Outlines are the budget of the scriptwriting process. They’re sometimes simple, sometimes complex, and you don’t always follow them (I’m hoping it’s not just me!).
But having one in the back of your mind is really helpful for:
Mapping the progression of theme or story
Balancing the amount of time or emphasis given to one thought or idea
Communicating the main ideas to church leadership and participants
Sometimes the theme and concept you have practically outlines itself. You can skip this post – or keep reading if ya want to, that’s cool too.
More often in my experience, you have a burning idea but just aren’t sure what structure fits it best. Or you have a story you want to tell. Or you have been given an assignment and don’t know how to begin. Or you’re overwhelmed by all the possibilities and just aren’t sure how to put them together.
Concept: A sermon-based program with singing and Scripture reading.
Template:
Congregational Singing
Scripture Reading
Congregational Singing or Special Music
Sermon (bulk of the service time)
Congregational Singing
The Character-Driven Program
Concept: One person tells a story in multiple chapters, broken up with music. (This is the style used in the Hadassah of Susa script). 5-7 rotations of:
Template:
Song
Monologue
Song
Monologue
Song
Monologue
Song
Monologue
Song
How to change it up: The simplest method would be to do congregational singing for each interlude, and one story told through several chapters of a monologue. The worship team has a reasonable amount of preparation, and most of the work is on the writer (if you don’t purchase a script) and presenter of the monologue. You could break up the congregational singing by interspersing two special music performances among the segments.
This could also be a great Sunday School or children’s program, with different classes or groups singing each of the interlude songs. (This is how I was introduced to the style – an adult carried the story while each class of kids had a song to learn).
Each monologue could be a different character’s perspective. For example:
Say for Good Friday you begin with a disciple telling about the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, then go to Judas’ betrayal, another disciple tells about the Last Supper, John talks about Gethsemane, Peter is in anguish over his betrayal, and so on to Joseph of Arimathea burying the body of Jesus. All the characters could come together for a final joint section, expressing their grief at the death of their Lord.
The Devotional Program
Concept: Multiple speakers prepare mini devotionals interspersed with music. (This is the style for Emmanuel: The Promise Fulfilled).
Template:
Opening Congregational Song
Devotional #1
Devotional #2
Special Music
Devotional #3
Devotional #4
Special Music
Devotional #5
Benediction
Closing Congregational Song
How to change it up: adding a short reading between the devotionals, or opening each devotional with one verse of a hymn.
The Hymn Sing
Concept: Congregational singing makes up most of the service, interspersed with short readings.
Template:
Song
Scripture Reading
Song
Song
Scripture Reading
Song
Scripture Reading
Song, etc.
How to change it up: have older kids read Scripture for a Sunday School service, or ask different church members stand to read sections from their place in the sanctuary (use a runner with a mic).
The Stories & Themes Program
Concept: Explore a theme through one specific story (this is the style reflected in this blog post on “Fear Not”).
Template:
Story opens
Scripture reading/narrative/monologue/song
Doctrine explained
Devotional/Scripture reading
Reflection
Song/monologue
Story closes
Narrative/Scripture reading
Application/Celebration
Song/Reading/Benediction
How to change it up: This one’s a bit more abstract, but it’s powerful, because it prompts you to ensure there is a thematic arc throughout the program. You can build it out in different ways by perhaps emphasizing the use of monologues, or having a lot of music (both performance and congregational singing) that illustrates those themes.
There’s no right or wrong in how you outline. Sometimes it’s a framework to start with that you build upon. Other times it’s a tool for organizing a hodgepodge of ideas, random songs, and scraps of thought. Whenever you bring it in, a good structure is a strong base for your final production.
I was writing the Quick and Dirty Cheatsheet to Outlining a Church Production (clunky working title of a post coming soon!) and I’ll be honest…
The templates looked too easy.
They wereboring.
Someone could look it over and be like “so basic – this is useless”.
