Pastor's Message

April 2005

In last month’s column I described three types of worship but the reality is that most worship is a blend of all three. Some might think that our worship is liturgical, but according to Andy Langford’s book, “Transitions in Worship” there are a number of elements from Praise and Worship and Seeker Services that are now part of our worship here. He suggests thirty-three elements, but I will only mention those where our worship seems to fit.

Establish a theme for the day – every part of the worship must reinforce a central theme. Most of our Sunday services are connected to a central theme derived from our Scripture lessons.

Ask the question, “So What?” I usually ask this question as I start my sermon preparation and often in the benediction seek to give a brief answer to the question as I challenge the congregation to go and practice the point of the lesson for the day.

Simplify the order of service – well, we haven’t “cut, cut, cut” as Langford suggests, but we have used a variety in our responses – for example the Sanctus on World Communion Sunday and various alternate prayer and offertory responses.

Improve off-street parking, nursery, restrooms and directional signs – we did some of these. Our parking has expanded considerably, we have put up more signs coming into town and inside our building and we offer good nursery facilities. Maybe we need to do some work on those restrooms…

Use greeters – Langford suggests that every worshipper should be greeted three times before the service – in the parking lot, at each door and in the sanctuary. He also suggests the pastor should greet visitors in the pew before the service. So if you see a visitor, let me know so that I can greet them before the service. As for parking lot greeters, let’s wait for warmer weather!

Improve the Sound System – we recently made some improvements in the Sanctuary and have plans for a new system in the Main Sunday School Room. Any further suggestions?

Improve visibility – do we need to improve our lighting in the Sanctuary? Can everyone see the actions of the worship service, or do we need more platforms in front so that people can see well?

Practice reading the Scripture before the service – and provide an introduction that sets the scene of the lesson and shows the connection with the theme for the day. Your pastor, lectors and all children and youth who help lead worship service get this practice. The pastor also writes introductions for lectors.

Start on time – I think we are good here.

End on time – uh, usually…

Pick up the pace of the service – eliminate all “dead spots.” We usually move along well, but there are some “dead spots” in our service as folks move from one position to another, especially when we have folks coming forward from the congregation. We have made some changes, for example with communion servers and ushers, which seem to help, but perhaps we need to listen to the tape of the service and then try to find a way to increase the flow whenever there is a “dead spot” in the tape.

Use more music - Langford suggests that a service should be at least 40% music. We have a nice variety with our choirs and special music, but has anybody timed our service to see if we are close to this number?

Use a variety of music –we subscribe to a copyright licensing service so that we can include new (and old) hymns in our congregational singing. We also use music occasionally in special places in the service (especially with our mixed ensemble). Any other suggestions?

Involve the children – children’s choirs, bell choirs, children’s messages, promotion Sunday, Youth Sunday are all opportunities to include the children and youth in our church, but we could be doing more. Maybe another worship service will be helpful.

And this brings us back to the discussion at our Annual Meeting. Could we add another service? What style should it be? Could we focus on youth involvement if we had another service? I have some thoughts that I will share in next month’s Pastor’s Column, but if you have any ideas, please share them with me.