A Guide for Worship Leaders Serving Congregations in the Reformed Tradition
Worship is at the very heart of the church’s life.
All that the church is and does is rooted in its worship.
The community of faith gathered in response to God’s call, is formed in its worship.
~ from the Book of Common Worship, PC USA
The corporate worshipping life of a congregation is core to its identity and mission. Knowing this to be true, wise interim and transitional pastors are attentive to the worship needs of the churches they serve. This guide is offered as a resource to aid in training worship leaders, liturgists, and others in the key movements and the various elements of a reformed worship service, also called The Service of the Lord’s Day.*
In the beginning, the people Gather in response to God’s call with praise and confession. Formed by the Word, the people Respond in acts of faith and communion. Finally, the people of God are Sent out to bear the peace of Christ for the sake of the world. In this way, the narrative of redemption is re-enacted each week. Seen in its entirety, Christian worship is rather spine-tingling stuff!
Gathering | The people gather in response to God’s call, offering praise in words of scripture, prayer, and song. In this movement of worship, the people acknowledge their sinfulness and receive the declaration of God’s forgiveness.
Prelude as people gather, they may informally greet one another as members of the household of faith. Silent prayer or quiet meditation is also appropriate, as is music appropriate to the season or to the scripture readings of the day.
Welcome a brief greeting warmly welcoming everyone to the service and orienting the people to the order of worship and other resources.
Call to Worship are words used to invite the gathered community to the unique activity of worship, by God's invitation, using scriptural language. If quoting Scripture, provide reference.
Prayer of the Day may be said here, or later in the service.
Song or Hymn of Praise the people sing to God, telling of God’s greatness, majesty, love, and goodness. Praise being the joyful response to the incomparable gift of God in Jesus Christ.
Call to Confession in words of scripture the people are called to confess the reality of sin in personal and corporate life. Claiming the promises of God sealed in our baptism we humbly confess our sin, confident of God’s grace and mercy. Option: the confession of sin may follow the intercessions before the Lord’s Supper.
Prayer of Confession is made by using a prayer, a penitential psalm, or appropriate music to engage us in acknowledging our sinfulness and in confessing our sin to God.
Assurance of Forgiveness having confessed our sin, we remember the promises of God’s redemption, and the claims God has on all human life. The assurance of God’s forgiving grace is declared in the name of Jesus Christ.
The Peace | Sharing the Peace of Christ having been reconciled to God in Jesus Christ, the people are invited to share signs of reconciliation and the peace of Christ. In sharing the peace, we express the reconciliation, unity, and love that come only from God, and we open ourselves to the power of God’s love to bear our brokenness and make us agents of that love in the world. Option: the peace may be included preceding the Lord’s Supper or when celebrating a baptism or a reaffirmation of the baptismal covenant, or another pastoral rite of the church.
The Word | Worship now moves to the reading, proclaiming, and the hearing of and response to God’s Word. Scriptures are read, and their message proclaimed. Psalms, hymns, spirituals, or anthems may be sung between readings. Responses to the proclamation of God’s Word include expressions of faith and commitment, and the offering of prayers for worldwide and local needs.
A Children’s Message is an optional scripture-based lesson shared to instruct those young in faith so that lifelong discipleship is modeled in the corporate worship of the congregation.
Scripture Reading(s) may include a first reading, a psalm, a second reading, and/or a Gospel reading. The readings may be read by a minister or by a member of the congregation or read responsively or antiphonally (two groups reading in pairs).
Prayer for Illumination may be offered before the reading and proclaiming of the scripture. This prayer seeks the illumination of the Holy Spirit and calls upon God to make us receptive.
Message when the Bible has been read, its message is proclaimed in a sermon or other form of exposition of God’s Word. The Word may be proclaimed through music or other art forms faithful to the gospel. The proclamation of God’s Word in scripture and sermon invites a response of faith. We respond in song, affirmation of faith, prayer, and offering.
Time for Reflection may be provided for worshippers to reflect on the Word heard, to listen to God, and to contemplate what they may be asked to do in response. This time may include posting specific questions for contemplation or conversation.
Invitation after the sermon, the people may be called to discipleship, giving opportunity to any who wish to make or renew personal commitment to Christ and his kingdom. Option: this may be included in the Sending.
Affirmation of Faith by saying or singing a creed of the church, such as the Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed, expressing the faith of the whole church, the faith in which we were baptized.
Baptism as an act of the whole church, Baptism is celebrated (except for extraordinary circumstances) in the context of corporate worship. The basic order of Baptism is presentation, profession of faith, thanksgiving over the water, the Baptism, laying on of hands, welcome and the peace. (See Note 1)
Pastoral rites may also be celebrated here in response to Word including acts of commitment and recognition such as Christian marriage, ordination and installation of church officers, and commissioning for service in and to the church.
The service may be an occasion to recognize and give thanks for significant events in individual or community life, for reunions and farewells, and for remembering the loves of those who died.
