We divide CE services into four sections… Worship, Creative/Welcome, Message, and Closing. Unless a “preference” is mentioned below, there should be no deviation from these Worship Planning guidelines without prior approval from Mission Support.

WORSHIP

• A welcome comment at the very beginning of the service that includes that statement (or anything similar), “Let’s stand and worship together!” We give clear direction on when to stand/sit.
• 14-21 minutes of worship songs before the message (3-5 worship songs).
• Songs must come from the CE Song Bank in Planning Center Online except for a merging campus within its first 1 to 2 years (to allow for a gradual transition to new worship songs). New CE Song Bank songs (for all of CE) may often be added at least once per month. Anyone may propose a new worship song through our new song request form which will then be vetted by a team and through a process.
• Up to one song maximum each week can be used outside of the CE Song Bank, but should still be similar in style and feel (modern worship music). The song must be submitted on the new song request form as well (but can be played prior to approval as the one song exception on any given week). The song and attachments themselves would need to be emailed to local Worship Team members for that exception song instead of being uploaded into Planning Center which could be confusing for other campuses. This is a privilege that may be removed for a specific campus if service orders are not being put into Planning Center a week ahead of time or if entitlement around song selection sets in among the team.
• Occasionally, there could be times when all campuses would be expected to introduce or sing the same song(s) such as around Easter or Christmas or to introduce a CE Music original song.
• At least one moment of prayer, which could be in conclusion of the worship time.
• “Ministry Moments” (transitional talking between songs) should be somewhat brief and guiding comments by a pastor or worship leader (avoid longer stories/preaching between songs).
• Communion is encouraged to be occasionally planned between worship songs, but may be included in any part of the service. Communion should be planned no less than quarterly and no more than monthly). For merging campuses, a longer transition time period for communion frequency changes are acceptable with agreement on long-term alignment with the CE Essentials.

CREATIVE/WELCOME

• An official welcome (if it was not fully covered in the worship section) that must include at minimum the statement (or anything similar), “If you’re a guest or if you area regular and have a question, comment, or prayer request, please fill out the Response Card and drop it in the bucket at the end of the service.”
• At least occasionally say, “If you are a guest with us today, we as a church family would like to say… (pause)…” The response by people is… “Welcome home!” The suggested frequency of this type of welcome is 2 ish times per month, but not every single week.
• Length of the creative/welcome section should be 2-6 minutes (preferably on the shorter side of that timeframe).
• Any updates (announcements) that are not covered in the Update Video or printed Weekly handout can be communicated in this section.
• There will be regular creative elements or videos that each campus will collectively share on the same week (currently, this may happen about twice a month).
• Any videos or special music needs to be approved by Mission Support before being planned and must be both modern in style and high in excellence/quality to be approved (preference is almost always participation instead of performance).

MESSAGE

• Teaching series are always the same across all CE services and include the same series/topic theme, series graphic, and bumper video.
• Messages should be between 25-45 minutes in length (including closing prayer). Preference is for 30-minute message length.
• Messages should be primarily taught from the NIV translation (but frequent references from other solid translations are welcome). NIV should be the primary translation displayed on the screens and used by the preacher (including guest speakers).
• Messages should always end with a prayer.
• Invitations to receive Christ are welcome as often as the Lead Pastor would like (and requested at least monthly).
• Preachers should not regularly ask people to “stand for the reading of God’s Word”. This does not occur during the weeks with video teaching (up to 30%) and creates a disconnect.
• Responses are welcome during the prayer time after the message, but we avoid having people stand in response (unless everyone is asked to stand together) or coming forward (“altar calls”). Background music (ie…keys) is acceptable and encouraged during this time if desired. Asking those who made a commitment to raise their hand while others have their eyes closed and/or write their commitment on their Response Card is the expected method of response for making a commitment to Christ.
• Having ushers hand out something at the end of the service as people exit (such as a gift of a Bible or creative reminder of the message) is welcome as well. Printed paper materials should created by Mission Support.
• In a typical year, at least 70% of the preaching will be live by the local Lead Pastor with most of the remaining messages delivered by video from the Central Campus. At minimum there is always some live element (such as a live closing prayer or planned introduction) when there is a full teaching video.

CLOSING

• After the prayer at the end of the message, there will be an Update Video. The preference is that the Update Video is in this spot in the service, but it may be moved to before the bumper during the Welcome time as well (two versions are available, one that includes the phrase ‘stand and join us in a closing song of worship’).
• Offering will always take place during the Update Video when the Usher Team is called forward inside the video to pass the buckets down the rows. We only pass the black CE offering buckets.
• There will be an upbeat closing song at the end of the service (preferably a shorter song).
• After the closing song, the service ends with a brief Send-off by a pastor/leader (should include some kind of comment like, “We’ll see you next week!”). This is more of an upbeat Send-off for the following week than a somber or formal “benediction,” which is discouraged.
• Inviting people to meet a Prayer Team or pastor(s) up front (or in a side room) after the service is welcome.

SERVICE PLANS

Mission Support sends out teaching notes every Tuesday, along with notes about what is expected during that week’s service (required) for campuses. There are often optional elements made available as well. The Lead Pastors responsibility is to ensure those elements expected in the weekly Service Plans are executed on a weekly basis.

SPECIAL SERVICES (HOLIDAY SERVICES)

The process for approving a special service is for a Lead Pastor to contact their coach or a member of the Senior Leadership Team at least one month in advance with the proposed date of the service and details about the service. The music and creative elements should be aligned with CE’s vision for being modern in style and should generally operate under the same guidelines (music, etc…) that a normal weekend service operates under.

Church Experience typically decides and communicates the date and times of our big CE Christmas service each year, which may often fall on a Saturday or Sunday at normal worship times depending on the day Christmas/Christmas Eve falls on the calendar. This big service prior to Christmas day is done in alignment (same day) with other campuses.

EVENTS & OUTREACH EVENTS

Church Experience typically does not offer one-off social events. If an event is social in nature, Life Groups are the best ministry for fulfilling that purpose which could include a gathering of several Life Groups coming together for a larger social connecting event. However, most events would be encouraged to fall under the Outreach & Causes ministry if they are evangelistic in nature and people are inviting spiritually lost people to attend in order to connect them to God and His Church. CE refers to these as “Outreach Events”.

GUIDELINES FOR SCREENS DURING SERVICE

What we put on the screens during the service impacts the experience of those participating in the worship service! We want to limit distractions and usher people into a time of focused worship with God! Our vision is to be modern in style, yet Biblically solid, and what is on the screens during the service should reflect that! Below are some guidelines to help when making decisions as to what is on the screens. All standards are reflected in the Service Plans section of the CE Essentials.

Please always refer to the current series graphics folder and utilize the font for that series for verses and main points.

Backgrounds for worship can be found in ProPresenter or the CE One Drive.

Lyrics should always be displayed with a minimum of two lines and a maximum of four lines on the screen.

Series graphics and name plates should be used weekly and can be found in the Campus Universal Elements folder on OneDrive.

During the message, the series graphic should always be on the center screen with the verses and main points on the side screens. This helps to not distract from the speaker.