Wallace SC&W Resources
Worship Dynamics
When have you had a worship experience that filled and thrilled you? When have you felt like you should take off your shoes because you had come into the very presence of God? Worship is a powerful opportunity to share time with our God. It is a chance to open our hearts, to learn, receive healing, get direction and to praise the Lord for all that has been and is being done for us. Yet unless certain aspects of worship are attended to it can become a barrier between God and us rather than the conduit connecting us. Perhaps you have experienced worship where what was taking place, or how it was taking place, distracted and kept you from connecting with God. Here are some of the issues needing to be considered in planning and leading worship.
Flow: How do the various parts of the worship service fit together? Do they all build on each other or do they feel like separate things all shoved together? Do the part ebb and flow in intensity of sound, emotion, demand? Attention needs to be given so that there is a unity in the service and a movement from beginning to the end. The worship is to start where people are and move them to a different place. In looking at the flow of the worship service consider these kind of things:
Where different parts of the service join together does it ‘flow’ or do you
feel like you are ‘popping the clutch’ or hitting a speed bump?
Are you moving from an intimate moment to a loud and impersonal time
(e.g. sharing a testimony to giving announcements) without ?
Are all parts of the service equally intense or are some filled with more
passion than others?
Is there any ‘building’ that takes place or could you start anywhere in the
service equally well?
Language: What words are being used? What frame of reference are you expecting the people present to have? The following parody is only humorous if you know the songs. Can you imagine the struggle an unchurched person or a non-Christian would have in trying to understand the message?
A Hymnal for the Non-Committal
Table Of Contents:
A Comfy Mattress Is Our God Above Average is Thy Faithfulness
All Hail the Influence of Jesus’ Name Amazing Grace, How Interesting the Sound
Blest Be the Tie That Doesn’t Cramp My Style Be Thou My Hobby
God of Taste, and God of Stories He’s Quite a Bit to Me
I Lay My Inappropriate Behaviors on Jesus I Surrender Some
I’m Fairly Certain That My Redeemer Lives Joyful, Joyful, We Kinda Like Thee
Lord, Keep Us Loosely Connected to Your Word Lift Every Voice and Intellectualize
My Faith Looks Around for Thee My Hope is Built on Nothing Much
O God, Our Enabler in Ages Past Oh, for a Couple of Tongues to Sing
Oh, How I Like Jesus Pillow of Ages, Fluffed for Me
Praise God from Whom All Affirmations Flow Self-Esteem to the World! The Lord is Come
Sit Up, Sit Up for Jesus Special, Special, Special
Spirit of the Living God, Fall Somewhere Near Me Stick Nearby, It’s Getting Dark Outside
There is Scattered Cloudiness in My Soul Today Take My Life and Let Me Be
There Shall be Sprinkles of Blessings What an Acquaintance We Have in Jesus
When Peace, Like a Trickle. . . When the Saints Go Sneaking In
Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following
Contributed by: Travis Moore
Are you using ‘churchy’ words (e.g. narthex, sanctify, invocation) or words that are meaningful to particular generations (Grassy Noll, Space Shuttle Columbia, ipod, BBFE). It is fine to use group targeted words, just make sure you are using words that match those you are trying to reach? It also is helpful to provide explanation of the words (in the worship sheet or verbally in the service.
Look at the titles of the parts of your service, what do they communicate
to outsiders (are they cryptic or sending the wrong message)?
Is language that is offensive or needlessly exclusive being used (obviously
Racial slurs fit here but also put downs of the young, elderly, etc.)?
Is the language dated and so distracting or even misleading (e.g. because
the meaning of words has changed)?
Order: Is the order of the service leading to where you want it to go? Flow has to do with the ups and downs of the parts of the service (their connection to each other) while the order has to do with the road being traveled. The order is what takes us somewhere. Are parts that ‘fit’ together next to one another? Are parts that break the flow (e.g. oftentimes the announcements because of how they are presented) put in a place so that they don’t erase the building of the service? While changing the order of worship can be very threatening it can also lead to more powerful services.
Why are things where they are located? How did the order come about? Are there the right/appropriate number of items?
Are there items that should be left out because they clutter up the service
(even though they might have been in use for a long time)?
Is the order leading to the right place, to any place?
Flexibility: A balance between order and flexibility adds tremendously to worship. The planning, reflecting, prayer and study provide an order of what is anticipated to take place. Yet the Holy Spirit at times opens up possibilities that can be used to do powerful things in a service. For instance, at times the service builds and you can feel that the upbeat song planned to close the service would not be best choice. In the planning it fit and looked right but now, because of how things have come together, a more reflective piece would take worship even higher. Can the shift happen? Should it happen? How does it happen?
It must be clear who has the role/right to change what takes place and there must be the foundation set up in order to take advantage of the ‘new direction’. A change in the invitation song might be exactly what is needed, but if the musicians aren’t prepared for the shift or if the computer operator doesn’t have the needed information then it will not be a positive experience. Flexibility can add tremendous power to a service and should be considers. However a few issues need to be considered:
What is the purpose of the change?
Is flexibility being used to be sloppy in planning beforehand?
Who needs to be considered in making changes mid-stream?
What processes need to be put into place in order to make the flexibility a
Positive (e.g. musicians, media persons, servers)?
Thematic Integrity: Each service is to share a message about God. The message should be able to be distilled down to a sentence. Once that is done then all the other aspects of the service should build on that theme in order to enhance it, show it from various angles, lift it up in different methods (drama, music, prayers, thoughts, message, visuals). This takes intentionality, forethought and planning to achieve. God works with a plan and worship is to be planned so as to most honor our Lord. There is a huge difference is a service where things fit thematically and where there is a hodgepodge of thoughts. Finding just the right song or just the right visual makes the difference between an OK service and one real Christ can be tangibly felt.
Leadership: The Minister needs to take the lead in the service and bring the facets together. While the musicians search for the music, the video people look for the material, only the minister knows what exactly fits with the heart of the message. This is not a dictatorial role but one of molding and fashioning (and certainly of having a veto if something is out of place). Hopefully all those involved in leading the service will have a relationship where the strengths of each are drawn up and respected.
Focus: Last but certainly not least (indeed it should be the primiary thing) is the need to keep in mind who the worship is about and for. Worship is for our Savior! The Lord is to be the focus of all aspects of the service.
Revised 09/12/07