So I took a detour which ended up being this post. Here’s how I explain how a super-simple concept became a structured program with just a little thought, structuring, and layers. It’s about the very first script I ever put together and produced – We Have Seen His Star in the East.
At its core, it’s an incredibly simple concept. It became special by adding layers of detail and maintaining both a strong consistency and a good pacing.
Let’s dive into it.
The initial concept:
I wanted to build a Christmas Eve service around the three gifts of the Magi.
Frankincense for a Deity
Gold for a King
Myrrh for a Savior
One other thing that was important to me was incorporating two of my absolute favorite Christmas hymns: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “We Three Kings”. I had noticed that there are some parallels in the stanzas. Since they’re written in the same musical key in my church’s hymnal, I had the idea to go straight from the verse of one song to the parallel in the other song – prophecy and fulfilment, if you will.
What I was working with:
Our church had done primarily simple “sermons with singing and maybe special music” Christmas programs in the years and decades prior. I had to maintain a simplicity in production style to fit in that culture.
Also, we keep the Christmas Eve service under an hour, and about 10 minutes of that closing with candlelighting and “Silent Night” which definitely wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Adding in an opening and one congregational hymn, and I had about 45 minutes to work with.
For my personality type, starting with listing known boundaries (event, culture, length, initial concept, etc.) is really helpful. Instead of looking at an unknown empty space that I have to fill with amazing truth, music and words, I can break it down into chunks then attack them individually.
Breaking it down
Our first boundary: time and generic concept. 45 minutes-ish and three sections.
15 minutes per section (yay! Math that I can do).
Let’s plan to have a few minutes at the beginning and end for some sort of opening and conclusion. I don’t have to think what they are at this point, just mark that time allotment and move on. We’ll cut out 3 minutes from each section and leave them in that unknown pile. (All of these budgets can flex and change; this is just getting us rolling).
12 minutes per section.
What I want to include:
A few mini devotionals (less scriptwriting for me which was a wise choice for my experience level), the two hymns, some special music and also Scripture readings.
I wanted similar content types in each section for parallelism, so I might as well create a pattern for each section and check the realistic time expectations:
Hymns (“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” & “We Three Kings”) = 1:30 minutes
Devotional = 5 minutes
Special Music (solo or duet) = 3-4 minutes
Scripture reading = as needed both for storytelling and for time
***Yes: I timed the special music and also sang the hymns at normal speed, under my breath, in a coffee shop, with a timer running***
New outline
Intro
Section 1: Frankincense for a Deity
Hymn combo
Devotional
Special Music
Section 2: Gold for a King
Hymn combo
Devotional
Special Music
Section 3: Myrrh for a Savior
Hymn combo
Devotional
Special Music
Closing
It’s simple, it’s solid. There is consistency and an intentionality with the layers within each section. While most attendees won’t consciously notice the structure and the level of thought you’re putting into it – the quality is there.
Consistency with variety:
While each section had hymns-devotional-special-music in that order, I broke each section up with Scripture readings a bit differently.
While the purpose of the program was explaining elements of Jesus’ character via the devotionals, it was important to include prophecies, doctrine, and the Christmas narrative also. So I inserted Scripture readings where they best fit the flow of the program, rather than in a set pattern:
Section 1: Frankincense for a Deity
Scripture Reading
Hymn combo
Devotional
Special Music
Scripture Reading
Section 2: Gold for a King
Scripture Reading
Hymn combo
Devotional
Special Music
Section 3: Myrrh for a Savior
Scripture Reading
Hymn combo
Devotional
Scripture Reading
Special Music
Now, the program that the congregation was given listed out the names of the speakers and the names of the special music. The rest was in the scripts held by the ensemble. Thus no one without a script was 100% sure when one section exactly ended and another began until they hit those milestones. That way, the program was both (1) seamless and (2) just a touch unpredictable – which is exactly what we want.
Also, mixing up the who-does-what gave some structural variety. The same group of a dozen people did all the readings, ensemble hymn singing, special music, and some of the piano & violin accompaniment.
