Develop a Discipleship System
The Nuts and Bolts of Music and Worship Arts Ministry: Part 4 – Worship Supplies
By Lisa Hancock
The “things” we use in worship have a long history of debate among Christian communities. In the eighth and ninth centuries, Byzantine Christians argued about whether icons—or religious art—benefit worship or constitute idolatry. Several centuries later, the argument centered around the display of fresh flowers on the altar. These kinds of arguments may seem ridiculous to modern-day Christians, but they highlight that throughout Christian history, the supplies we use in worship matter. The purpose of this article is not to make a case for some supplies over others, but to offer organizational principles and considerations to assist music and worship arts leaders in tending their worship supplies. Although our worship is directed toward God, not things, our worship supplies do help direct our worship toward God and foster growth as a Christian community in the act of worship.
The categories of supplies discussed in this article are not comprehensive, but they encompass a diverse range of expressions of worship. For instance, if you do not wear robes in your weekly worship service(s), feel free to skip that section! The goal is to help worship arts leaders and planners develop systems to help steward their worship supplies. It may be helpful to think in terms of short-use and long-use supplies. Short-use supplies need to be replaced after four or fewer uses in worship. For instance, if you include votive candles on your altar every week, those candles will probably not last more than three or four weeks in a row. However, instruments like a piano, organ, electric keyboard, or drum set fall under the category of long-use supplies. They will potentially last for decades but require regular attention and maintenance. Seasonal supplies, such as Advent wreaths, fall under a special category (discussed in the altar supplies section below). As you inventory and assess your church’s worship supplies, dividing them into short-use, long-use, and seasonal categories allows you to develop a plan for how to tend each category throughout the church year.
Altar Supplies
Whether your altar is large or small, sits up on the chancel or down on the floor, is brand new or has been in your church for fifty years, it serves as a focal point of worship. It draws the attention of the community and is often in the foreground or background of various parts of worship, such as the sermon, the choir anthem, or the pastoral prayer. At times, the altar is directly involved in worship, during the offering or Holy Communion. The supplies we use on and around the altar gain significance from their proximity to it. While some of the supplies discussed below may not be placed directly on the altar, they are included in this section because of their proximity to the altar/chancel area in most worship spaces and/or they fill a similar role when placed elsewhere in the worship space.
Again, it’s helpful to consider altar supplies as either short-use, long-use, or seasonal. Short-use supplies need to be replaced after four or fewer uses in worship. Votive candles used weekly will probably not last more than three or four weeks. The altar itself is designed to last for decades. Seasonal supplies include such items as Advent wreaths.
Short-Use Supplies
Short-use altar supplies include Communion elements, fresh flowers, and candles. These all need regular attention within a worship arts ministry. Assess how you currently source and tend items such as flowers and Communion elements. Do you buy Communion elements each month with church funds, or does a volunteer make bread for every service? Do you sometimes run out of Communion elements, or do you have too much left over after worship? Do Communion stewards have what they need in time to prepare the elements of worship, or have they been rushing or unsure if the supplies will arrive in time? These types of questions can help you assess what works well and what does not work well in your preparation for Holy Communion each week or month. Since we often function “in the moment” on Sunday mornings, taking time every quarter to consider how well our systems are working can help address issues and reduce stress on Sunday mornings.
Similar planning should be implemented regarding the use of fresh flowers. If your community has a sign-up for families to pay for fresh flowers throughout the year, assess how well that sign-up is working. Are there clear lines of communication between the worship leaders and the families paying for the flowers? Does the church have a good working relationship with a local florist? Are there specific occasions during the year (such as Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas Eve) when the church should allocate extra funds for flowers? Again, by taking the time to assess these systems quarterly, you can reduce stress behind the scenes and offer a better, more engaging experience in worship.
Finally, candles. Whether you’ve used the same oil-filled candles for the last forty years or you have a whole cabinet of different-sized candles, these items need regular attention. If you use oil-filled candles, consider recruiting a team of volunteers to check the oil levels every Sunday and replenish the oil supply. If you use tea lights, votive candles, tapers, or pillar candles in worship, consider recruiting volunteers to inventory the candles quarterly to assess whether new candles are needed. If candles are used regularly in worship, be prepared to change out tea lights and votive candles on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
Long-Use Supplies
Altar supplies that fall under the “long use” category include the altar, vases, crosses, patens, chalices, pitchers, basin, paraments, cloths, silk flowers, banners, and other sacred symbols. These supplies can last for years, but they need to be evaluated periodically. Schedule a yearly inventory of these supplies and maintain a log that you can reference throughout the year. The log might appear as follows:
Keeping an inventory of long-use worship supplies has multiple benefits. Not only do you know what you have, but you can also stay on top of any necessary maintenance (e.g., washing linens, polishing silver or brass). If you plan to expand your altar supplies, having a thorough inventory provides a clear picture of any gaps in your supply closet. For instance, if you have only one vase that fits well on the altar, the inventory log helps make the case for donating vases that are no longer useful, making room for vases that better suit the altar. An inventory log can help you think creatively about what you have and how you might use the items during a particular worship series.
Seasonal Supplies
Seasonal altar supplies are used for one liturgical season or Sunday a year. These include the Advent wreath, Advent candles, Christmas Eve candles, an Easter cross or other altar/chancel decorations for Easter, and Pentecost paraments/cloths. While these are some of the standard seasons that might call for special supplies, your community may have others unique to your context, such as supplies for a Longest Night service or a special piece of artwork for “Back-to-School” Sunday. Consider keeping an inventory for seasonal altar supplies separate from the long-use inventory. Select a day in early January, just after Advent/Christmas, or a day in the summer after Pentecost to assess seasonal supplies. Create a log that tracks the quantity of each item and identifies which items require maintenance. Then, a couple of months before Advent, Easter, or Pentecost, review the relevant section of the inventory, address any outstanding maintenance, and purchase any replacement items that are needed. That way, during these busy seasons, you know your supplies are ready to go!
