What to Do When Everything Goes Wrong Before a Service

We’ve all had those days when everything that could go wrong goes wrong. What do you do if that happens on your way to a service, just before the service starts, or during the worship set? Here are some examples of things that have happened to me and what I did about them.

The offended team member

I said something once during a pre-service rehearsal that offended one of the singers on the team. I didn’t realize that I had done that until 10 minutes before the service when I was in the bathroom with her. She was angry and hurt, and told me that my words had offended her. I immediately apologized even though I didn’t think that what I had said should have offended her.

Why take the blame and apologize? Two reasons. First, I didn’t want her to carry her offense onto the platform because it would have changed the way she interacted with God, me, and the congregation while singing with the team. Second, preserving unity is vital, and I need to be a believer who sees the importance of every other believer. She and I are connected by the Spirit of God, and I will not allow anything to impact our unity. I love her as my sister in the Lord, so of course I’m going to apologize immediately and mean it.

The messy diaper and the cup of coffee

You’re on your way out the door to go to church and your youngest child makes a mess in their diaper. There’s mess everywhere; all over the child and you. In that moment, you can stress and get angry, or you can calmly find a moment and location where you can wipe up and change the baby’s clothes and change your clothes. It’s a big deal only if you make it a big deal. Realize that this happens to everyone.

Maybe you don’t have children, but on the way to church you spilled coffee on your clothes in the car. My best advice: always have a backup outfit in the car or at church. I usually have a tote or a backpack that has an extra pair of pants, a simple black shirt, and an extra pair of shoes. When I’ve needed them for whatever reason, they’ve been available.

The sound equipment fails

Some guest ministers were going to speak at a church on a Sunday, and the sound board stopped working right before the service. There was no backup plan to quickly replace the sound gear, so the speakers had to talk as loudly as possible, making it difficult to hear them in the auditorium. Everyone did the best that they could to adjust but the stress and frustration could be felt.

If you find yourself in that situation, do the best that you can with what you have, and choose to minister with peace and joy. Then, put a backup plan in place.

My husband and I brought my traveling sound gear for the evening service with those guest ministers so people could hear the worship and teaching. If the church had had something like that to use for the morning service, it could have been set up in 10 minutes, and there would have been no loss in sound production.

Your microphone cuts out in the middle of the song

This has happened to me occasionally, usually when an audio team forgets to give me a new battery for my wireless mic before a service. It can be incredibly frustrating to be singing along, leading worship, and your mic stops sending. You can get angry or you can keep your joy and activate your backup plan.

After the first time that this happened to me, I took two of the female singers from the worship team aside and coached them on what they would need to do if that happened again. I asked them to be aware and ready at all times to step forward and begin to lead vocally. I recommend that you make sure that you are not the only one who can lead, and coach your team to be aware of one another at all times.

Also, put a new battery into every wireless mic before every service. Keep used batteries for use during rehearsals.

The kick drum head breaks during pre-service rehearsal

In the middle of the pre-service rehearsal one Sunday, about 45 minutes before the service was scheduled to start, the drummer stopped playing. I looked over and he was on his knees removing the drum head from the kick. It had shattered. The rest of the team began to talk, wondering what we were going to do. I said, “Don’t worry,” and I walked off the stage and crawled underneath it to get the old kick head that I had kept when we had switched out all the heads for new ones.

We finished our short rehearsal while the drummer put the older drum head on the kick. The sound was a bit muddy from the kick, but it got us through the service. We bought a new head the next day, and stored the older one again as a temporary backup.

The projector dies and no one can see the song words

If you don’t use hymnals, and you rely on a projector so the congregation can see song words, you may have experienced this challenge. When this happens, you can become upset or you can rely on some prior preparation.

When I create set lists for a service, I always have a few songs that we’re not planning to sing but they are optional or available if we need them for the service. The chord charts will be ready, and most importantly, the songs will be familiar to the team and the congregation.

When words cannot be shown or seen by the congregation, you need to sing songs that are very familiar; songs that everyone knows or that the church has sung many times in the past. Then the congregation will be able to sing along without seeing the words projected.

Rain on a tin roof

This one is for my friends in countries where tin roofs amplify the sound of rain during services. More times than I can count, I’ve been in services where rain or a thunderstorm pounding on the tin roof of the church made it impossible to speak or sing over the sound, even with a microphone. You can be angry or you can use that as an opportunity to worship and praise God as a congregation.

You don’t need to sing to praise or worship God. You can speak those words that exalt, magnify, bless, and glorify God. Encourage the congregation to do that with you while it’s raining. Prayer, worship, and praise can continue. God will be blessed and so will you.

One final note

I’ve found that when I focus on God as I get ready in the morning, I’m sustained and I have His wisdom as I encounter challenges. Stay in that sweet spot with God regardless of what happens.