We mixed and matched throughout so everyone had multiple tasks: one person played piano in one section, narrated Scripture off and on throughout, and sang in a duet also. They sat in chairs on the platform for ease of transition – at any given moment it could be two, or four, or the whole ensemble standing at the row of mics. (Yes, we planned the sitting and standing too – intentionality in all things!)
We created a tight team for ease of rehearsal and communication for these sections, then three completely different people presented the three devotionals.
Intro and conclusion:
A favorite Magi-themed song of mine is “One King” by Point of Grace. I felt that it would compete with a different song I had in mind that was a shoe-in for the closing special music. So I decided to use just the opening of “One King” to set the scene in the prologue:
“Kings of earth On a course unknown Bearing gifts from afar Hoping, praying Following yonder star
Silhouette of a caravan Painted against the sky Wise Men searching For the Holy Child”
The epilogue was also short – a set of original and Scripture readings – and wrapped all the themes together.
In summary
When you’re preparing a new program from scratch,
Outline your boundaries & requirements
Have a theme that you are excited about (not sure? Check out 15 separate concepts outlined here)
Create a base structure – it’s okay if it’s really simple!
Assign a flexible timeframe to each main section
Add layers of parallelism and repetition from section to section
Include a bit of variety
Work on filling out each section
And voila! You’re on your way to a thoughtful, well-structured production!
Working on your own Christmas Eve script?
Be sure to visit the Production Guide and also Brainstorm Central, where I give you 15 separate concepts and over 40 different elements you can include in your production!
Until one day, Man and Woman chose their own will over the will of God. And darkness covered over the land. A Darkness of separation, of lost communion, of disgrace, of sin. Thorns and thistles infested the earth. Man toiled by the sweat of his brow to produce food. Woman gave birth to children in agony. Mankind fought with one another, murdered one another, and in the end died themselves.
Now let’s see how it can actually work, in a real Christmas production I put together in 2017, called Light out of Darkness. I put the bulk of the program together in the spring, then started production in earnest in late August.
Here’s how the script came together:
Quick Summary
I broke down Light Out of Darkness into the following sections:
1. Paradise Lost (“Let there be light”; God’s creation and Man’s sin that cast the world into darkness. A summary of the Old Testament, leading up to the events of Christmas) 2. The Dawn is Come (Mary’s fears, faith & her response to the angel’s announcement) 3.Led by the Light (the birth of Jesus, and Joseph’s fears and his response of faith) 4.Light of the World (the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and our response of faith) 5. The Kingdom of Our Lord (triumphant praise to the King who conquered darkness forever)
Repeated components
I believe in purposeful repetition-with-variety. Repetition helps you organize the structure of the production, and creates auditory tags that your audience will recognize. As we become an increasingly visual society, it’s important to use a strong structure in this type of auditory-based production, to avoid losing the audience.
How I did it: I opened each of the three middle sections (Mary, Joseph & the Cross) with one of the three stanzas of “O Holy Night”, sung by a male quartet with a piano backdrop.
There were four special numbers, one for each major section (the last section was a two-minute closing epilogue). The first and last were group special music, to emphasize the community of creation at the beginning, and our united response of praise to our Savior at the end. The two others were solos, and sung from the perspective of Mary and Joseph.
Section 1 (Creation/Paradise Lost): “Creation Song” by Fernando Ortega
Section 2 (Mary/The Dawn is Come): “Magnificat” by Keith & Kristin Getty
Section 3 (Joseph/Led by the Light): “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” by Casting Crowns
Section 4 (Cross/Light of the World): “Let There Be Light” by Point of Grace
Section 5 (Triumph/The Kingdom of Our Lord): no special music
Two actors read Mary and Joseph’s monologues from our sound booth in the back (this gave the effect of the audience listening to their inmost thoughts). We left the stage empty and dimmed the lights, and projected the words MARY and JOSEPH on the screened, in scratched white block letters on a dark background.
I used layered speaking to communicate the six days of Creation at the beginning, and again at the end to create a “cacophony of praise”, inspired by the scene in Revelation 4:
We avoided chaos by carefully timing it and coordinating the volumes of the participants’ voices, so the effect was of power under control.
