planning worship

Planning Worship around the Church Year

by

The church year provides a ready-made pattern for worship. The key seasons are Advent and Easter, which not only mark important events in the life of our Lord but also inform the church’s responses to these events in outward and inward worship. In addition, the church year puts the congregation in tune with a great body of Christian tradition that stretches across the world and back through the centuries.

The church year, also known as the Christian year or the liturgical year, not only has a venerable place in Christian tradition but is an excellent framework around which to organize and plan worship over its course. In many churches today, the celebration of the Christian year is facilitated by the use of a three-year lectionary. This lectionary, indicating Old Testament, Psalm, New Testament, and Gospel readings for each Sunday and festival, not only makes possible the regular systematic reading of substantial portions of the Scripture but provides a biblical framework for the planning of worship.

Cycles of the Year

The Easter Cycle. The church year is composed of two interlocking cycles. The first is the Easter cycle. This begins on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent (forty weekdays before Easter), and includes Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and the fifty days following Easter, concluding with the Day of Pentecost. Its principal theological theme is the atonement. Its center is Holy Week with its commemoration of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, the Crucifixion on Good Friday, and the Resurrection on Easter Day. The fifty days following Easter, originally called the Pentecost, celebrate the new life in the risen Christ, and the Day of Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Spirit to the apostolic church. (Easter is the Sunday following the first full moon of spring, and the other dates are calculated from it.)

The Christmas Cycle. The second cycle is the Christmas cycle. Its theological theme is the Incarnation. The cycle begins with Advent, four Sundays before Christmas (the Sunday closest to November 30), leading into the celebration of Christmas on December 25. The twelve days of Christmas conclude with Epiphany on January 6 (Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night), celebrating the manifestation of Christ. The three great events associated with Epiphany are the revelation of Christ to the magi through the star, the revelation of Christ through the dove and the voice at his baptism, and the revelation of Christ in his turning the water into wine at the wedding at Cana. Today, these are usually celebrated successively on the first three Sundays of the new year.

Sunday. The celebration of Sunday as the Lord’s Day is the central building block of the Christian year. The weekly assembly of the people of God to hear God’s Word, to offer their common prayers, and to celebrate the sacraments lies at the heart of Christian celebration. The biblical word kyriake (Lord’s) occurs only in the phrases “the Lord’s Day” and “the Lord’s Supper.” Sunday is preeminently the Christian day of worship. It is the first day, the day of the creation of light, in Genesis 1. It is the day of Christ’s resurrection and the day of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the apostles on the Day of Pentecost. It is also the eschatological eighth day, the day that has a dawning but no evening, the eternal day of the heavenly Jerusalem. It is this weekly gathering for worship that gives meaning and form to the Christian year.

Seasons of the Year

Advent. The church year is generally considered to begin with Advent, although other days such as Christmas, Easter, the beginning of Lent, or even January 1 have sometimes been considered its beginning. The Advent season is almost archetypically a new year’s festival. It combines joy with penitence, looking back with looking forward, remembrance with hope. It celebrates the coming of Christ—both his coming as a baby at Bethlehem and his coming again in glory “to judge the quick and the dead.” The three great Advent figures are Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the Virgin Mary. The messianic prophecies of Isaiah have long been associated with Advent.

A traditional structure would begin with the eschatological Second Coming on the first Sunday. Isaiah 64:1 (“Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down … ”) and Mark 13:35 (“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back.”) are typical themes. Bach’s “Sleepers Wake” and Charles Wesley’s “Lo! He Comes, with Clouds Descending” are typical Advent Sunday hymns. On the middle Sundays, the Baptist’s preaching of the coming of the kingdom is the typical theme. “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is a hymn commonly sung here. On the fourth Sunday, our attention is turned toward Christmas. Luke’s account of the annunciation to Mary and a hymn-like “I Know a Rose Tree Springing” move the theme toward the Incarnation. In North American culture, it is easy to lose sight of preparing for and looking forward to a festival and to be carried away by its anticipated celebration. Advent is intended to prepare us for Christmas, leading gently into it. Promise of Glory (Catherine Nerney [Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, n.d.]) contains a number of forms for Advent special services, as well as services for Christmas and Epiphany that keep the boundaries clear while recognizing the impossibility of refusing to live in our own culture.

In many churches, an Advent wreath—an evergreen wreath with four candles in it and sometimes a fifth in the center—is lighted during this season. One candle is lighted on the first Sunday of Advent, two on the second Sunday, and so on. If a fifth candle is used, it is lighted on Christmas. The candles symbolize the light of Christ shining in the darkness.

