Worship songs in presentations

Quick start

1. Open a Worship presentation in the editor.
2. Click Edit song in the insert bar.
3. On the Lyrics tab, edit the ChordPro-style song text.
4. Switch to the Arrange tab; drag sections into the arrangement and reorder them.
5. Enter an Arrangement name (for example Sunday AM).
6. Click Apply to rebuild worship slides from your lyrics and arrangement.

You should see the slide filmstrip update with new worship slides built from your song.

Deep dive

When Edit song appears

Edit song appears in the insert bar when:

• The presentation was created with type Worship, and
• The deck has worship song data attached

General, sermon, and other presentation types do not show this control. Create a new deck with type Worship — see Create a presentation.

Edit song panel

Click Edit song to open the Edit song modal. The panel has two main tabs:

Tab	Purpose
Lyrics	Edit ChordPro-style source text
Arrange	Build the section order and slide splits

At the top:

• Saved arrangements — load a previously saved arrangement
• Arrangement name — label for the current or new arrangement (required for Save as & apply)

Lyrics tab

Edit song text in ChordPro format — section headers (for example [Verse 1], [Chorus]) with lyrics and optional chord symbols above the lines.

Toggle between:

• Edit — raw source text editor
• Preview — parsed sections with labels

Fix any parse errors shown in red before applying. WorshipDeck cannot rebuild slides until the text parses correctly.

Chord symbols in the source text produce chord charts for the worship team. Chord data also enables Chord styling in the insert bar.

Arrange tab

Build how sections become slides:

1. Sections pool — available sections parsed from your lyrics
2. Arrangement list — the order sections play on Sunday

Drag sections from the pool into the arrangement, or double-click to add. Drag items in the arrangement to reorder.

For each section in the arrangement:

• Split slides — click between lines to start a new slide after that line
• Remove from arrangement — remove a section without deleting it from lyrics

The arrangement must include at least one section before you can apply.

Apply vs Save as & apply

Button	Result
Apply	Rebuild slides using the current Saved arrangements selection; update that arrangement's lyrics and order
Save as & apply	Save a new arrangement with the Arrangement name you entered, then rebuild slides

Use Apply when tweaking an existing arrangement. Use Save as & apply to keep multiple versions (for example Sunday AM vs Acoustic night) without overwriting the original.

Save as & apply requires an Arrangement name.

Rebuild worship slides warning

If you added extra elements on worship slides (text boxes, images, or shapes beyond the auto-generated song content), Apply or Save as & apply shows:

Rebuild worship slides? — Worship slides will be rebuilt from your lyrics and arrangement. Any extra elements you added on worship slides will be removed.

Confirm only if you are okay losing manual edits on worship slides. Non-worship slides in the same deck are not affected.

Deleting a worship slide from the filmstrip may also warn that the slide could return if you rebuild — see Presentation editor.

Chord styling

When the presentation has chord data, Chord styling (# icon) appears in the insert bar.

Click it to open the Styling panel with chord and lyrics options:

• Lyrics font and color
• Chord color and comment color
• Other presentation-wide chord appearance settings

Applies to all chord symbols in this presentation.

Chord styling is separate from editing lyrics — use Edit song for content and Chord styling for how chords look on slides.

Chord charts during live worship

Musicians open chord charts from present mode or the presentations library — not from the editor. See Presenter views for speaker notes and chord chart tabs that follow the live song.

What this article does not cover

• Songs catalog and church song management — see Songs library, My songs, and Add or edit a song
• Creating worship decks from a song — see Compose a worship presentation
• General insert tools — see Insert content

Tips

• Save arrangements with descriptive names (Easter, Acoustic, Youth night) so you can switch quickly.
• Use Preview on the Lyrics tab to catch section label mistakes before arranging.
• Split long verses across multiple slides so text stays readable on the projector.
• Set Chord styling once per deck — it applies to every slide with chords.
• Rehearse chord charts from service present so they follow the live setlist.

[!tip] Lower-thirds and confidence-monitor variants come from your worship slide build and screen layout assignment — configure those before Sunday, not during the song.

Troubleshooting

Edit song is missing

• Confirm the presentation type is Worship and the deck has worship song data. General presentations do not include the song editor.

Song text could not be parsed

• Check section headers use ChordPro format ([Verse 1]). Fix errors shown in the Lyrics tab preview.

Enter a name for this arrangement

• Save as & apply requires an Arrangement name. Fill in the name field before saving.

Add at least one section to the arrangement

• Open the Arrange tab and drag at least one section into the arrangement list.

Could not rebuild worship slides

• Refresh the page and try again. Confirm you hold the edit lock — see Presentation editor.

Extra elements disappeared after apply

• Expected when worship slides rebuild. Add decorative elements on non-worship slides, or avoid applying after manual worship-slide edits you want to keep.

Chord styling button is missing

• The presentation needs chord data in the song source. Edit lyrics with chord symbols or confirm the song was imported with chords.