Power Clusters
In any production, there should be a few moments that you do your best to create magic. I call these Power Clusters– a blend of multiple visual and auditory components in quick succession. With the crew size I had (and with the desire to make this a ‘minimalist’ production) it would have been far too difficult to carry this complexity throughout an entire production. So I choreographed just a few moments as special effects at key points.
For example, at the end of our prologue, we’ve hinted at the prophecies of a Deliverer, but are creating a sense of despair at Israel’s repeated rebellion, before transitioning to an upswing of hope:
Okay, let’s break this down. I’m creating a sense of despair, sadness, and suspense, and end with hope. And this section takes only about a minute out of the whole 45-minute production!
Visual:we’re dimming the lights (to complete darkness). The participants (six to eight people) leave their posts in the lineup of mics and drift back to their seats further back on the platform. The screens show a succession of phrases from Psalm 2, and I even mixed up the fonts and timing a bit so that “…against the Lord” is subtly emphasized. The lights then come up to bright again, once the last line is spoken.
Auditory: I found an online clip of someone singing a Psalm of Lament in Hebrew. It had just the sound to match the tone of the moment, and the actual words they are singing are from another, relevant Psalm (so there’s internal integrity; it’s not just some random thing I’m using because it “sounds cool”). The last line is spoken from the back, giving it a narrator/voice-from-above effect.
Surprises
I see surprises as dashes of spice in a production – they’re unexpected, memorable, and when used correctly, enhance the overall flavor of the production. Use them sparingly – you don’t want your production to seem gimmicky!
How I did this: At one point, an actor interrupted the narrative by hollering from the back of the room, jerking the audience out of the complacency of narrative, into a here-and-now action:
Or at another part – Joseph is waiting outside the stable as Mary is in labor. Towards the end of his monologue, he slowly begins to realize the weight of Messiah’s mission:
Playing a clip of a baby crying again took this moment and made it a semi-reality for the people in attendance.
The script took weeks to put together, made up of a lot of writing sessions in a local coffee shop (just like right now, actually!) And let me tell you, all the hours of wrestling with the words and typing out Scripture and listening to hours of music in search of just the right songs was 100% worth it. I’ll never forget the feeling of standing (too antsy to sit) in the back of a darkened sanctuary while eternal words of truth that I had spent months packaging were presented to a captivated audience.
I think when we are creative in our giftings – whether it’s writing, or singing, or painting, or coordinating, or whatever it might be – that we are acting in the image of God, an image that He has imprinted on us. Is it any wonder it is so fulfilling?
Here’s where I give you tons of ideas for themes and concepts for writing a Christmas program script. You can pick one, mix and match, or overlap as many as you want.
Tell the Christmas story as told in Matthew and Luke.
Tell the story. It’s a key chapter in the greatest story ever told. Use lighting, readings, costumes, monologues, music, congregational singing to bring the chronological telling to life.
Or do a hymn sing-type informal evening where traditional carols are lined up roughly in chronological order (break them up into individual verses) and get the congregation involved. Have narrators break up the singing with readings from Matthew, Luke and John.
Tell the story from the perspective of one of the participants.
What could we learn about the Christmas story through the lens of Mary’s experience? Or Joseph’s? What fears would they have had to face, and what trust in God would they have needed to live out God’s call in their lives? We can learn much about our weakness, frailty and inadequacy and how it contrasts with our Savior’s strength, power, and righteousness.
This could be built around songs or as a series of monologues – similar to the structure of this script about Queen Esther.
Put the Christmas story in context: Creation to the Cross, to Christ’s return.
I’m a huge context person. Christmas is a magnificent event, but just one in a series of events in God’s magnificent plan for the world. What does “Emmanuel, God with us” mean without the separation of the Fall? What is the impact of the coming of Christ without centuries of layered prophecies that all came true in the birth, ministry and death of Jesus? There’s a way to give the Christmas story center stage while lighting it up with the floodlights of the other enormous events in the calendar of human history.
