The Worship Pastor at my church recently returned from a three month sabbatical. I had the opportunity, along with a couple other guys, to lead a little more frequently in his absence. While getting somewhat back into the groove of leading regularly was a blast, as I reflect on various services I led I was reminded of the danger of the exceptional service. Why? I was given the opportunity to lead roughly once a month, so I would spend the time between services meditating, praying, scheming and mapping out the service coming up next. That’s a lot of prep for a single service. And God really did bless those services (in spite of all my hard work, I might add). It got me thinking, “Wow. I really am a great worship leader – I had almost forgotten. Man I can’t wait to get in a church where I can do this every week!” My first thought was that I would be able to bless whatever congregation God led me to with the most incredible worship services every week. Then God poked my brain with a 2×4 and reminded what a ludicrous thought that was.

What’s wrong with having an exceptional worship service? Nothing, really. Excepting, of course, the ever lurking danger of pride. First, though, let me explain what I mean by ‘exceptional worship service’: a service where everything goes right. Not perfect – just right. It’s not that the musicians don’t make mistakes (or even yourself), but that the mistakes that are made are either overlooked or don’t affect the service. You, as the leader, are tuned into the Spirit and everything just flows – everything you planned and pulled together comes together, not because of your effort but because of the blessing of the Lord.

This is a good thing – this is what you strive for every week. Right? Maybe. Maybe not. When the exceptional becomes the norm, then regular becomes sub-par. So do you only attempt “awesome” services infrequently, or at least spaced out? Wouldn’t it be awesome for your church to be that church that has the most awesome services ever! Every week!

But that’s a lot of pressure. You have to deliver every single week. There’s no let up, no time off. Oh, wait – you can draft a lay leader in every now and then so they get a little experience (and maybe remind the congregation why you’re the best worship leader ever!). Then when you can come back you can do an even awesomer service (yes, by the way, awesomer is a completely valid word, please ignore your spell checker).

Any experienced worship pastor/leader knows that the last seven sentences are ludicrous. Not every service can be a high point, a climactic event in the life of the church. “Why not?” you ask. As unrealistic as the expectation is, the reality would be even more dangerous and unhealthy to your congregation. It’s the greatest danger in the pentecostal and charismatic circles where there is an almost euphoric spiritual ‘high’ sought by many in every service they participate in, and services are often (consciously or unconsciously) graded on how incredibly the Spirit moved within them.

Every denomination, church, even congregant has their own way of grading services though, whether they find them to be exceptional or not. Baptists are as guilty as Methodists or Presbyterians or even those in any of the numerous charismatic/pentecostal alliances or denominations. As worship leaders, we are as guilty as those we lead, though we often grade the services using different standards.

But what should we strive for? Should we seek to make each service more incredible than the last? No. Should we schedule in a ‘tricked out’ service periodically? Say…maybe once a quarter, or something like that? Again, no. So we should seek normalcy in our services? The danger of normalcy is it often turns into drudgery.

My personal solution, my personal perspective is that you take each service on its own. Every church has a liturgy (or pattern) within their worship. This is always a great place to start, as long as you keep in mind the option that things could be changed around. Don’t force it, but rather let what the pastor is teaching guide you in your service prep. Make sure you are regularly spending time in prayer and in the Word, so you are tuned to the Spirit. That way, as you meditate on what the preacher will be sharing on Sunday you can be tuned into the need (or even opportunity) to mix things up, change things around. But never do it for the reason of creating that “exceptional service” but rather so that you can better shore up, emphasize and even apply what is being taught.

God moves differently every week. ‘Exceptional’ services are great, but in reality, they are merely different. What is exceptional is when God moves and touches someone’s heart. That can happen when you use an order of worship you’ve used a thousand times. The danger of exceptional worship services versus normal ones is that the focus shifts from what God is doing to what we are experiencing. Let us shepherd our hearts (and our people) so we do not seek an exceptional service, but rather we seek our exceptional God.

It is simplicity itself. It makes such perfect sense people often forget about it, and when they do things get awkward so very quickly.

What is it?

Inviting people to stand.

Why is this so important? Unless your church has a very established liturgy where the people know they are to stand or sit at specific times during the service, they are always unsure – unless they are told outright. It may seem like an awkward thing, but inviting people to stand is a very clear way of leading them into the worship time.

