I heard a variation on this centrality of worship theme in a seminar some years back: "The 'main event' of the small church is it's worship service." My time as a pastor of a small congregation leads me to believe that's true. If so, it speaks loudly about our priorities as leaders in a small church context. In my small church setting, which went from 30 to 100 on a Sunday morning, I found that the worship service was the common point of contact for the congregation - both with each other and, I trust, with God. Worship was the common, shared experience of a geographically, generationally, educationally, and occupationally diverse group. I remember a significant discussion with church leadership on whether worship should be planned for believers or unbelievers. Our conclusion was that our worship would be primarily planned for believers, but with a significant and conscious mindset of hospitality toward visitors. That meant we understood our worship to be part of our witness, genuinely welcoming others to participate with us. It meant being cross-culturally sensitive, explaining the reasons for our practices and making them accessible to those who visited. For us it meant working with blend of music that reflected the diversity of the congregation, the community as a whole, and the musical and leadership gifts the Lord had given us -- even though it made all of the people a little unhappy half of the time. We didn't know the term "transformational worship," but I think we were working on the idea.
I appreciate worship being right near the top of the list of what makes for a healthy small church, because it's at the core of who we are. If we don't get this right, no matter what the size of the congregation, "healthy" doesn't describe the church. We worship because we are new creations in Christ, formed by God as his dwelling place, offering him the glory and praise he deserves (1 Pet 2:9-10). We are the instruments, not the audience, for worship. Those of you following this blog from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church may recall what our Book of Government says about the local congregation: "It is the privilege and primary duty of the particular church to worship God regularly. Out of the experience of worship, the Church renews her faith and clarifies her understanding of obedient service to God" (EPC Book of Government 4-2). Take a look at that italicized sentence again and consider it as a good description of "transformational worship."
- Is it true that the small church is centered on it's worship service, making it the "main event" in congregational life? Is that different than in a larger church?
- What do you think of what pastors of small say whose small churches have been in decline but are now growing:
- "The Sunday morning service is the most important single cause of renewal and turnaround in their churches."
- "Growth-producing outreach and evangelism in small churches is primarily related to inviting persons to attend warm and exciting experiences of worship." (Ron Crandall, Turnaround Strategies for the Small Church, 53, 87)
- Size does not make worship more effective...A crowd is not required to fulfill the elements of genuine worship--praise, confession of sin, communion with God, and the response of submission to him. (Glenn Daman, Shepherding the Small Church, p. 97)
- Worship in small churches is like a family reunion and more...Unlike the family reunion, worship in a large church is more like a band concert in the park where mostly strangers randomly gather to picnic, observe, and listen to the music...Carl Dudley suggests that small church worship is like a "folk dance" in slow motion...It is a folk dance because everyone is a participant, what each does in integral and related to what the others are doing, and the act of the dance recalls and recreates the culture that created the dance. (David R. Ray, The Big Small Church Book, 61-62)
- In our time, people are not drawn to a service of worship that is frills and fancy...What people are drawn to is a sense of the holy, a sense of sacrament, a sense that this service shares with them the sacramental grace of God. They know their lives are helped...The service is simple, strong, and stirring. It feels more like basic math than advanced trigonometry. (Kennon Callahan, Small, Strong Congregations, 174)
- One of the quality characteristics identified in Natural Church development is "inspiring worship." NCD's research concludes that the common element in high quality, growing churches is not their target audience, but whether or not their worship services are"inspiring." By that, NCD means "Whenever the Holy Spirit is truly at work, He will have a concrete effect upon the way a worship service is conducted, including the entire atmosphere of a gathering. People attending truly "inspired" services typically indicate that "going to church is fun." (Christian Schwarz, Natural Church Development, 31)
Has anyone read Preaching and Worship in the Small Church by Will Willimon and Bob Wilson? I have it on my shelf but haven't opened it yet. What did you think? Is it a good read?
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The Sunday morning worship is for us what the author describes viz the centerpiece of all we are and do, focusing our attention on our Source but also creating community.
ReplyDeleteRe the music wars: they were settled long ago and we use a hymnal which offers us a blend of traditional church hymns, gospel hymns, and contemporary hymns and choruses. The hymnbook allows people to have notes in front of them (most slides don't). The "book" also lends credibility to newer songs. We augment that with songs such as "Shout to the Lord", "In Christ Alone", etc. We are blessed to have both an excellent pianist and an excellent organist. We're also not adverse to the occasional use of guitar, accordion, recorder etc. Bob Wilbur, Covenant Church, Columbus, MS.
I did a study of order of service of all the churches in my Presbytery (Southeast) 2 years ago. The diversity is striking.
ReplyDeleteI have concluded that it is more difficult for small churches to do "contemporary" worship-- and do it well-- than to do more "traditional" worship services.
I have also concluded that more highly liturgical services are more successful in larger churches.
And, I have concluded that, generally speaking, "less is more" in worship. That is true with prayers, preaching, singing (not necessarily true with tithing though!) I believe people need both order, and simplicity, in worship.