Christmas and Epiphany. The celebration of Christmas on December 25 and during the twelve days until Epiphany is the climax of the season. Christmas celebrates not just the birthday of the Christ child, but also the Incarnation. The prologue to John’s Gospel, as well as the nativity account in Luke, are proper Christmas readings. John 1 is an appropriate reading and sermon text for one of the Sundays following Christmas. The season ends with the celebration of the baptism of Christ on the Sunday after Epiphany or (in some churches) of Christ’s presentation in the temple on Candlemas (February 2). The baptism of Christ is an obvious occasion to make the principal service a baptismal service. The reading of the Gospel account of our Lord’s baptism provides an occasion for a sermon on baptism as an introduction to the baptismal rite. Epiphany baptisms were the custom of many ancient churches of both East and West, and it is a tradition that can be profitably revived. If Candlemas is observed, the song of Simeon (Luke 2:29–32), with its reference to the light to enlighten the nations, serves as the pivot for a service of light and the refocusing of attention from looking back to Christmas to looking forward to the Crucifixion (Luke 2:34–35).

The baptism of Christ is celebrated on the first Sunday after Epiphany, and other manifestations of Christ on the following Sunday. The Lutheran and Episcopal versions of the three-year lectionary read the account of the Transfiguration on the Sunday before the beginning of Lent, using the references to the Passion and Resurrection in the accounts as a transition into the Easter cycle.

Lent. The Easter cycle celebrates the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ and the church’s participation in it. The cycle begins with the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday (a sort of Christian Yom Kippur), on which penitential liturgies reflect our confrontation with our own mortality and our sorrow for sin. Lent, however, is intended to be not a daily repetition of Ash Wednesday but a season of preparation for the joy of Easter. Baptism, the sacrament of the forgiveness of sins and participation in the resurrection of Christ, is the Easter sacrament par excellence, and Lent originated as a season of preparation for baptism. Its themes, therefore, are repentance, spiritual growth, and entering into union with Christ. The temptation of Christ in the wilderness is the traditional theme for the first Sunday in Lent (“Forty days and forty nights, thou wast fasting in the wild”). The most ancient readings for the Lenten season are the Gospel readings for the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays from Year A of the three-year lectionary. These readings are narratives of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, the healing of the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus. The ancient Lenten lessons provided the texts for the instruction of candidates for Easter baptism and still serve as an introduction to the great theological themes to lead a congregation to renewal at Easter.

Lenten services can be planned to have a distinctive seasonal tone. The use of distinctive Lenten vestments or ornamentation of the church building, the choice of hymns, and the inclusion of penitential elements in the service are all ways of marking the season. Some churches refrain from using flowers during Lent; others use a single budding branch as a sign of spring and resurrection to come. Often, midweek evening services are a part of a congregation’s Lenten plan.

Holy Week. Holy Week is central to the liturgical year. It begins on Palm Sunday. Traditionally, the celebration has had two distinct foci: the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, often expressed by a palm procession at the beginning and the distribution of palms to the congregation; and the Passion, marked by the reading of the Gospel account of the Crucifixion from one of the Synoptics and the singing of passion hymns and chorales. The movement from the joy of the Triumphal Entry to the solemnity of the Passion narrative is extremely powerful.

The contrast can be emphasized by gathering for the distribution of palms and the reading of the account of the Triumphal Entry in a place other than the church and proceeding to the church carrying palms. The hymns “All Glory, Laud and Honor” and “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty,” are traditionally associated with the procession. The reading and preaching of the Passion, with appropriate music, then follows in the church.

Maundy Thursday is celebrated as the anniversary of the Last Supper. The celebration of the Eucharist with the reading of the account of the Supper are obvious ways of marking the day. In many places, John’s account of the Last Supper is also read, and a symbolic foot-washing takes place. The calendar ties the Last Supper to the events that followed it—the betrayal, trial, and Crucifixion—and the preacher should do likewise.

Good Friday is the church’s solemn commemoration of the Crucifixion. John’s account of the Crucifixion is the traditional reading. It was for this occasion that Bach composed his St. John’s Passion. In some places, preaching on the Passion for three hours has become traditional. A more liturgical tradition links the reading and preaching of the Passion to devotions before the cross. An excellent modern interpretation of the traditional anthem, “The Reproaches,” is contained in From Ashes to Fire (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1979) and has been reprinted in many other service books.

Prayer vigils, either between the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, or from Good Friday until Easter sunrise, are often included in the planning. Increasingly, the ancient tradition of celebrating the Great Vigil of Easter between sunset Saturday and Easter sunrise is being revived. It was at this vigil that the catechumens were baptized, and it concluded with their reception of Holy Communion at the sunrise service on Easter.

The Easter Vigil. The Easter Vigil begins with a service of light at which the Paschal candle is lighted. This burns during worship throughout the fifty days from Easter to Pentecost and is a symbol of the season and our life in the risen Christ. It is also lighted at baptisms and funerals to continue the symbolism. The Word service contains a series of Old Testament readings. The congregation renews their baptismal vows, and baptisms (if there are any) take place. The Vigil concludes with the first service of Easter, traditionally a Communion service, including the reading of Matthew’s account of the Resurrection.

