SWEET HOUR OF WORSHIP

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.