Upon being invited to stand, they know they are no longer spectators but are participants.

There are many different ways it can be said, different ways it can be phrased. “Please stand to your feet,” may feel like a command. So make it a suggestion: “Lets all stand as we enter into worship this morning…” It can be used to lead into a scripture reading: “As you stand to your feet let us consider what the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians…”

There are almost an unlimited amount of different ways to do this, but it must be done. People can confidently follow where they are clearly led. Inviting people to stand insures they know that standing is appropriate for that specific portion of the service, just as telling them they are free to take a seat at the end of the musical portion of the worship service.

Lead your people well with simple clarity. Maturity as a leader is not necessarily shown with awe-inspiring acts and revelations. Leading well and clearly in even such a simple thing contributes to your people being able to focus more thoroughly on glorifying God and less on other distracting matters.

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edit: Please note the comments below – there are some excellent points!

I had a wonderful time today on Mother’s Day worshiping with my parents at their church. After the opening song by the band, a man stepped up on stage and said he wanted to share with us Colossians 3. Which he proceeded to do – from memory! My mom remarked to me that this gentleman has the rather admirable practice of memorizing large portions of scripture, which he shares with the congregation every month or so.

As a side note, I want to note that the way the man presented himself and the literal Word that he was bringing was not in the attitude of a superior, “Look what I’ve done” attitude. You could tell that he was sharing the Word of God with the Body to bless it.

The more I learn about the New Testament, specifically the many epistles, the more I appreciate the oratorical element to how many of them were written. The authors were aware that their letters were going to be read out loud, at least to a specific congregation, if not to many. So the way this gentleman was bringing the Word to the congregation was very much in line with how it was brought to the local bodies nearly 2,000 years ago.

It seems to me that our people all too often are fed bits and pieces of the Word. Yet the Bible was never meant to be digested one sentence at a time, each separated from all the others. I think it is essential for our people to be regularly presented with (i.e. read aloud) larger portions of scripture. Multiple paragraphs and even entire chapter(s).

If you have people (specifically those talented in the dramatic arts) who can memorize, or at least dramatically read, these larger portions of scriptures it can be a wonderful way of helping bring these words which date back nearly two thousand years alive once more. Your people need to be continually brought face to face with the Word itself, and utilizing the talents and/or abilities which lay in your people is a way in which you can do this and at the same time encourage and empower the members of your congregation to serve and minister to the Body.

These are just a few thoughts I’ve developed over the past few years in regards to the rather common occurance of two different types of services on Sundays – the Traditional Service and the Contemporary Service. Why do churches usually do this? I it usually a very honest and heartfelt attempt to reach as many people as possible. They know that the older generation, as well as a minority of younger people prefer a traditional service over a contemporary. They also realize that they must begin to develop more contemporary practices in their services so that they will remain relevant to the present younger generation and generations to come.

For most churches the traditional service utilizes a choir and organ, many times with piano. There is often a hymnal used (instead of a lyric display system). The contemporary service, on the other hand, is typically characterized by the use of a band, more chorus-type songs, and a lyric display system. The stylistic differences, in fact, are limited. But there is often an attitude difference between the two as well, the traditional service often emphasizing, well, tradition as well as the holiness and righteousness of God (an emphasis upon respect when entering the Sanctuary), while the contemporary service emphasizes a freedom in structure and the community of believers.

So what is wrong with having a traditional service to minister to those who prefer to worship that way, and then a contemporary service for those who prefer to worship that way? Well, are you pastoring one church or two? In many churches the only point of continuity between the two services is the message – different songs are used in each service (songs which are more complementary to the style of the service).

In developing two differently themed services the message being sent to the congregation is that worship is about what you (as a worshipper) are comfortable with. Starting with the story of Cain and Able, and running rather overtly through the Old Testament and even emerging in the New Testament is a very clear theme of worship not being about man’s comfort zone. God dictates how we worship, not us.

So what does a pastor do about the contemporary versus traditional conflict which rages in every church? Simple and yet very, very tough: pastor your flock. They need to be taught and loved into understanding the true heart of a worshipper – one that is more focused on the meaning and theology of the songs than their style, a heart that is more focused on the glorification of God than on its personal comfort zone. As a worship leader, please realize that if all you sing are hymns you are depriving your congregation of numerous, relevant and theologically sound worship choruses. On the other hand, if all you sing are choruses, then your congregation’s worship diet is in dire need of the theological depth (insight and wisdom) found in hymns.

