Although most pastors spend much of their time in sermon preparation, it seems evident in most worship services that I have attended that the least possible time is spent in preparation for the rites of worship. Many worship services show all too clearly that the manner of preparation was, run the finger down the index of the hymnal, find any hymn we haven’t sung recently, and write it down. Then, a responsive reading here, a special song there; the choir special, whatever they may be singing this week, gets thrown in somewhere, and here a prayer, there a prayer, everywhere a little prayer.
Contrary to popular evangelical opinion, a well-planned, programmed worship service is not cold and formal. In fact, some of the most inspiring services I have led or participated in have been those that had the most planning. Is it fair to make the instrumentalists wait until 10:55 Sunday morning to see what they will be expected to play for the service? Is the choir being used effectively when they are not consulted about your sermon plans and objectives for a particular service? And what about the congregation? What does it do for their worship to be imposed upon by the announcements immediately following a rousing choir performance and right before the sermon?
Do your people even understand what they should be doing in a worship service? Do they know what they should be experiencing, what approach they should be taking? Are they aware that the prelude is to be a time of silent meditation and preparation for the things to come and not a time to visit?
The people will appreciate the worship service only as much as the pastor appreciates it himself. If the pastor hurries through all the preliminaries with the attitude, “let’s get this over with so we can get to my sermon,” the congregation will think that nothing is really important except the sermon, and maybe the special song, if it is their favorite kind of music and is performed well. The people will see nothing wrong in talking to their neighbor instead of singing the congregational songs. They will see nothing wrong with looking around or passing notes during the prelude. They will see nothing wrong in letting their minds wander during the prayers.
Although you may not actually let your attitude show as you administer the service, if you have done a poor, or last-minute job of planning, the attitude will come through just as clearly as if you told the people, “Hang loose; only the sermon counts!” Certainly the sermon is important, but it is no more important than the invocation, or the congregation singing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” or anything else that is done as a means of praise and adoration. When the pastor catches the vision of what a complete worship experience can and should be, it will not be long before his people will catch the enthusiasm and will discover God as they never have before, merely because they have learned to worship him properly.
Here are some practical points that could help you improve your worship service.
1. Meet early in the week with your instrumentalists, song leader, choir director, and others who assist in the worship service. Have your basic worship order planned before you meet with them. Ask them for suggestions. Coordinate the choir, the prelude, the offertory, the recessional, and other special music. Plan a few surprises that aren’t in the bulletin. The up-front people will be ready. For example, for the opening hymn sing, “O Worship the King.” Go immediately from that to the chorus, “O Come Let Us Adore Him.” The people will be surprised, but delighted, and will receive an extra blessing.
2. If you normally make your announcements in the middle of the service, try making them at the beginning or at the end, or just print them in the bulletin and let the people read them. If the announcements are printed, they should not need to be read aloud. If something must be announced from the pulpit, the worship service will not be interrupted if the announcements are given even before the first hymn, or after the benediction, though the former is more effective.
3. Spend time in preparing your pastoral prayer, invocation, or any other prayer. If a layman is selected to pray in the service, give him some instruction on preparation. The function of public prayer in the service is to lead the people in prayer. Poorly constructed prayers cannot do this nearly as well as sincere, but previously planned prayers. Also, it is beneficial to lead your congregation in silent directed prayer: “Tell God what you are thankful for. Ask him to bless the person on your right. Tell him the things that are causing you anxiety right now, silently, in your own words. Tell him how much you love him. Take a few moments just to listen to him. He has something very special to tell you if you will only listen.” I have had a number of people tell me that this time of silent prayer and meditation is the most meaningful time in the worship service to them.
4. Try some innovations, but don’t change everything every week. Plan on doing one or two things differently each week. You know the old saying, “Variety is the spice of life.” It can also be the spice of worship. When we really think about it we realize that it is not the programmed services that are dull or cold, it is the services that are continuous repetitions of everything that has been done the same way for years. Even responsive readings or litanies are not cold or unspiritual if they are fresh. If properly chosen and incorporated into the service, these readings can mean a lot. Don’t feel it is necessary to limit your resources for public readings to the hymnbook or the Bible. There are many great poems that can be used, for example T.S. Eliot’s “Ash Wednesday,” or “Choruses From the Rock.” Do you have a writer in your church? This person is probably frustrated due to lack of opportunity to use his talents for God and the church. You would do him and the church a great favor if you periodically ask him to write some readings for your services and possibly even let him lead them. Most often, the author of a piece can make it live as no one else can.
5. No matter what you do in your worship service, be sure to plan everything with climax in mind. Each small segment of the worship service should build upon what has come before it and prepare the way for what is coming after it. In that way the service will build without interruption toward a climax, ending with your sermon. It is best, if you normally sing two congregational hymns, to begin with a praise anthem. The second song should be slower, more subdued, of a meditative-introspective nature.
6. Use your bulletin to your advantage. At appropriate places in your printed order of worship, interject a Scripture verse or quote that describes your objective at that point in the service. Try finding new names for the activities of worship such as using the term “Conversation With God” instead of “prayer,” or “The Moment of Truth” instead of “Scripture reading,” or “Faith Expressed Through Music,” instead of “special selection.”
7. Take time to teach your people to worship properly. Preach a series of sermons on worship, or offer a special elective Sunday school class on the subject. Use your church mailer to give pointers on how to worship God.
8. Above all else, develop your own theology of worship. Know why you do what you do in the worship service. Let your people know, too.
John Wesley Howell is associate pastor, Meadowood Free Methodist Church, Aurora, Colorado.