Like the baptism of Christ, the Easter Vigil is a traditional time for baptisms. The Pauline baptismal theology of Romans 6 associates baptism so deeply with the death and resurrection of Christ that its celebration at this time has been a constant feature of Christian tradition. Lent is the time of preparation for baptism, the baptism itself is at Easter, and the fifty days of Easter are a period of rejoicing as the new Christians enter into the risen life.

Easter Season and Pentecost. Alleluia! is the great Easter word, and it is included in hymns and responses throughout the Easter season. The festal adornment of the church building and the joyful tone of the worship continues until Pentecost. The resurrection appearances and the life of the apostolic church as recorded in Acts are the customary Scripture readings and sermon themes. The Ascension is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter (a Thursday) or the Sunday following, and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) on the Day of Pentecost, which brings the season to a close. This is a part of the same Easter celebration, and services should be planned integrally for all eight Sundays. Frequently, the Easter character of services is lost after a week or two, so that Pentecost seems an unrelated celebration when it arrives. The early church called the Easter season “fifty days of rejoicing.” It follows the forty days of Lent and provides balance.

Pentecost itself is appropriately observed in many churches as the day for confirmation. It is a celebration of the spread of the church throughout the world in the power of the Holy Spirit, and Christian unity, Christian missions, and evangelism are suitable Pentecost themes. Following the example of Acts 2, the Word is often proclaimed in as many languages as the congregation can muster among its people.

The Season after Pentecost. The season after Pentecost is the season of the life of the Christian church. We ourselves actually live in the season between Pentecost and the Second Advent. Some churches call it “ordinary time,” but it is the time of our redemption. At the beginning of November, the parables of the kingdom become the Sunday readings, and post-Pentecost begins to look forward to Advent. It is not reasonable to plan the entire post-Pentecost season as a unit because it would be too long, but this last part of the season can be so planned (e.g., the outline set forth in Promise of Glory). The last Sunday before Advent is often observed as a festival of the reign of Jesus Christ, which leads easily into the celebration of the final Advent on the next Sunday as the climax to the series of readings about the kingdom of God. In this way, the years are bound together and the cycle begins again.

Using the Christian year as a basis for the planning of worship not only puts the congregation in tune with a great body of Christian tradition stretching all across the world and back through the centuries, but also assures a balanced, integrated, and biblically-based plan, and frees the congregation from the whims and biases of the individual pastor.

Planning Worship with a Worship Directory

by

Modern options for worship range from fixed liturgical practice at one end to “free church” liberty at the other. The directory approach, common among Presbyterians, falls in the middle. Modern directories are adaptations of the original directory of the church of Scotland (first published in 1645). In recent years many Presbyterian denominations have adopted new directories with the intent of using them to reform and renew worship. A directory not only guides worship, but also is useful as a teaching tool for pastors, leaders, and members.

A Directory for Worship combines law with liturgical theology and gives practical guidance for planning and leading worship. The Presbyterian tradition’s official texts deal with doctrine (the set of catechisms and confessions), government (the Form of Government and Rules of Discipline), and liturgy (the Directory for Worship). Such documents are the constitution of a Presbyterian denomination. The liturgical standard or Directory is found in the Book of Order, with the governmental and disciplinary parts of the constitution. A Directory is a strategy for ordering worship in a tradition that seeks to be evangelical, catholic, and Reformed.

Three Approaches

A directory approach may be contrasted conveniently with three other classic strategies for ordering worship. To the right of the spectrum is the prescribed liturgy such as the Roman Sacramentary, the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, and the Lutheran books of worship. To the left is the Free Church tradition, which historically insists upon the local liberty to be governed by the Bible alone in ordering worship. The middle ground is represented by the Reformed churches, which have books for discretionary use by the pastor. A directory, such as that used among Presbyterians, is a fourth strategy, closely related to a discretionary liturgy. In fact, contemporary worship renewal displays more a continuum than a set of discrete alternatives among these strategies: Their characteristic features are blending together in the last quarter of the twentieth century.

American and Irish Presbyterians have repeatedly revised and rewritten their directories. The Church of Scotland, on the other hand, has never reworked the original directory (The Directory for the Public Worship of God or Westminster Directory of 1645). While other national traditions have also adopted the directory approach, the Presbyterians of the United States have maintained the model most consistently as their constitutional provision for worship.

Directory Contents. All directories for worship have dealt with these topics: the principles of worship, parts of the Sunday service, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, pastoral ceremonies and ministries (weddings, burials, and visiting the sick), daily (family) worship, and special times of worship (fasting and thanksgiving). American Presbyterian directories have added topics such as offerings (systematic giving), Sunday school (or “catechism”), and the prayer meeting (or “social worship”). The aim of the directory as a strategy has been to guide worship by the Word of God in Scripture, balancing liberty and liturgical tradition.

History of Directories. The notion of an abbreviated summary or outline of liturgical practices has a long history. The church orders of the ancient church (third to the sixth century) described the practice of worshiping communities with varying detail. Many sixteenth and seventeenth-century Puritans tackled the definition of essentials for evangelical church life and order. By the time of the Westminster Assembly in England (1640-49), various “directories” (such as that of Thomas Cartwright, 1574-90, reprinted 1644) expressed what the different parties favored in reforming church order.