There are contemporary takes on hymns which will take your breath away, and there are songs written in the modern age which have the same theological depth as many hymns. Understand that there is no theological argument for either contemporary choruses or traditional hymns to be used exclusively. And in pandering to the whims of the fringes of the congregation, the creation of differently styled services, instead of promoting unity, feeds the selfishness in their hearts and feeds the discord even more.

Understanding these theological and pastoral concerns, this more practical reality must also be swallowed: for most of the worshippers, the time of the service will be more important than the style. “What?!” you say. “‘Tis true,” I must admit. Depending on their sleeping schedules and afternoon plans, people will supercede their personal stylistic preference for a worship service that fits into their schedule better. So when the attendance of your early traditional service surges in the summer, the reality is more than likely that many of the additional attendees during hat season are not there for the traditional style, but rather because of a planned golf game or trip to the lake or some other event.

But what if you have already broken your congregation into two different services? Should you just suddenly stop? That would be foolish. Rather, if I were assuming a worship pastor position at a church that had both contemporary and traditional services the first very subtle step I would take would be to use the same songs in both services, with specific arrangements for their respective settings. This way the congregation is at least singing the same songs on Sunday. There would have to be a good amount of pastoral teaching on worship and specifically on the different types of songs (whenever it fit in to the sermon schedule or was appropriate in the sermons), and I would also utilize worship comments to contually teach the congregation about worship and about the songs being sung. Then after several months or even a year (or even more than a year if need be) of this I would begin to gradually utilize the same arrangements of songs in each service. There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of ways to do this while teaching and shepherding the body into a biblical mindset towards worship (and styles therein) – it will just take time and wisdom. And probably many lunches (or at least meetings) with those individuals who are the most concerned (and/or vocal) about the transition.

So there is my personal reason for an aversion to the utilization of a separate contemporary and traditional service in a church: it is dangerous to the health of the body because it introduces a element of continual division in the congregation. And, also, by forcing yourself to become either “traditional” or “contemporary” you actually box yourself in stylistically (this latter reason is worth a post unto itself, mainly because it’s a creative/artistic reason….hmmm…check back on Wednesday…)

[note: also see my post on an alternative to the common conceptions of traditional and contemporary services]

This past Sunday was frustrating for me as a worshipper. I wasn’t leading or playing with the praise team – I was worshipping with my wife with the, rest of the congregation. The root of my frustration had nothing to do with either my wife or the congregation or the songs we were singing. No, in fact, it had everything to do with me. Or with my tongue, to be more specific. There was a nice little canker sore on my tongue and on Sunday it was hurting so badly that I couldn’t even speak correctly.

Yep, that was my frustration – I couldn’t sing in worship. Now, I don’t exactly take pride in my voice (it’s good – but not mindblowing by any stretch), but I really came to appreciate how involved in my worship it is when this past weekend I couldn’t really use it.

Do you have to sing to worship? No, worship isn’t about singing at all. It’s about exalting God and taking pleasure in that exaltation. So what does that have to do with singing? As I thought about it, when I sing, I engage in worship with my entire being: my heart, my mind, my body. When I stopped singing (because of the pain), I found that my worship had turned more into a meditation-like exercise of the mind – still worship, but not in the same dimension of engagement as when I was singing.

So, if one doesn’t sing, can one still worship during the music portion of a service. The answer would be a tentative ‘yes’. In my mind, when you choose not to sing, not to participate, you are distancing yourself from the community as it worships as well as denying your self a Biblically honoured method of worship.

What about those who cannot sing as they worship? Well, obviously there are medical and physical conditions which might limit or outright prevent someone from singing in worship. That is a cross I am grateful the Lord has not asked me to bear (at least yet). But I imagine that “entering in” during the musical worship portion is quite challenging for those who cannot vocalize.

So what’s the point of this post? Singing is important in worship. Whether or not you can carry a tune is irrelevant. Whether you are good or bad at it, when you sing, you engage more of yourself in worshipping the Lord. That glorifies him all the more.