One thing that has always interested me is people’s prep routines (personal and team wise) for services. How do they prepare? Why do they do those certain things? Some steps and answers are just common sense, but others I find are helpful in understanding outcomes. I also believe it helps us understand why or why not people may be successful in what they are doing and how we can take steps to improve. Some details I give may be unnecessary, but that’s just how I roll. This will Part I of a two-part post. This post will simply be my personal morning routine, and the next post will be my prep and the team’s prep for service once we are at church. With that being said, I would like to share with you my personal Sunday morning prep routine for service. Feel free to email me yours or share it in the comments below.

4:45 AM: Wake-up & Drink a Full Glass of Water. (hydration people…getting that mind & body going)

4:50 AM: Eat Breakfast. (usually oatmeal…the new breakfast of champions) At this point my eyes are hardly open so I’m usually eating in the dark. : )

5:05 AM: Get Inwardly Ready. (Devotional Time)
This is probably the most important time for me on Sundays and something that I have learned I absolutely cannot skip. You have all heard the saying, “You can’t lead people somewhere you haven’t been yourself.” My number one job is to come to church spiritually prepared to lead the team and the congregation. If I am not filled, I will have nothing to pour out. We have all had those moments where we’ve been running on empty, and it usually leads to a very dry outcome. Now, I will say there is a difference between being physically exhausted and spiritually exhausted. I’ve led plenty of times physically tired and because I have filled myself up spiritually, the Lord has done some pretty amazing things in my weakness. Obviously, your best scenario is being rested in both areas…but let’s be realistic.

5:30 AM: Get Outwardly Ready.
Since my devotional time mainly consists of me reading and mediating on a verse or passage of scripture along with just sitting in silence listening to the Lord, I take my getting ready time to extend my devotional time. I will put on a more contemplative worship playlist and pray for the service, our team, the worship, etc. My husband doesn’t wake up until 5:50 AM, so I have a bit of time to worship, pray, think.

5:50 AM: Caleb Gets Up. 
Once Caleb wakes up, he is full-force. Unlike him, I am a slower developing morning person. When he wakes, he turns over and immediately opens the Planning Center app and goes to the media player to listen to that morning’s set. This is a good refresher for us before run-through. We go over transitions again and make sure there aren’t any last minute adjustments we need to make.

6:10 AM: Vocal Warm-Ups.
Once we have gone over everything, I open my vocal warm-up playlist on my phone, while I finish getting ready. (Caleb loves this…not.) It is very important that if I expect the rest of the team to come prepared with their instrument, I come prepared with mine. One of our worship core values is Craft, which means we are committed to the continued pursuit of excellence and growth with our gifting. I must model this. Also, it’s really not the best for the long-term care of your voice to sing the amount we do on Sundays on unwarmed vocal cords.

6:30 – 6:45 AM: We Leave to Head to Church.
I put a 15 minute window because it just depends on if there is any extra/special prep we need to do once we arrive at the church. On our 25 minute journey to the church, we put on a worship playlist and together pray for the service and for the team. Caleb usually leads the prayer and I will close us out. We have recently made the rule that our ride to the church is set aside for prayer and worship. It would be the enemy’s great joy to divide us and get our focus derailed right before we minister. It is such a short ride and being united on this really helps keep the atmosphere focused on the Lord. Making sure our mind and heart are right and ready to lead the team is essential.

Getting some sort of a positive, healthy routine down before you minister will give you more peace of mind and confidence as you step into those leadership spaces. Make sure you check back next week for Part II, where I share with you what our personal and team preparation looks like for service once we arrive at the church.