Highlight one aspect of God’s character or the Gospel, and view the Christmas story through that lens. If people walked away with one piece of truth about God’s character, what would you want to convey? What can we learn about God’s faithfulness through the Christmas story? Or His mercy? Or His grace?
Pick one, two or three aspects of Christ’s nature to highlight.
In my first Christmas production, we looked at the themes of Christ as God, as King, and as Savior (we also matched them up to the Magi’s gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh for a symbolic parallelism).
Trace one theme through history.
In my 2018 program, I took the theme of Emmanuel: God with Us and asked myself, “what does Emmanuel mean for us today? How about in the future? Is Emmanuel limited to Isaiah’s prophecy and the Gospels’ fulfillment, or is there more?”
The sections of the program were: The Need for Emmanuel – the Fall and man’s separation from God The God Who Promised Emmanuel – God’s holy nature and incredible grace Emmanuel: God With Us – God coming to earth; His birth and death The Victory of Emmanuel – The resurrection of Jesus Emmanuel: The Eternal Promise – Jesus’ promise to sustain us now and return later)
**Side Note: I’m sure some of you are thinking: is this still even a Christmas program? It’s all about how you produce it. In the above program, we interspersed the speaking parts with multiple special numbers that were distinctly Christmassy, and each speaker’s section was preluded with a stanza of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” that matched their theme. Every music and stylistic choice was strongly anchored in Christmas culture, but more importantly, in the meaning of Christmas.
Trace Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Look at the lists of prophecies, types and foreshadowings of Christ’s coming, and the mathematical incredulity of all of those being fulfilled by one man. Consider too, the disparity of the writers of said prophecies, and even the apparent conflicts of those prophecies: How could Isaiah write both that the government would be upon His shoulders, and His name would be Mighty God, and also that He would be a Man of Sorrows, lonely and rejected? One prophet predicts a Ruler making His enemies a footstool for His feet; another prophesies a Prince of Peace. In one passage we see a King in the line of David, in another a sacrificial lamb.
These prophecies were written in different languages, by men of different sects and stations, in different eras and during the reigns of different political empires. There is much here to invoke a sense of awe, wonder, and most importantly, worship.
Create a fictional character who could have been in Bethlehem.
What lessons can we learn from the unknown innkeeper who turned away Mary and Joseph? Could a children’s Christmas program be built around the theme of the “Little Drummer Boy?”
Use elements of Christmas tradition as an outline.
For example, Advent candles. For some, the four candles on an Advent wreath represent hope, love, joy and peace. Could you explain how the coming of Christ at Christmas brought each of these to earth in a new way? Or if you look at these from a chronological/historical perspective, think of the
The hope of the Israelites as they looked forward to a Messiah
The love of the Trinity to send the Son to earth to die for our sins
The joy of the Resurrection
The promise of peace on earth when the Son returns once again.
At my church, the Advent candles represent
Prophecy (the time)
Bethlehem (the place)
Shepherds (the witnesses)
Magi (witnesses again)
Or what about Christmas trees? Legend has it Martin Luther was one of the early proponents of decorating trees at Christmastime. What about the other trees that are mentioned at key points in the Biblical story? The Tree of knowledge of good and evil in Eden, the tree that Christ hung on, and the tree mentioned in Revelation.
Structure around a classic Christmas hymn
I did this for both We Have Seen His Star in the East and Emmanuel: the Promise Fulfilled. (Stay tuned: additional how-to posts forthcoming!!)
Reactions to Christ’s coming: then and now
Who reacted in praise and worship? Who reacted in sin? Who trusted God, and who rebelled? How should we respond 2000 years later? Also, how should this inform our anticipation of His Second Coming?
Explore different names of Christ.
Christ’s names often come in pairs or groups; our God is majestic and complex. What can we learn of Him by His names Alpha & Omega, or Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace? What does it mean that He is both the Lion of Judah and Lamb of God?
