
7. Everything in the service should relate to the gospel
8. As you plan the service, work out how long you expect it to run for. 65 minutes is a good target. 
9. By Friday morning, please send your final run sheet to Tom who will forward it on to everyone involved

Preparing your leading

1. At the beginning: 
   1. Introduce yourself: eg  "I'm John Smith, I'm a member of All Saints and I'll be leading our time together today"
   2. Ensure you include and engage kids as well as adults
   3. No need to mention livestream viewers, our focus is on what's happening in the room
2. It can be useful to introduce some of the concepts that the readings and sermon will deal with, either at the start of the service or just before the readings.  But it's not essential.  Don't simply state the main point (spoiler!) and don't give the sermon in advance!
3. Do lead in a prayer for God to be at work through the service - either right at the beginning, or after the first song, or before the readings. 
4. Consider how you will introduce the songs (or whether you will ask the song leaders to do so).  The title of the song isn't important.  But how can you (in a sentence or two) help prepare the congregation to "do what the song is doing" (eg. praising, confessing, remembering, thanking, declaring...)?
5. Consider how to engage the kids with the things we do in the first 10 minutes
6. When it's time for the the kids to leave:
   1. Explain that it's time for kids to join our cornerstone kids program (visitors don't know what "cornerstone" is!)
   2. Point out the cornerstone leader with lanyard stationed near the side door, ready to meet any new families etc
   3. We are currently NOT having a greeting break at this point because the downside for seniors (noise, distraction) outweighs other benefits at the moment.
7. Your job includes leading in general prayers (intercessions).  This needs to be prepared in advance!  You can get ideas from the back page of the newsletter.  Remember the back page is just a guide - there may well be other local or global issues that should be prayed for.  Try to pray for world issues, world mission, local issues and local mission.
8. After a confession, make sure you include an assurance of God's forgiveness. This is the gospel!  There are some ideas here or you could read one of these Bible passages.
9. At the end:
   1. Invite people to stay for morning tea.  Fine weather = outside.  Wet weather = inside, but be ready to vacate by 10.25am
   2. Remind parents to pick up kids from Cornerstone
   3. Plan for the final thing you say to be something of spiritual substance (Not "let's have morning tea").  Read a key verse from the Bible passage, or repeat a key sentence from the sermon, or a biblical blessing, or a sending-out prayer from the liturgy library, or lead in your own prayer.

On the day

1. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before start time
2. Please bring about 8 printed copies of the run sheet with you and hand them to the music team, bible readers, tech operators etc.
3. Make sure you check in with the Bible readers before the service starts, so there is no awkward uncertainty when it's time for the readings.
4. Pray with the music and tech teams 5 minutes before starting time
5. From Sept 2022:  The band will play a short prelude before starting the service. This helps signal people to wind up their conversations. Come to the lectern and be ready to begin as soon as the prelude ends.
6. When you lead in prayer, it's helpful if can include response to what the sermon has said.  Especially if the preacher didn't pray at the end of the sermon.  This pretty much needs to be done on the spot, once you've actually heard the sermon.