SWEET HOUR OF WORSHIP
As the church service was ending last Sunday I thought to
myself, “I have really been blessed this morning.” What was it about the
service that made me feel that way, because honestly, it doesn’t happen very
often? Like the majority of worshippers, many who have quit attending
regularly, I am usually just grateful that I have endured to the end, and it is
the end.
In a disclaimer I will admit to being from the baby boomer
generation. One of our shared values has been excellence in worship. This
service was very well done. Every leader, speaker, usher, deacon and deaconess,
and musician was ready and prepared when it was their time on stage.
There were several things I identified that made the
service. First, there was a full house of worshippers. It was in a building
made for worship, and pretty much every seat was taken with people of all ages,
many colors, and a pretty equal amount of men and women.
Partly as a result of the full house, partly because of the
quality of the musicians, music filled the house. If you chose to sing, and I
usually do, you didn’t feel like you were the only one. Some of the songs were
ones I didn’t know; others were very familiar; it was a good music service.
Part of the excellence was of the technical kind. The audio
was loud enough that you could hear without blaring, and every one
participating had a microphone and were not timid about speaking into it. I
plainly heard every word. The lighting was such that I could see the
expressions on the faces of speakers. When a speaker’s face is in the shadows
they lose a part of their communication ability. Churches really should pay
more attention to simple lights.
Every part of the service carried with it an explanation.
The pastor began by telling us when we would be through, or at least when the
invitation would begin. He missed by 2 minutes. The musical selections, both
congregational and special, were explained and we were told why we were using
them. There was an explanation of the offering and no apology for collecting it.
There was a special missions part of the service and missions was explained.
Basically, even a visitor like me knew what was going on at all times.
Then to top it all off, the sermon was excellent. The
speaker wasn’t what I would call dynamic but he was well spoken. His sermon
appealed to both my head and my heart. It was an excellent blending of thinking
and emotion. (It wasn’t until the next day I learned that the Pastor of the
church is a Theology professor at the seminary.)
They closed the worship service with a joint reading of the
church covenant which was pasted into the front of each hymnbook. I have never
seen that done before. It was not a standardized covenant, it was well written
and thought out and described the covenant that each church member was making
with other members and with God.
I can’t help but
think that if current day church leaders would put the same effort into their
Sunday service, they might experience more full houses of worship.
