Worship & Songs Overview
TimelyChurch provides a comprehensive set of worship planning tools designed to help your team prepare for services with confidence. This article gives you a high-level tour of every worship-related feature available in your admin dashboard.
What Is Included
The Worship & Songs module is made up of several interconnected tools:
- Song Library -- A searchable catalog of every song your church uses for worship, complete with metadata such as key, tempo, themes, and CCLI numbers.
- Chord Chart Editor -- A built-in ChordPro editor with live preview, key transposition, Nashville Number conversion, and PDF export.
- Song Attachments -- Upload chord charts, lead sheets, lyrics documents, audio files, and video files directly to each song.
- Song Arrangements -- Store multiple arrangements per song (for example, "Acoustic", "Full Band", or "Christmas Version"), each with its own key, BPM, and chord chart.
- Service Orders (Service Plans) -- Build detailed run-of-show plans for worship services, with drag-and-drop ordering, per-item timing, and automatic song usage tracking.
- Shared Setlists -- Generate shareable links so worship team members can view the setlist, chord charts, and keys for an upcoming service from any device.
- Song Sharing -- Create public share links for individual songs with optional password protection, expiration dates, and live key control.
- Sermon Management -- Add sermons with video, audio, transcripts, and descriptions. Assign speakers and organize sermons into series.
- Sermon Series -- Group related sermons into named series with cover images, date ranges, and descriptions.
- Podcast Feed -- Automatically generate an RSS podcast feed from your published sermons for distribution on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
How to Access
From your admin dashboard sidebar, you will find:
- Songs -- Opens the Song Library.
- Sermons -- Opens the Sermons list, with links to Series, Speakers, and Podcast settings at the top.
- Service Plans -- Service orders are primarily managed through the Events Hub. Open any worship event and select its Service Plan tab to view or edit that service's plan.
Public-Facing URLs
In addition to the admin tools, the Worship & Songs module exposes several public, unauthenticated URLs that visitors and worship-team members can use:
| URL | Purpose |
|---|---|
/sermons |
Public sermon archive (filterable by series, speaker, topic). |
/sermons/{slug} |
Single-sermon detail page with embedded video/audio player. |
/sermons/series/{slug} |
All sermons within a named series. |
/sermons/speaker/{speaker} |
All sermons preached by a given speaker. |
/podcast.xml |
Podcast RSS feed (iTunes/Spotify-compatible) for distribution. |
/s/{token} |
Short link for a shared single-song chord chart. |
/share/song/{token} |
Full-URL form of a shared single song. |
/p/{token} |
Short link for a shared setlist. |
/share/setlist/{token} |
Full-URL form of a shared setlist. |
Shared setlists update automatically, letting viewers see the worship leader's live key, capo, and display-mode changes within seconds without refreshing the page.
For details on individual public pages see Public Sermon Pages and Podcast Feed.
Typical Workflow
- Build your Song Library -- Add songs your church sings, filling in key, tempo, themes, and lyrics. Upload chord charts and lead sheets.
- Create Arrangements -- For songs performed in different styles, add arrangements with their own key, BPM, and chord chart content.
- Plan a Service -- From an event in the Events Hub, create a Service Order. Add songs, scripture readings, prayers, announcements, and other items in the order they will occur.
- Share with Your Team -- Generate a Shared Setlist link so band members and vocalists can review the song list, keys, and chord charts before rehearsal.
- Record the Sermon -- After the service, add the sermon with its video or audio recording, assign it to a speaker and series, and publish it to your website and podcast feed.
Permissions
Access to the Song Library, Service Orders, and Chord Chart Editor is controlled by the Services module permission. Access to Sermons is controlled by the Sermons module permission. Your church administrator can configure these under the team member's role settings.