Hearing and Responding to God's Word

Time with Children

Preschoolers are Dismissed

Scripture

Sermon

Hymn

Sending

Sending Song

Spoken Benediction

Note: This order of worship places the Prayers of the People before the sermon. An advantage of this placement is that the young children are still present.

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Worship is the only time we meet as an entire body to praise and honor God.  God is both the object and the host of our worship. Worship is about God, and God receives our worship. The congregational members are not a passive audience, but the actors. It is they who actively praise and honor God. The pastor, worship leader, song leader, etc., are all prompters or coaches whose task it is to encourage the audience to act, to praise and honor God. The purpose of worship is not to please each other; it is to please God.

Guidelines for Worship Leaders

Thank you for your efforts on behalf of worship at Columbus Mennonite. This congregation appreciates the variety of gifts and styles you help bring to our worship. May God bless you as you share your gifts.

The worship leader plans the service and leads it. We suggest the following time line.

• 2-4 weeks before the service, check Edit Grid for texts and themes, names of participants, special events included in the service, etc.  Read the scripture and begin preliminary planning and prayer for the service.

• One week before the service – send a proposed order of worship to the song leader and other participants and indicate where you need their decisions about hymns, music, etc.  Stay in touch with them.

• By 9:00 a.m. Thursday, or sooner – send a finalized order of worship, including hymns, to the church office, to Pastor Susan, and the preacher. Let the office know if a particular banner is desired.

• Sunday 9:00 a.m. – meet for prayer in the pastor’s office.

• Sunday 9:10 a.m. – sound check in the sanctuary.

• Sunday 9:20 – prelude begins.

General Worship Information.  Information about the worship service such as the texts, themes, participants, and notes about special elements such as baptisms, child dedications, sendings, etc., can be found at http://www.editgrid.com/user/tblosser/worship_schedule. This information is usually available weeks in advance so that worship planning can begin well ahead of time. 

A template for the service.  Above is a “Basic, Flexible Order of Worship,” based on Isaiah 6 and prepared by Marlene Kropf of Mennonite Church USA. It has been adapted for our use. Two templates for worship planning are also above. Worship leaders can use these as a starting point for services. 

Flow of worship.  A gathering hymn encourages people to move to their seats when the prelude ends. Some elements of worship are vertical because they direct our attention to God. Some are horizontal and help us connect with each other.  Some are outward, pointing us toward the world.  Anabaptist worship seeks a balance of these. Depending on the text, theme, and speaker’s intent, some services will contain more vertical elements, some more horizontal elements, etc. The worship leader determines the balance that is appropriate for each service.

The desired direction of an element determines the words and actions chosen by the worship leader. For example, if the congregation is praising God and our attention is being directed up to God, a sudden shift to greeting each other (horizontal) or comments about problems in the world (outward) will shift the focus of worship in a potentially jarring way. Likewise, using lengthy introductions or welcoming comments or sharing personal or political concerns may divert the congregation’s attention to the worship leader and away from the focus of worship.

Deadlines.  Give the proposed order of worship to the song leader a week before the service so the song leader has time to choose appropriate songs and contact accompanists. As worship leader, you are responsible to communicate your expectations and get needed information from other participants in a timely manner. The final order of worship should be e-mailed to the church office by 9:00 am on the Thursday before the service so the bulletin can be completed.              

Length of Worship.  A ten minute prelude begins at 9:20.  The gathering song or welcome begins at 9:30.  It is important that worship end by 10:40 so the children’s choir can begin to  practice at 10:45 and others can move to their 11:00 a.m. Christian Ed classes. Allow adequate time if communion or healing prayers are part of the service. You can decide not to have children’s time or sing fewer songs, especially if the congregation will sing during the sharing of communion elements or healing prayers.  

Go through the order of worship item by item to determine how many minutes the service will take. If it seems long, shorten it by shortening welcoming comments, prayers, or deleting a song. If the service unexpectedly runs longer than normal, try to shorten elements that you can during the service itself.  

Banner.  A notebook with photos of our banners is in the church office. If you want a particular banner, you can hang it or ask the church office to arrange it.  Banners should be hung before Sunday morning.

Announcements. We try to separate announcements from prayer requests to maintain a prayerful mood during that time. To that end, make announcements at a separate time during the service or just before the prayer time. You do not need to include “Announcements” in the Order of Worship. We encourage people to submit announcements ahead of time and try to keep them at a minimum.

If the worship service has unusual aspects that might confuse visitors, please be sensitive to that and offer an explanation at the beginning of the service. You might say something along the lines of “Today’s service is a bit different from our usual services in that....”

Prayers. This congregation appreciates an opportunity to share prayer needs and joys during an open microphone time. We encourage worship leaders to call this “Prayers of the People” rather than “Sharing Time” to remind people that they are requesting prayers. These prayers are usually followed by a pastoral prayer spoken by the worship leader or pastor or as a sung prayer led by the song leader.  If you want  Shepherding Team to lead this prayer, please request it in advance. Other prayers, at your discretion, can include an opening prayer, a prayer after the offering or a confession followed by words of assurance. The worship leader is responsible for sharing the prayers or requesting someone else to.

Prayer for Worship and Worship Participants.  Each Sunday morning principal participants in worship are invited to a time of prayer in the pastor’s office at 9:00.  This also serves as an important face-to-face time to make sure everyone has the same understandings about responsibilities for the morning.

Sound Checks.  The sound person is ready for sound checks with all participants at 9:10 am. It is important to make sure the microphones are hooked up correctly and have necessary batteries, etc. The pulpit microphone can be difficult to use and this is an opportunity to practice using it before the service.

Worship Leader Resources.  Two boxes marked “Resources for Worship Leaders” are on the bottom shelf of the bookcase in the library. These materials include our three hymnbooks, books with liturgical readings and a resource book for Taize services. If you borrow these resources, please return them promptly so others can use them.  

Communion.  Communion is usually offered four or more times a year.  Adults usually receive the communion elements in front of the church. Children not yet baptized are invited to receive an anointing and blessing from a designated person, usually in the back of the sanctuary.