Scotland. The first generations of the reformed Church of Scotland, as well as the Reformed churches on the continent, adopted liturgical documents derived from the ministry of Calvin and other reformers. John Knox represents this extension into Scotland of the worship of the continental Reformed churches with the Book of Common Order (or “Psalm-Book”), which was printed continuously for Scotland from 1564 until 1644. But by the seventeenth century, English Puritanism and similar forces in the Church of Scotland demanded further reform in liturgy and polity.

The Westminster Directory. The Directory of Worship derived from the efforts of Puritans in England, and Scottish Presbyterians, to reform the British church at the Westminster Assembly of the 1640s. Westminster thus supplied Scotland with the first Directory for Worship, along with the doctrines (the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms) characteristic of later Presbyterianism.

The Westminster divines sought a basic uniformity in doctrine, favored plainness of ceremony, and insisted on the freedom to obey Scripture and the Holy Spirit in worship. Disputes over liturgical customs necessitated measures of compromise between the Scots and the vocal minority of Independent Puritans. The Directory for the Public Worship of God proved both too radical for Puritans willing to tolerate a prayer book, and too restrictive for Separatists and many Independent Puritans. Though briefly enacted, the Assembly’s Directory for Worship was virtually ignored in England.

Only the Church of Scotland replaced its liturgical book (the discretionary liturgy from Knox’s book) with the new Directory. It became the distinctly Presbyterian liturgical strategy, adopted by the General Assembly along with the second document of 1647 known as the Directory for Family Worship. The ideal of liturgical unity in an English-speaking Reformed church resulted ironically in another new approach to liturgical order, alongside Free church liberty and the Anglican prayer book.

The Westminster Directory provided the order for the Sunday service and guidance for every part (“ordinance”) of worship. An outline or schedule was given for each of the prayers. At least a full chapter from both the Old and New Testaments was to be read in every service. An eloquent treatise on the “plain style” preaching typical of Puritans and Scots provided edification for the pastors. Both baptism and the Lord’s Supper were outlined with the ceremony, exhortations, and prayers in detail just short of a full wording.

The Directory demanded spiritual discipline and skill for the ministry of leading worship. The Bible was to be expounded through a continuous reading in public worship and was to be read systematically in family worship. The prayers were comprehensively outlined to guide the pastor through confession and petition for grace, intercessions, and thanksgiving. Considerable attention was given to marriage and visiting the sick, with an eye to civil law and pastoral theology. Other matters addressed included the Lord’s Day, fast days and days of thanksgiving, burial (a civil event), and a brief mention of the singing of psalms. The Directory for Family Worship dealt with the daily worship of the church in its households.

The first Directory was a failure, both as a tool for guiding worship and as a means to reconcile different liturgical customs. The ideal of evangelical rigor in the worship of a comprehensively national church proved to be too demanding for the context in which it appeared. But it provided a precedent for later Presbyterians to pursue the same goals: guidance for worship that is broad enough to include diversity and hold a changing communion together while excluding unacceptable deviations and providing specific helps for prayer and worship. The Presbyterian Directory bore fruit in later generations of liturgical renewal from the mid-nineteenth century through present efforts to revise resources and develop skills for worship.

Current Directories

The directory strategy currently is flourishing among American Presbyterians, as separate denominations shape their liturgical and doctrinal idiom. The largest denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), adopted a complex new directory in 1989 while it was also publishing a series of supplemental liturgical resources (1984-91). This latest directory was significantly influenced by the revisions of liturgical forms and books for voluntary use in worship. A new service book (projected for 1993) will share a partnership with the Directory in guiding worship. A similar relationship now exists in the Reformed Church in America (Worship the Lord, 1987). A service book for the Presbyterian Church (USA) will not have the constitutional authority of the Directory, but this option now clearly includes discretionary liturgical book(s) for the use of those who plan and lead worship.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) Directory for Worship (1989) gives constitutional requirements for worship, but its role is shifting to primarily a teaching document. The change began in the 1960s, as a century of liturgical recovery and creativity once again inspired directories designed to guide reform of worship. This latest directory speaks more in permission and suggestion than as law or regulation; it is also by far the longest, most complex directory ever adopted.

Other Presbyterian denominations are revising and adopting new directories. The Cumberland and the Second Cumberland Presbyterian Church adopted in common a new directory in 1984. The Presbyterian Church in America reclaimed the nineteenth-century tradition in its new directory of 1975. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church adopted in 1981 a directory based on the directories from the 1960s. In 1975, the directory of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church reduced its scope essentially to the sacraments and acknowledged that many resources will be employed for assisting public worship. Both the Reformed Presbyterian and Orthodox Presbyterian Church are refining their directories from the 1940s to conform with their confessional priorities. An unofficial but general experiment seems in progress among American Presbyterians to discover how best to guide worship. Both the fracturing of the tradition and fresh ferment within it can be seen in the state of directories for worship in the United States.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantages and disadvantages of a directory approach tend to be the same features. Considerable authority is given to, and skill expected from, those who plan and lead worship. Principles and guidance must be translated into words, actions, and ceremonies. A directory can communicate the essentials of worship and define a denomination’s liturgical tradition, while still encouraging local creativity. A directory (in contrast to a prescribed liturgy) may risk allowing poor liturgical discipline because it requires self-discipline on the part of both leaders and worshipers. A directory can be a mirror of unity in the midst of diversity and also a tool for liturgical training.

