Noob Question Best way to run church lights on Element 40

Question

I am very new to lighting and am using an Element 40 for my church. I'm unsure what method is the most efficient way to run my lights. We have 6 moving led fixtures with the house and stage lights. I change the light intensities and colors 5-10 times throughout the service if a video is being shown, the choir is singing or the color on the walls to match the projector colors. The moving lights only move to provide additional white light to the stage areas 
 Currently, I have been programming cues and overwriting them every week for the different colors I need. This causes my cues to be out of order so I jump around using the goto cue function. Is there a better way to run things? Should I be using submasters or paletts? Is there an easier way to change colors then creating an effect for each one? 
 Thank you for any advice you can give!

RickR · Accepted Answer

My advice is always to try to use a method based upon your thought processes. There are many ways to do the same job so having one that makes sense to you is key. 
 Given what you've said so far: 
 
 You can move cues around rather than playing them out of order. Double tap 'copy' to place 'move to' on the command line. Since you can't directly swap cues you might have to move one twice. (10>100, 15>10, 100>15) You might even start with lots of skips between cue numbers. 10,20, 30, 40... just so that moving is easy. The next cue is just the next higher number. 
 I'm a big fan of what I call template files. Have one file that you copy from and change the copy every week. That way you always know where you are starting. You can also store all your favorite effects and palettes there so they are easily available. (read up on 'merge' to get past work into a new file) 
 If you have the time to plan cues then programming the color changes into them is probably easiest. If you meant changes within a cue then effects are pretty easy. You could also do a short cue loop, which is just a step based effect done with the cue list. They complicate running the event but can be easier to understand. (read up on 'follow' command) 
 Submasters are ideal for taking control during the service. Effect speeds, background colors, solos can all be easily done with a fader and therefore save programming time. They are also great for getting to a look to record into a cue. 
 
 I'm sure others will come along with more ideas.