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There are many software products available for projecting songs in church,
and you may have heard that they’re all essentially similar. In fact WorshipSession
is strikingly different to all the other products - although it achieves the
same functions, it does so in a very unusual way.
This page explains the reasoning behind WorshipSession’s unique style,
so that you can assess whether it will meet your needs.
Quick links to items on this page:
Designed to be operated by the worship leader
WorshipSession has been designed “from the ground up” to be operated directly
by worship leaders and musicians, rather than by a technical person who sits in
the sound booth at the back. This affects all aspects of its appearance, style and operation.
Simply stated, we believe that “leading from the front” is better. We
think that worship leaders can lead more effectively when they control the projection
directly, rather than relying on a projectionist. They can change their planned Session
order without worrying about whether the worshippers will have the words to keep up.
With WorshipSession’s on-screen chords, musicians don’t need to find songs
in their song books.
- In this context, “worship leader” refers to all leaders of assembled worship,
including preachers and teachers, but especially those who lead singing and prayers.
- WorshipSession has no Graphical User Interface, and does not support a mouse. It’s
difficult to use a mouse “on stage”, and certainly impossible to do so while playing an instrument!
- Even the most techno-phobic worship leaders are very easily convinced on this point.
Once they’ve tried “leading from the front”, they’ll never want to go back.
- WorshipSession does not have to be used “on stage” - Many customers do operate
it from the sound booth. They selected WorshipSession for the “look and feel”
aspects below.
Single-screen style, even in dual-screen mode!
WorshipSession works well on single-screen systems, and when used on a dual-screen PC, it still
retains its “single-screen style”. This is because when it’s used on stage,
the PC screen serves as “visual foldback” - it enables leaders to see what’s
on the projected screen, though they can’t see it directly. When used on a dual-screen
PC, WorshipSession shows musical chords on the “on stage” screen, but in other
respects the two screens are the same.
- The PC screen is completely free of technical details that could distract the leaders from leading.
- The text on the PC screen is big enough to see from some distance away.
- There is normally no preview of the next Item before it’s displayed,
although the screen can be ‘masked’ to permit preview.
- Operation is so simple, there’s almost nothing for the operator to do during a service.
Songs are displayed on a single page
Songs are displayed on a single page, rather than being divided into a number of separate slides.
The software scrolls the screen up and down to show the sections of the song.
The effect is similar to an acetate on an Overhead Projector -
rather than being a bunch of separate slides, the song feels like
a single item that’s only partially visible. The screen shows the current verse,
and usually part of the next verse, so worshippers can see the overall “shape” of
the song, and read ahead into the next verse.
- Since the next verse / chorus is already visible, the operator does’t need to have
split-second timing to advance the song at exactly the right point between verses.
- The scrolling of the screen shows the leaders intent - usually it scrolls up,
but if the screen scrolls back to the top of the song, the worshippers know that
verse 1 will be sung again, without having to actually read the words.
- If the worship leaders want to “jump around”, singing various different parts
of the song, they will need to scroll up or down to show the next section. After a little practice,
this is actually easier than it sounds!
WorshipSession is powerful and flexible, with a feature-set that rivals any other church
presentation software. Because of our commitment to “on stage” operation, some of its powerful
features are implemented in an unusual way. Check out the In detail
page, or download a free evaluation edition
and try “leading from the front” in your church!
Additional resources
My Church needs one of those! video from Christian Resources Exhibition, 2004.
Also check out the screen recorder videos on the Training page.
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