The current generation of Presbyterian directories all tackle the educational task to a greater extent than previously. More of a background in theology of worship is given, as well as more practical guidance. These directories also assume the use of other resources in the manner of the Presbyterian Church (USA) service book, the official Reformed Church in America liturgy, or the relatively new tendency to borrow liturgical forms and texts of other denominations. The blending of strategies is taking place as one result of ecumenical sharing in scholarship and resources.

A directory approach expresses the truth of Christian worship that liturgy must be appropriated individually and adapted to the local community. Many churches involved in liturgical renewal are struggling to move beyond the stage of preparation of new books to this deeper level. A directory for worship can be a teaching tool for ministers, leaders, and members. It can also affirm the nature of true liturgical unity within the variety of styles and missional requirements created by evangelization and change in denominations. A directory for worship is helpful when both training and resources are available, and pastors are committed to the ministry of leading and teaching worship. The directory strategy for ordering worship holds up the ideal of a comprehensive catholicity, combined with an evangelical fervor and Reformed obedience to the Word of God.

Planning Worship with the Laity

by

Because worship is a drama involving all the people, planning should involve not only the ministers, but also (and perhaps especially) the laity.

Worship, in the Christian tradition, is commonly understood as “the work of the people.” This is, in fact, a literal meaning of the word “liturgy.” By this is meant that worship is not intended to be a “spectator sport” but an activity involving everyone.

A timeworn but useful analogy by Sφren Kierkegaard invites us to compare what happens in corporate worship with a drama. The problem comes when we see the congregation as the audience, the clergy and musicians as performers, and the Holy Spirit as the prompter. If this is the model, then our worship will involve the congregation passively at best.

Kierkegaard suggested we should change the roles. Worship for Christians is indeed like drama. Only it is God who is the audience, the clergy and musicians who are the prompters, and the members of the congregation who are the actors. Worship is what we all do in praising God—some of us have enabling functions, but the worship belongs to the whole people of God.

If we take this approach seriously, then we will involve lay people in the planning, preparing, and leading of corporate worship more than is customary.

What follows is a personal account of how one church has attempted to address this issue. This is, therefore, descriptive rather than prescriptive, and, it is hoped, suggestive of what might be done in other situations.

Laity Services

There was a time in most Protestant churches when we had what was known as “Laity Sunday” on an annual basis. One Sunday was given over to lay people to plan and to conduct public worship. It was a chance for the clergy to get “the view from the pew” and for a few people to get a better appreciation of what went into a Sunday service. In our church, Union Presbyterian Church of Schenectady, New York, there are about seventeen “laity Sundays” each year. These are very different from the old once-a-year version, but spring from some of the same values as well as new ones.

There are three different kinds of “laity Sunday” services in our planning: those designated simply “laity services,” “family services,” and “summer services.” The “laity services” are the responsibility of assigned church groups—three Sundays a year are set aside in this category. The “family services” are planned by families of the church for those Sundays when the entire church family (including children) is present for the full service—these are set for special days such as the first Sunday in Lent or Pentecost, and the first Sunday after summer vacation concludes. The “summer services” are the ten Sundays in the summer—members of the worship department each select one to plan and recruit other laypeople to help. (In addition, other special services, such as Christmas Eve and Easter Vigil, involve lay people in the planning).

The Role of the Worship Department

All of these services are the responsibility of the church’s worship department. This group, comprised of three members of the session [the governing body of the Presbyterian church] and laypeople at large, with musicians and the pastor, schedules the services and recruits the planners.

For the “laity services,” groups of the church are formally invited to take responsibility for a service. When this process originated, the session set a good example by serving as the first group to plan and to lead a “laity service.” The board of deacons and the trustees followed suit. Since then, groups such as the Membership and Evangelism, Christian Education, Mission, Support, and Worship Departments have planned services, as well as the senior choir, the high school choir, fellowship groups, church social teachers, and others.

The invitations are issued to these groups on a more-or-less rotating basis. By now, most of the groups have had several opportunities to plan and to lead services. Other groups, such as adult classes, have also been asked, or have volunteered, from time to time.

Each group usually selects a committee of its members to plan the service, although more than the committee may take part in the service.

For the “family services,” the pastors usually recruit families of the church at the suggestion of the Christian Education Department. A list is kept of those recruited to avoid undue repetition.