*It’s fairly easy to find songs that reference various names of God, especially those found in Isaiah 9, like as Handel’s Messiah “For Unto Us a Child is Born”, or “For Unto Us” by Point of Grace, or “Unto Us” by Matthew West, or “Unto Us” by Aaron Shust.
Take a classic Christmas phrase (from the Biblical text or a Christmas song) and break down/expand upon its meaning:
Let There Be Light
Prepare Him Room
We Have Seen His Star in the East
No Room in the Inn
Glad Tidings of Great Joy
Glory to God in the Highest
A Thrill of Hope
Peace on Earth
Fear Not
Focus on one Biblical Advent text that’s not the specific Christmas story recorded in Matthew or Luke.
John 1 (“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”)
Philippians 2 (“Who being very nature God…made Himself nothing”)
Isaiah 9 (“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.”)
Follow the bloodlines of Christ’s ancestry.
Christ had a biological human mother and an adoptive human father. Trace how the virgin birth maintained his human right to kingship as a son of David while avoiding the curse in his paternal line.
In Hebrew culture, adopted children were heirs just as much as biological children (and look how that ties into the analogy Paul uses in the Gospels about the family of God!) Jews kept strong, detailed family records – this was one of the cultural activities when they would make the trek to Jerusalem for Passover or other feasts – and as soon as Jesus claimed to be Messiah, his other enemies could go back through the records of His ancestry and trace the line back to David. Trace the curse in the line of Joseph (a curse follows bloodlines).
50 (well, 45 actually) Components
Here’s a brainstorm list of tactics that you can mix and match throughout your program. Think about how different combinations of sights and sounds creates different effects or moods. What groupings will increase the pace or intensity? What can you do to emphasize a particular moment?
17 Ways to Use Audio & Music
Instrumental background music (piano, violin, CD, YouTube, etc.)
Instrumental backdrop to speakers (Scripture, monologues, narration, etc.)
Congregational singing
Small group/ensemble pieces (all-men, all-women, blend, etc.)
Solo singers
Solo instrumentalists
Band/orchestra/ensemble instrumentalists
Choir/large singing group
Rewriting sections of well-known song lyrics to better fit the theme
A cappella singing
Progressive, powerful build-up of the music throughout the stanzas of the song
Sudden cut in background music (strong highlight to the lyrics sung immediately after)
Use of ancient languages such as Latin or Hebrew
Musical key change
Humming or “oohs” as background music
Switching a well known song from minor to major (or vice versa) for effect
5 Storytelling Elements
Narration
Character dialogue
Character internal monologue
Layered character monologues (they’re each giving a monologue as if alone, but it’s split up in sections so the audiences hears one part, then the next is from the other person, etc.)
Acting in character
8 Speaking Techniques
Speakers prepare short sections (perq: you give them the vision and guidelines but don’t have to write the whole script)
Keynote speaker (similar to a Sunday service, with a main message and everything else is built around it)
Read from a script
Memorized lines
Read from offstage/voiceover
Speaking in unison
Overlapping speaking/interruptions for effect
Readings down the line of participants
7 Ways to Present Scripture
Scripture readings
Scripture read over music backdrop
A song version of a Scripture passage
Recited in unison
Recitation by memory
Recitation in multiple languages
Recitation in a foreign/ancient language while the common language is projected on the screen
16 Visual Components
Dimmed lights throughout
Changing lights to match mood
Uplighting that changes color
Complete darkness
Use of Christmas lights/church decor
Words projected on backdrops (PowerPoint/Prezi/Proclaim, etc)
Silent video on screen backdrops
Costumes/dress code
Set pieces (stable, manger, star, etc)
Stage arrangement
Candles and the lighting of candles
Printed lyrics for an instrumental piece
Blocking (how/where people stand/move on the platform)
Choreographed entrances and exits (are participants on stage the whole time or is there meaning to the ons and offs?)
Dramatic entrances & exits
Participants’ manner (serious and sober, joyful but reserved, worshipful and free?)