Robes/Vestments
If the pastors, choir, and/or other worship leaders wear robes, stoles, or other vestments during worship, these items must receive the same care and attention as other worship supplies. At the beginning of each calendar year, schedule two days related to robes: assessment day and cleaning day. During the assessment day, inventory all robes and stoles for choir members, clergy, and/or liturgists, noting any stains and mending that needs to be done. Cleaning day is the day you schedule to take robes to the dry cleaner (or have volunteers wash robes at their homes, if that’s a possibility) for annual cleaning. Between assessment day and cleaning day, recruit volunteers from the church to help repair hems, sew up holes, and reattach buttons to their rightful places. Consider scheduling the assessment day after Easter and before Pentecost, so that mending can occur before the robes are cleaned after Pentecost. Summer is typically a time when some church leaders refrain from wearing robes during worship.
As you inventory robes and stoles, note what is missing. Do you consistently need more robes in a particular size than you have? Are there more robes than stoles for the choir? Are half of the children’s choir robes missing? Are clergy stoles mixed in with liturgists’ robes? Take this time to reorganize closets and determine what additions or changes to make to the robe inventory, especially if extra budget will be needed for those items in the upcoming year.
Instrument Maintenance
Musical instruments are among the most durable and most-used supplies in worship services. Maintaining an inventory of instruments is useful, whether you have seven extra upright pianos sitting in Sunday school classrooms, a bag of kazoos to use during Vacation Bible School, or an old, donated guitar that needs a new set of strings. Some of the instruments might serve better elsewhere (no one needs seven upright pianos), but many of them could be used in worship if they are regularly maintained.
Pianos and organs used regularly in worship services need to be tuned at least twice a year. If the piano and organ are played together during worship, they need to be tuned to match each other. Consider tuning the organ first and then tuning the piano to the organ. A rule of thumb for tuning pianos and organs is to aim for tuning after the last freeze in the spring and after the first freeze in the fall/winter. If you want to follow the liturgical calendar, have them tuned a couple of weeks before Advent and a couple of weeks before Easter. If your church has a pipe organ that includes reed pipes, you may need to add one or two tunings a year just for the reed pipes. This schedule should be followed for any pianos regularly used in the church, even if they are not in the worship space. If you have a Sunday school class that plays the piano regularly or a piano in the choir room, those pianos also need to be tuned at least twice a year. Remember, tuning is critical to instrument upkeep. An instrument that is not regularly played or tuned will, at some point, become impossible to restore.
Other instruments used in worship that the church owns may include a drum set, hand percussion (such as djembes and congas), timpani, handbells, ukuleles, and a carillon. Each may require short and long-term maintenance. For instruments not in weekly use, start by consulting the worship/program calendar to determine the best times for maintenance. Is there a time when the ukulele choir is not playing that would be good to assess and repair the instruments? Can you schedule an extra handbell rehearsal after a performance to teach the ensemble how to do minor repairs and polish the bells? As you consider when to schedule assessment and maintenance of these instruments, try to leave room in the calendar to get quotes for repairs that are beyond your or your musicians’ skill levels. If you need a timpani repaired in time for Easter Sunday, you don’t want to wait until a month from Easter just to get a quote; you might not have the drum back in time.
Thinking Ahead
For many of us in worship art ministries, tending and maintaining worship supplies is one of our least favorite parts of the job. It can be tedious, sweaty, dusty work, but the benefits far outweigh the costs. Having what you need when you need it is a basic yet critical aspect of leading worship. Worship services have many variables, but we can help reduce stress and prepare ourselves to lead well by attending to the variables we have control over ahead of time.
The kinds of inventories and assessments included in this article can help you determine the gaps in worship supplies that you would like to fill in the coming year or the next five years. During the year, keep a running list of items you would like to invest in for worship, particularly those that bring to life particular seasons in the church year. Perhaps you want a full-size manger for Advent and Christmas or a standing cross for Lent and Easter. Perhaps you need new supplies for year-round use, such as candelabras, robes, paraments, or altar cloths. In September, set aside time to review your list and determine how to budget over the next one to five years to purchase those items for your congregation. Knowing what you need or will need soon, and why your community needs it, goes a long way when advocating for your budget proposal for the upcoming year.
As tedious as these inventories can be, they are wonderful opportunities to recruit interested volunteers who excel at organization, spreadsheets, sewing, mechanical repairs—you name it! Let this be an opportunity to cultivate relationships with people who may or may not already be part of your music/worship arts ministry. Offer them opportunities to serve and invest in the worshiping life of the church by using their gifts for the benefit of all who gather for worship. The administrative work of music and worship arts ministry plays a critical role in cultivating meaningful worship that draws those gathered toward love of God and neighbor.
Dr. Lisa Hancock, Director of Worship Arts Ministries, served as an organist and music minister in United Methodist congregations in the Northwest Texas and North Texas Annual Conferences, as well as the New Day Amani/Upendo house churches in Dallas. After receiving her Master of Sacred Music and Master of Theological Studies from Perkins School of Theology, Lisa earned her PhD in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University wherein she researched and wrote on the doctrine of Christ, disability, and atonement.
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