For the “summer services,” the members of the Worship Department select one of the Sundays and recruit members of their own families, friends, or whomever they please. Sometimes people new to the church are included as a way of involving them early. Members who have had questions or concerns about worship are also involved at times to give them opportunities to express themselves.

The final responsibility of the Worship Department is to evaluate these services. Time is given at each department meeting following any of the services to discuss the effectiveness of the service and to note suggestions for future planners. Once a year, the department evaluates the whole process as it looks ahead to scheduling for the ensuing year.

The Role of Laity in Planning

At least one planning session is held for each service. Usually there are several lay people involved, and in the case of “family services,” several children (grade-school age or older) are present. The pastor is also present, and for the optimum effect, so are the musicians.

The planning session begins with the group discussing the Scripture set in the lectionary for the Sunday in question. The texts are read aloud, and several translations are available around the table.

As the passages are read, lay people are encouraged to identify what speaks particularly to them—“What do you need to hear in that passage?” or “What would you want to hear in a sermon on that passage?” are good questions to ask.

Sometimes those passages set in the lectionary are not very useful, and the people find in them too little they can relate to or that seems timely. When this happens, there is freedom to let other passages come to mind.

The next step is to let a theme surface. Often this happens quickly, and some dimensions of the theme can be explored. When there are many ideas or concerns prompted by the Scripture selections, it may take longer to focus on a theme. But it is important to identify the theme so that the whole service can be built around it.

The preacher will want to invite the others to make suggestions about the sermon. Personal insights about the Scriptures will be welcomed, as well as questions to be addressed by the sermon. This experience in the planning stage not only gives people ownership in the sermon, but allows them to grow as they talk about their faith with one another.

Hymns and other music are discussed in light of the theme. The musicians are often ready with suggestions because of advance planning. Sometimes lay people will have ideas about anthems or responses. Hymns can be selected by the group as a whole.

Prayers of the service are sorted out so that laypeople may write or select their prayers. The pastor will want to be available to those writing prayers, but often little help is needed—prayers composed by laypeople are often fresh and vital. The content and style of the service’s prayers are discussed by the whole group at this point.

Other actions or visual aspects of the service are also explored. The use of banners, the manner of serving communion, processions, and countless other considerations may be given for the fullest participation of the congregation. It is the unique contribution of the laypeople in planning to suggest what is meaningful to people in the pew.

It is important that the musicians have a comprehensive view of the year’s worship experience as well as an understanding of the particular services. Awareness of the flow of the church year and the dynamics of each service is essential for musicians to make the maximum contribution.

This means that the musicians, with the pastor, will do considerable advance planning for the whole year, noting those Sundays that will involve laypeople in detailed planning. In the course of the advance planning, themes of the church year will be identified and the lectionary reviewed in its broad outlines. Some details of the lectionary will suggest specific pieces of music and should be noted in the advance planning.

When the actual planning meeting with the laypeople occurs, the musicians will be prepared with resources to offer. It is good to have more to suggest than can be used, so some selections can be made.

If the musicians are participating in the planning process, new ideas will occur to them on the spot, and they will find their own creativity stimulated. Listening to what the lay people are saying, then, is an important role for the musician. The musician’s purpose is to help the lay people give musical expression to the service they are designing.

The musicians are also teachers. They have an educational contribution to make in the planning so that all the others are better informed about the content and quality of church music and about the particular liturgical goals of the musicians. Something of the history and development of church music is often of interest to the laypeople, as is the background of many of the hymns.

While the musicians are leaders in worship and have particular talents to bring, and while they are resource people to the planning meeting, they are mainly partners with the laypeople and pastor in shaping the worship experience. It is this sense of partnership that is most important.

The pastor is the key person in this process. As “minister of the Word,” the pastor has particular responsibility for the worship experience. But it is not an exclusive responsibility; rather, it is important in the planning stage for the pastor to include others in the fulfillment of that responsibility.

First, the pastor needs to listen to the people. Where are their needs for the gospel? What special insights of faith do they bring? How can they more fully participate in the acts of worship? These and other similar questions should be in the front of the pastor’s mind during the planning.

Consider the sermon, for example. If the pastor is listening to the people about where they are and what they hunger to hear, the sermon will have a relevance beyond what is possible in one devised in isolation. Even specific illustrations will be suggested or quotes offered, and the sermon will have a vitality and authenticity not otherwise achieved. Children often have wonderful and quotable things to say in the planning sessions. At the very least, the preacher’s pump is primed and creative thought is prompted.

Preachers who have not tried this will likely be somewhat threatened by this approach. But those who have experienced it are aware of the enormous benefits to be gained.

Another role the pastor plays in planning is that of a teacher. Throughout this process, over a period of years the pastor has an opportunity to teach about liturgy that is unparalleled. Each planning meeting is like a class in worship. Basic education about the theology and dynamics of worship takes place painlessly. Those doing the planning are eager students, as they would not otherwise be there.

