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Last Saturday, LOFT director Paul Ryan provided organized strategies for leading dorm worship to interested student leaders.

The meeting was organized by sophomore Julie Saksa, part of the Barnabas team in RVD. Saksa had noticed that the leadership team in her dorm was having problems planning worship services like Rock.

“We had a lot of leadership but weren’t very directed. We needed guidance and a strategy” for planning successful worship, she said. So, Saksa contacted Ryan, who was more than willing to share the strategies that he uses to plan LOFT.

“Worship at its heart is about engaging in relationship with God” said Ryan. “There are things that you want to say to God and things you want to hear from God.”

Ryan began the workshop by having the group list the things that are important for two people in an intimate relationship to say to each other. These include phrases such as “I love you,” “I’m sorry,” “Thank you” and “I’m listening.”

“We can use these different relational phrases in our worship in talking to God,” said Ryan. For example, one song or even an entire worship service could be based around such a phrase.

Another organizational tool that Ryan presented was a specific planning process: previse, devise, revise, realize, and analyze. The “previse” state is the brainstorming session for the next worship service. “Devise” refers to a smaller group which sketches out a general plan for the upcoming service according to the “prevising.” During “revise” the rest of the group discusses and edits the plan presented by the smaller group. The “realize” stage is when the group communicates with the readers and musicians who are going to be involved in the service. Finally, the group “analyzes” how the service went and how they can improve upon it. By following these steps, the group can avoid being side-tracked.

Ryan also provided an organized format for choosing songs for worship.

“Does the quality of the music capture the response that you want to draw?” asked Ryan. He noted that a song needs to evoke a certain response and the mood of the song needs to match the lyrics. For example, Sonic Flood’s fast-paced version of “In the Secret” may not be very suitable to the lyrics “In the secret, in the quiet place, in the stillness you are there.”

Another important component to choosing appropriate songs is singability.

“Most people have about an octave range,” he said. Ryan pointed out that “In Christ Alone” is a favorite song because it fits all of the criteria for a good song: the words fit the mood of the melody, the song is easy to sing, and each verse is essential to the purpose of the song.

“You’ll notice that no one ever wants to cut out a verse when you sing ‘In Christ Alone,’” he said.

The students reacted favorably to Ryan’s suggestions.

“I thought a lot of great ideas and strategies came up,” said sophomore Laura Sizemore.

“It was nice to see how they set up LOFT every week,” added freshman Valerie Nydam.

As the organizer, Saksa was also satisfied with the experience.“I was thinking there’d be more people,” she said. But those that came can instruct the others and all of the dorms can benefit from this.”