Setlist - 1 Nov 2020
Evening Worship at Kings

My first time leading gathered Evening Worship since we started meeting again, the first one simultaneously livestreamed to Zoom ...and as it turns out, our last gathered meeting before this next lockdown. The strange times never stop.

I was trying to balance worship leading for the room, where people are gathered but can't sing, and for Zoom, where people are not gathered but can sing. The two settings have contractionary needs, so it's not straightforward. But there's a greater benefit in having the whole community participating in the same service. In the room, lyrics and exhortations about singing have to be heard not quite literally; on Zoom, lyrics and exhortations about gathering have to be heard not quite literally.

It's all so much better than nothing, but so far short of the uplifting simplicity of "we gather to sing". I can't wait to get back to that, but alas, no time soon.

We repeated the same service at 6pm and 7.30pm. That's unusual for us over the years, and I find leading the same set multiple times a little odd. My worship leading is fairly extemporary, and when I'm doing the same service twice I find that I'm thinking about my exhortations and the spontaneous moments from the first service as I lead the second. But I'm sure I would get used to it.

We won't be able to gather now for at least a month. Yet more decisions to make about how we're going to move forward. Lord, have mercy!