This means that the pastor will have to be prepared and will have to do homework. The pastor is the resident theologian and, therefore, needs to study constantly. Teaching courses on worship in the church’s education program will force solid study. One role of the pastor in the planning meeting is to be a teacher for worship. And the pastor will have to know more than anyone else to fulfill this responsibility.

Toward the end of the meeting, it is good to review the various responsibilities. Who will be reading Scripture, or writing what prayers, or leading what part of the service are some of the many details to be nailed down.

Then there will be follow-up conferences. If someone needs help with a prayer or guidance about which translation of Scripture to use or whatever, there will need to be an opportunity for checking with each other. Any unresolved issues should have a definite way of being resolved.

Those who actually will lead worship should have a chance to practice. The pastor and musicians can be helpful in coaching. It is important to make sure the leaders feel comfortable to minimize distractions from the worship resulting from their nervousness or lack of preparation. More than that, the leaders should finish with a sense of having done a good job and with positive feelings about their participation in leading the service.

The overall effect of this process of lay involvement in planning and designing corporate worship at our church is that there are more people growing in their appreciation of the richness of worship. They have learned, not deductively because someone told them this is the way worship is supposed to be, but inductively because they have struggled with designing a service and discovered a new significance to worship.

The benefit to the pastor is that the sense of isolation is minimized. The pastor will be less inclined to be defensive about criticisms of worship or even the sermon because others are involved. Sometimes perpetual critics make excellent planners when they are given a chance to share their gifts in a positive and concrete way. A broad appreciation of worship from this kind of experience tends to give criticism a more helpful flavor.

This process also forces the pastor and musicians to be prepared. It requires study and work in advance and an openness to learn in the process. It is always educational for the professionals.

The participation of children in planning worship is essential. This need not happen every time, but it ought to happen some of the time. This prevents us from thinking about what we can do “for” the children in worship and leads us to consider with them the purpose of our public worship. Children are potent interpreters and leaders if we have the wisdom to listen and the grace to follow.

The purpose of all this is to praise God with all the fullness of the worshiping community. Worship belongs to the people, and it is appropriate that planning for worship include representatives of the whole family of faith.

Planning Traditional Worship

by

Long-range and short-range planning are essential to worship services characterized by strength, order, and beauty. Pastors and church musicians are responsible for planning, but participation in music during worship should include adult and children’s choirs and the congregation singing hymns, psalms, and anthems together.

In Into His Presence: Perspectives on Reformed Worship (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Christian Reformed Church Publications, 1985), James De Jong describes worship as a dialogue in which God’s people receive God’s greeting, pardon, instruction, and blessing, as well as respond in confession, thanksgiving, and praise. Many times the music in our services has blurred this view of Reformed worship. Howard Hageman tells of a worship service he attended in which the congregation had as much music to listen to as it did to sing, and the music had little or no relationship to actions of receiving and responding. Hageman then goes on to talk about “liturgical integrity” (Liturgy and Music in Reformed Worship [Fall/Winter 1983-84]: 4).

One way to avoid the kind of service Hageman describes is through careful planning. Long- and short-term planning helps worship leaders to integrate the ministry of Word and music and find ways of involving the congregation meaningfully in the service.

Responsibility for Planning

Who is responsible for planning worship services?

Since worship is the lifeblood of the church, pastors should realize that time devoted to worship planning is a necessary and vital part of their ministry. To give choirs, instrumentalists, and soloists adequate time to prepare, pastors must plan their preaching schedules well ahead of time.

Involved in planning with the pastors are the church musicians—those in charge of proclaiming the gospel through music. Pastors and musicians, recognizing their roles as servants working for the glory of God and the edification of the congregation, together can make worship planning an enriching experience that results in God-pleasing, meaningful worship.

Pastors will use such planning sessions as opportunities to highlight the principles of Reformed worship. They will insist that contributions made by choirs and soloists should not be a source of poor theology, that “neither sentimentalism nor bombast are replacements for the nourishing word which builds and sustains faith” (Carl Schalk, The Pastor and the Church Musicians: Thoughts on Aspects of a Common Ministry [St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1984], 5).

In turn, the musicians will highlight the contribution of music. “The pastor needs the poetic aid of hymns as well as the exaltation of music to make the message come alive with splendor. The hallelujahs sound best when they are set to music and have an added dimension which the pastor himself could never give in any words. This understanding of the power of music to add a new dimension to the proclamation of the Word ought to draw pastor and church musician together in dialogue as nothing else can” (A. R. Kretzmann, “The Pastor and the Church Musician,” Church Music, 2 [1970]: 8).

Since pastors and music directors usually have more flexible schedules during the summer, this is an ideal time to plan music for the year. Summer planning allows for more leisurely examination and purchase of music and gives accompanists and instrumentalists adequate preparation time. Such yearly summer planning also provides the groundwork for later seasonal and weekly planning sessions.

Planning Congregational Singing

Because hymns and psalms form an important part of the Christian life and faith, congregational singing is a vital part of worship. The goal of good singing is to involve the entire congregation in singing a sizable number of hymns and psalms with spiritual perception and musical artistry.

