How to Project Song Lyrics in Church: A Step-by-Step Guide

To project song lyrics in church, you enter each song as labelled sections (verses, chorus, bridge), let your presentation software turn those sections into short, readable slides, add the songs to the service plan, and have a volunteer move through the slides in time with the band. The work that makes it look effortless happens beforehand: sensible slide lengths, clear fonts and strong contrast, and a confidence screen so the musicians are never guessing what comes next.

This guide walks through the whole process, from typing in a new song to running it live on a Sunday, using OpenMico as the worked example. The principles apply to any worship presentation software.

What do you need to project lyrics in church?

At minimum you need four things:

• A computer running presentation software, connected to your projector or screens.
• A song library with the lyrics entered and split into sections.
• A service plan (in OpenMico this is called the Schedule) listing the songs in order.
• An operator who follows the music and changes slides at the right moment.

Most churches also benefit from a stage display (often called a confidence monitor) facing the platform, and, if you stream, a separate lyric output for the livestream. You will also want the right licence in place, which we cover near the end.

OpenMico's core app is free, needs no account and works offline, so a small church can set all of this up without a subscription. You can read more about how the lyric features fit together on the worship lyrics projection page.

How do you add a song to your lyrics library?

Getting the song right in the library saves stress on Sunday morning. Follow these steps.

1. Open the song library and create a new song. Give it the exact title as published, because you will need it for the copyright credit.
2. Paste or type the lyrics as sections. Label each block clearly: Verse 1, Verse 2, Chorus, Pre-chorus, Bridge, Tag, Ending. OpenMico uses these sections to build clean lyric slides, so a well-labelled song produces well-structured slides.
3. Check the words against an authorised source. Typed-from-memory lyrics drift over time. Use the official lyrics your licence provides access to.
4. Add the credits. Record the songwriters and the copyright line so they can be shown on the first or last slide.
5. Split long sections. If a verse is eight lines long, break it into two slides of four lines (see the slide-length rules below).
6. Preview the result. Click through every slide in Preview and look for awkward breaks, such as a line that ends mid-phrase or a single orphaned word on its own slide.

Do this during the week, not on Sunday. A song entered carefully once can be reused for years.

How do you arrange repeats, bridges and endings?

Worship songs rarely run straight through. A typical arrangement might be Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus, Bridge, Bridge, Chorus, Chorus.

There are two sensible ways to handle this:

• Agree the order with the worship leader in advance. Ask for a running order or a set list with the arrangement written out. Write it on a note next to the operator's keyboard if needed.
• Keep each section as its own slide group, and return to it. Because the lyrics are stored in labelled sections, the operator can go back to the chorus slide rather than you typing the chorus out three times. This keeps the library tidy and makes spontaneous repeats easy to follow.

Spontaneous moments are normal. If the band repeats the bridge unexpectedly, the operator simply stays on, or goes back to, the bridge. Good communication helps here: a simple hand signal or a talkback word from the worship leader ("chorus again") is enough.

How do you run lyrics live during the service?

Here is a simple routine for the operator.

1. Build the Schedule. Add the songs in service order, along with any notices, Bible readings and sermon slides. OpenMico saves the Schedule continuously, so you will not lose work if the computer restarts.
2. Load the song into Preview. Preview lets you see the next item before the congregation does. Check the first slide is correct.
3. Send it Live as the introduction starts. Many teams show a title slide, or a blank screen, during the instrumental introduction, then bring up the first lyric slide about a bar before the singing begins.
4. Change slides slightly early. Move to the next slide as the last word or two of the current slide is being sung. If you wait until the line ends, the congregation will be a beat late.
5. Clear the screen when the song ends. A blank screen or a simple background during prayer or a transition is calmer than leaving the final chorus up.
6. Stay with the music, not the page. Listen for the worship leader's cues. The operator's job is to follow the band, not the other way round.

Lyric projection in OpenMico is operated manually. The app does not listen to the music and pick out lyrics, and it would be a mistake to rely on any tool for that. A volunteer who knows the songs is still the best lyric operator there is.

How long should a lyric slide be?

Short slides are easier to read and easier to time. The table below sets out the slide-design rules we recommend for most church rooms.

Fonts, contrast and backgrounds

Projectors are rarely as bright as you hope, especially in a room with daylight. Pick a typeface with sturdy strokes, and test it from the back of the room rather than from the operator's desk. If you use an image or video background, darken it or add a subtle shadow behind the text.

OpenMico's theme designer lets you set typography, backgrounds and layouts once and reuse them, so every song looks consistent without anyone adjusting slides by hand. Create one main theme for the room and resist the temptation to change it every week.

Check readability from the room

Before the service, stand at the back and at the far side of the room. Can you read every line comfortably? Can someone with less-than-perfect eyesight? If not, make the text bigger and the slides shorter.

How do you set up a stage display for the band?

A stage display, or confidence monitor, is a screen facing the platform so the worship leader and musicians can see the lyrics without turning round.

In OpenMico, a stage display is simply another output. Each output can have its own theme and layout, so you can give the band a plainer, larger view than the congregation sees. Practical tips:

• Make the text bigger than on the main screen. The musicians are further from the monitor than they think, and they are glancing, not reading.
• Use a plain background. Black with white or yellow text is common and easy to read under stage lights.
• Place the screen at the back of the room or at floor level so the worship leader can see it while looking towards the congregation.
• Check it during sound check, not five minutes before the service.

The outputs documentation explains how to add and configure displays, stage displays and other outputs.

What about livestream lyrics?

If you stream your services, the lyrics online usually need a different look from the lyrics in the room. Full-screen slides over a camera shot hide the people leading worship, so most churches use a lower-third style instead.

OpenMico can send lyrics to your streaming software through its Network/Browser Source output for OBS, or through NDI. Because each output has its own theme, the livestream can show a lower-third style while the room shows full-screen lyrics. We cover this step by step in our guide to adding church livestream lyrics in OBS.

Do you need a licence to project worship lyrics?

Usually, yes. A brief summary, which is general information and not legal advice:

• CCLI's Church Copyright Licence covers reproducing covered worship songs for congregational singing, including projecting lyrics.
• Credits on slides: common practice is to show the song title, writers, copyright notice and your CCLI licence number.
• Streaming is separate. Showing lyrics in an online service needs CCLI's Streaming Licence, which is an add-on to the Church Copyright Licence.
• Report your song use as CCLI instructs.

Check CCLI and the relevant publisher's terms for your own situation. Our licensing page has more detail on song and Bible licensing.

Common lyric projection mistakes to avoid

• Changing slides late. The congregation should never be waiting for the words.
• Cramming whole verses onto one slide. Split them.
• Typos and old versions of lyrics. Proofread new songs during the week.
• Showing the wrong song. Always check Preview before sending to Live.
• Leaving lyrics on screen during prayer. Clear the screen when the song ends.
• No backup plan. Know what to do if the projector or computer fails (a simple printed set list helps).

Getting started with lyric projection

Projecting lyrics well is mostly about preparation and habits: tidy songs in the library, short and legible slides, a stage display for the band, and an operator who follows the music. Once those are in place, Sunday mornings become noticeably calmer.

If you would like to try this with your own songs, download OpenMico for free. The core app, including the song library, lyric slides, themes and multiple outputs, needs no account and works offline.