Worship Musician August 2018 | Page 94

BETTER BY SUNDAY w/ PCO QUICK DO’S AND DON’TS | Mike Graff Planning Center is a powerful resource for your It’s also worth it to create multiple templates videos you’ve linked up to the worship service. worship ministry, but there’s a lot of stuff under with the predictable special services that It’s a great help for making everyone feel more its hood. I mean, a lot of stuff. There’s a good happen throughout the year (baptism Sundays, comfortable about how the elements will work chance there are solutions to your worship- child dedication Sundays, etc), so you can note together. ministry organization problems sitting right what logistic changes need to happen for those under your nose in PCO, but you don’t know special services and not forget them next time DON’T MAKE YOUR CHORD CHART ARRANGEMENT where to start (or where to look!). around. IMPOSSIBLE TO FOLLOW. For any team member who relies on chord Well, this list should help cure that problem. Here’s a bunch of do-and-don’t tips that take a very short amount of time to implement within PCO, but you’ll see a huge return of value for the time you spend making these small tweaks. DO TRANSPOSE YOUR SONG MP3S INTO THE CORRECT KEYS. How confusing is it for a guitarist to have a chord chart in the key of C but a rehearsal MP3 in the key of D? Make sure you always upload an MP3 that’s the same key that you’re planning on using during your worship service (as reflected in your chord chart). Luckily, PCO has a built-in transposing feature that will change your MP3 audio from the original key into the correct key in just a few clicks. The audio quality isn’t pristine, but it There’s a good chance there are solutions to your worship-ministry charts during the worship service, it can become difficult to follow the arrangement if the chord chart tells you to repeat sections, “go back to the top”, or spell out directions in a manner that confuses rather than enlightens. The answer? Simply type out your entire song - repeats included - from top to bottom, making it foolproof. If the song takes up more than one page, that’s fine. The goal is to type out every section in its entirety instead of making your organization musician’s eyes bounce all over the page to try problems sitting right under your nose in PCO... gets the job done. If you want extra-credit, do to find the right words, chords, or directions. Simplify it by making the chord chart longer, and you’ll see an immediate improvement in your team following where you’re headed. DO TRAIN YOUR TEAM TO USE THE BLOCK-OUT CALENDAR RELIGIOUSLY. If you’re responsible for scheduling, you know it in a program with an advanced transposing how much of a headache it can be when you mode (like Ableton). Just make sure to delete DO UPLOAD THE VIDEOS YOU’LL BE USING DURING send a PCO request and you get the dreaded the original (incorrect) key once you’re done to THE SERVICE. “Decline” from a team member. The solution? avoid confusion! Uploading videos to the Media tab is a great Train your team to understand one simple rule: tool to make sure speakers (hosts, preaching If they do not block out a date on the master PCO DON’T BUILD YOUR SERVICE FROM SCRATCH EVERY pastors, etc.) know how to transition in and calendar, they are telling you they are available SUNDAY. out of the videos you’ll be using during your for that date. This simple rule will help team There’s a good chance you use many of the worship service. It helps people who speak members be intentional with their calendaring same worship service elements from week immediately after the video know how to lead and save you plenty of frustration. to week, even if details about them change. out of it, and it’s also great for them to know This is a great opportunity to create a Service the simple l ogistics of when the video is actually One bonus training item to implement with this Template that will pre-load whatever details you done. tip: Since they are telling you they’re available want to tell PCO to use (including service items, for a date by not blocking it out on the calendar, needed positions, service times, liner notes, When you schedule any speaking person for the let them know if they still have to decline a and more). Using templates will give you a great service on PCO (make a section for Speaking/ request, they are the ones now responsible for base to start with, and will make “blank slate Preaching roles in your Needed Positions if you finding a replacement for that worship service, paralysis” disappear quickly. haven’t yet!), they’ll be able to view all available 94 August 2018 WorshipMusician.com continued on Page 111