Select Opening and Closing Hymns. Use the topical index of the hymnal to select appropriate hymns to open and close the service. These will usually be hymns of praise and dedication that can be sung for several Sundays, but they need to be varied, preferably to reflect the seasons of the church year.

Select New (Unfamiliar) Hymns. The congregation’s repertoire of hymns should be expanded. Every hymnbook includes some wonderful unknown hymns that should be introduced and sung regularly.

Plan New “Service Music.” Service music includes doxologies, responses to prayers, or musical settings of the creeds. Again, the congregation may need to learn this music, and the selections should be varied during the course of the year. Instead of using the traditional doxologies, consider singing doxological stanzas of hymns, such as the last stanza of “All Creatures of Our God and King.”

Organize Hymn Sings. Hymn sings can be either designated sections of a worship service or full-fledged hymn festivals. Careful planning can make such hymn sings both educational and inspiring. The choice of hymns may be topical or seasonal or may consist of “rehearsal” hymns to be sung in later worship services.

Planning Congregational Singing with Choir Participation

One way to escape the exclusive pattern of the choir performing while the congregation listens is to plan for joint singing. Such joint singing will clearly identify the choir as part of the congregation and may also encourage better congregational participation.

Hymn Concertatos. A hymn concertato is a hymn arranged for congregation, choir, organ, and various instruments. In many concertatos, choir and congregation sing alternate stanzas, or the choir sings a descant while the congregation sings the melody. Be sure to include an explanation in the bulletin, outlining the singing procedure for all participants.

Alternate-Stanza Singing. The singing of alternate stanzas is based on the ancient practice of antiphonal singing. Alternation can occur between choir and congregation or between segments of the congregation (e.g., men, women, and children).

Planning Adult Choir Music

The most important function of the choir is to provide strong and solid musical support for congregational singing, especially when new hymns are sung. The choir can also sing anthems and other more elaborate music.

Another important function of the choir is to lead the congregation in performing certain liturgical acts, such as a call to worship, a song of confession, or a musical meditation after the sermon. Through such “service music,” people are encouraged to pray, confess, or meditate while the choir formulates the congregation’s intention. Service music should not call undue attention to itself and must be clearly understood. (The words should probably be printed in the order of worship.) Some service music can be repeated in several services; other selections will be chosen for a particular service.

Summer is a good time to develop a schedule of choral music, balancing hymns or psalm settings that involve the congregation with anthems that will be sung by the choir alone. Music also should be ordered then to permit adequate rehearsal time later. The choir director and the pastor would do well to work together on the worship schedule.

Planning the Children’s Choir Participation

The summer planning suggestions for the adult choir also pertain to the children’s choir. Like the adult groups, the children’s choir should be viewed not as a novelty but as an integral part of worship. John Calvin used children’s choirs to teach the congregation the new settings for psalms, and such teaching continues to be legitimate today. A hymn such as “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,” for example, which may be new to the congregation, is easy for children to learn. Consider having the children sing such a song for the congregation, then inviting the congregation to join in. You’ll find this “teaching method” is an excellent way of helping everyone, both children and adults, become familiar with a new hymn.

A beautiful contrast in sound can also be achieved by combining the children’s and adult choirs. One example of an anthem arranged for such combining is “Like as a Father” (Cherubini, arr. by Austin Lovelace for children and adult choir, three-part canon, Choristers Guild, A156). Other anthems may be adapted for such use by assigning certain stanzas to each choir or to the combined choirs. This method works well for John Rutter’s “All Things Bright and Beautiful” (one-part; Hinshaw Music, HMC-663).

Soloists

The same liturgical considerations that apply to choirs apply to soloists. Soloists should not convert the sanctuary into a recital hall; instead, their singing should remain an expression of the congregation’s worship. Again, early planning, including careful communication with the soloist, is the key.

Periodic Planning

Yearly summer planning will greatly simplify the coordination of specific services, but periodic planning meetings are also necessary. The planning team (either a church staff or, in a smaller church, the pastor and the organist/choir director) should meet monthly to coordinate the services for the next several Sundays. They should discuss ways of introducing hymns (perhaps through a hymn-of-the-month program) and select hymns (including stanzas) for each service. If the choir is to sing, their selections should also be integrated meaningfully into the order of worship.

Using a preprinted weekly planning form is a good method of consolidating the necessary information. Such a form provides space for listing the hymns, anthems, call to worship, organist’s service music, titles of instrumental music, soloists’ selections, and participants’ names and also leaves room for evaluating the music.

Since the best-laid plans may go awry, it is well for the pastor and the musicians to pray and consult briefly before each service. Only through such careful and prayerful planning will services evolve that reflect the strength, order, and beauty that should characterize our worship.

Does all this sound like too much work? First, remember that early, comprehensive planning is very efficient and will save time when planning for specific services. Second, as the poster on our choir room wall reminds us, keep in mind that “genuine praise is worthy sacrifice that truly honors God.”