How Do You Create Space for the Spirit?
Why Intentionality and Spontaneity Are Not Mutually Exclusive in Service Planning
A thoughtfully crafted, Spirit-led Sunday service requires both intentional planning and responsiveness to the presence of God. In Rockharbor’s recent episode of The Worship Lab , Luke Hellebronth, Anna Hellebronth, and I unpack just what this balance looks like week to week—from the internal processes to the practical cues that shape the congregation’s journey.
I want to invite you behind the scenes of the worship process at Rockharbor. If you’ve ever wondered how a Sunday service can be crafted to be both spiritual and strategic—planned and open to the breath of God—this week’s Worship Lab episode is for you. Let’s pull back the curtain…
Here are some highlights from the conversation…
1. Treat Worship Like a Journey
Picture the worship set as a bus ride: we know where we’re going, but the route is alive with anticipation and possibility. Our services aren’t about passive spectatorship; every song, prayer, spoken word, and pause is an invitation. Our setlists aren’t just about songs—they’re meant to be invitations.
Our aim is to cultivate “thermostat worshippers”—a community that sets the spiritual temperature, responding with anticipation rather than consumption.
As worship leaders and pastors, we guide, not dictate—functioning as thoughtful tour guides, gently communicating direction and purpose without dominating, creating space for everyone to participate rather than spectate, always with a light hand on the wheel.
2. Be Spirit-Led and Thoughtfully Planned
There’s a common misconception that “Spirit-led” means last-minute improvisation—or that planning and prophetic responsiveness are opposed. The truth is, excellence in planning is a form of hospitality. From countdown timers that call people in from the lobby, to the subtle cues between worship and tech teams, every detail is about cultivating an atmosphere that is welcoming, expectant, and open to God. We use technology—click tracks, lyric cues, clear transitions—not to over-control, but to serve the moment. Our processes don’t suffocate spontaneity; they create a secure space where it can breathe. When you have a plan and you know the plan, it makes it easier to deviate and then return to it. The tools and the tech never override a nudge from the Lord to pause, listen, or pivot if the Spirit leads.
After all, the Living God is relational and dynamic, not distant and static.
3. Harness Team Discernment and Collaboration
Rockharbor’s process underscores the importance of collective discernment. We engage in deep discernment is forged in the quiet of the week: in our Sermon Circle, in pre-service prayer, even in quick backstage conversations. At Rockharbor, we embrace the model in the book of Acts— “It seemed right to the Holy Spirit and to us”—drawing on collective wisdom rather than relying solely on individual impulses. It’s never about personality-driven direction, but community-shaped sensitivity.
The worship service isn’t the vision of a single leader; it emerges from a shared sense of where the Spirit is leading.
Prophetic insights, plans, and spontaneous moments are submitted humbly for the sake of the gathered community. When each person’s contributions are surrendered into one another’s care, the whole team grows more spiritually attuned and resilient.
4. Curate Sacred Spaces for Response
The heart of our gatherings isn’t just content delivery, but sacred response. Whether through receiving communion at the Lord’s Table, coming to the front to make an altar before the Lord, or just taking a few moments of unhurried silence, we make space for the Spirit to move truth from our heads to our hearts after the Word has been preached. We usually leave about 10-15 minutes for this.
There’s an old saying at Rockharbor that our longtime lead pastor, Todd Proctor, used to say: “God isn’t done speaking when the sermon is over.”
Transformation happens when we make room—to pause, pray, linger, and invite the Spirit to work conviction, comfort, and courage among us.
5. Keep Jesus at the Center
Above all, every plan, every pivot, every whispered prayer and lyric projected is ordered toward one end—to reveal Christ. Prophetic worship isn’t simply spontaneous for spontaneity’s sake. Its purpose is always to help people see Jesus more clearly, to help us center our hearts on Him afresh.
Prophetic worship is Christ-revealing, not just improvisational.
When leaders step back, de-centering ourselves, we give space for Christ to become central. Our best leadership is transparent, receding so that Christ is central and glorified.
For leaders navigating the tension of planning and presence, I hope this glimpse encourages you: the Holy Spirit doesn’t reject our structures—He longs to fill them. May your Sundays be both dynamic and deeply rooted, and may God do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” in your midst.