Witness to faith and service and interpretation of the mission such as a ‘Moment for Mission’ and programs of the church may be offered here as aids to preparing for the people’s intercessions (prayers), as well as the offering of themselves and their gifts to support the ministry of Christ and the church.
Prayers of the People in response to the Word, prayers are offered, acknowledging God’s presence in the world and in daily life. Across the ages the church in its worship has prayed for the church universal, the world, all in authority, and those in distress or need; praying for the world because God loves it.
The Eucharist | As hearing becomes doing, the tithes and offerings of the people are gathered, and the table is set with bread and wine/juice. The people are invited to the table of the Lord. Prayer is offered in which God is praised for creation and providence, Christ’s work of redemption is remembered with thanksgiving, and the Holy Spirit is invoked upon and in the church. (See Note 2)
Offering the Christian life is marked by offering of one’s self to God to be shaped, empowered, directed, and changed by God. In worship, God presents us with the costly self-offering of Jesus Christ. We are claimed by Christ and set free. In response to God’s love in Jesus Christ we offer God our lives, our gifts, our abilities, and our material goods, for God’s service.
Communion in this sacrament, the bread and wine/juice, the words and actions, make the promises of God visible and concrete. The Word proclaimed in scripture and sermon is confirmed, for all that the life, death, and resurrection of Christ mean is focused in the Sacrament. In the Eucharist the church blesses God for all that God has done, is doing, and promises to do, and offers itself in obedient service to God’s reign. In this, the church is renewed and empowered, and the people of God are sustained by the promised presence of Christ and are assured of participation in Christ’s self-offering.
The minister, or the one authorized to preside, invites the people to the Lord’s table using suitable words from scripture. The movements of communion are The Great Thanksgiving (including prayer, invitation, and the words of institution and may include the Lord’s Prayer), breaking of the bread (includes the pouring of wine of grape juice into the cup), communion of the people, and prayer.
Sending | as the service comes to a close, acts of commitment to discipleship, reaffirmation of the baptism covenant are appropriate responses to the Word received in the Sacrament.
Song hymn, spiritual, or Psalm may be sung
Invitations to join in service and acts of evangelism, compassion, justice, reconciliation, and peacemaking in the world may be offered, including programs and fellowship opportunities.
Benediction a formal dismissal concludes the service, which can take the form of a charge and blessing, often called a benediction.
Post Worship opportunities for fellowship, worship stations, and other activities of the church including drive-thru church to receive communion elements, drop off offerings or mission donations, and pick up resources such as devotional books, etc.
Additional Resources
For the Liturgical Year – Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord, Transfiguration of the Lord, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Passion/Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, and more may be found in various publications including: the Book of Common Worship, most hymnals including the most recent Glory to God Presbyterian Hymnal (2013), the Worship Sourcebook by Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Faith Alive, and Baker Books (2013, second edition), and a personal favorite devotional book “Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God” by Bobby Gross (2009, IVP). Vanderbilt Divinity Library website offers a wealth of resources.
For Various Occasions – Christian marriage, family and personal life, the Funeral: A Service of Witness to the Resurrection, Pastoral liturgies including ministry to the sick, Holy Communion with Those Unable to Attend Public Worship, a Service for Wholeness, a Service of Repentance and Forgiveness, Prayer for the Time of Death, and more.
For the Lectionary – the purpose of the lectionary is to provide for a disciplined use of the whole range of scripture in the church’s worship. It contains scripture readings for each Sunday and festival in the three-year cycle. Each yearly cycle of readings and psalms begin with the First Sunday of Advent. Readings may be lengthened or shortened when required by the circumstances. Resources for lectionary use may be found in the Book of Common Worship, in hymnals, weekly resources in The Presbyterian Outlook Magazine “Looking into the lectionary”, to name a few. Please add your favorites in the comments below.
Finally, see the “Directory for Worship” in the Book of Order, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for additional guidance and helpful details about planning services of worship.
Contact me for additional resources and sample guides created for local congregations.
* The Service of the Lord’s Day takes place typically on the first day of week due to its special significance, since it was on ‘the first day of the week’ that Jesus’ followers discovered the empty tomb and met the risen Lord. Gathered on the Lord’s Day, Christians celebrate the age to come, which was revealed in the risen Christ, by remembering the words and deeds of Jesus and celebrating the presence of the risen Christ among them in the Word proclaimed and, in the bread, and cup of the Eucharist.
1. Baptism and Reaffirmation of the Baptism Covenant for those making a public profession of faith and for those uniting with a congregation (typically through church membership or youth confirmation) orders for worship, prayers, and additional resources may be found in the Book of Common Worship and The Worship Sourcebook.
2. For Invitations to the Lord’s Table, Great Thanksgiving (liturgies for celebration of communion), and prayers after communion see Book of Common Prayer and The Worship Sourcebook.
What practices help you prepare to stand before a beloved worshipping community as a worship leader? Thank you to photographer Annie Spratt for this lovely photo of a pulpit taken in the UK, found on Unsplash.com