Tag Archives: structure

Worship a la carte

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So how do we deal with differing tastes, differing convictions, differing needs and differing desires? When some want variety and others predictability? Or when some want nothing but modern praise songs and others want classic hymns? Or when some want stoicism and others want passion?

Some of the answers:

  • Majority rules—whatever most people want goes
  • Tradition rules—whatever we’ve always done goes
  • Age rules—the younger folks can do it their way when their time comes
  • Separate but equal services—one service for one group, another for the other
  • Worship style determined by each week’s praise leader—different men in the congregation take turns leading, with each one determining what style will be used that week
  • My way or the highway—if some folks don’t like it, they can find themselves somewhere else to worship

Are there other suggestions? What’s the best way to handle our differences?

Spontaneous structures

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Years ago, I read a book called A Man Called Peter, which was the biography of Peter Marshall, the man who was chaplain of the U.S. Senate (not the game show host). The book told of the time when reporters asked Marshall if he could give them a copy of his prayer in time for them to run it in their papers, rather than having to wait until he actually delivered it. Marshall explained that that was impossible, since he merely prayed as the Holy Spirit moved him at that time. One reporter called out, “Couldn’t the Holy Spirit move you ahead of time?”

One of the great tensions in planning an assembly is just that: how much should be planned? Can we allow for spontaneity without falling into chaos? Can we organize our assemblies ahead of time without limiting the Spirit?

I feel a need for a balance of both spontaneity and organization. If I had to lean one way or the other, I would lean toward organization, merely because human nature can often lapse into sloth and call it spontaneity. I find nothing particularly spiritual about a song leader who does not choose songs ahead of time because he wants to let the Spirit move him. Why not spend time in prayer and study during the week and let the Spirit move you as you plan the service?

The larger the gathering, the more structure that will necessarily need to be involved. Still, there needs to be room for someone to bring what God has placed upon their heart. There needs to be enough flexibility in our schedules so that someone can share a thought, a prayer need, or a timely passage without everyone in the congregation groaning about the delay.

I’m not sure of all the ins and outs of that, and I know that this can be a touchy subject for some. I’ve written before about assemblies and don’t want to rehash all of that again. But I know that we can grow in our understanding of how to have structure and flexibility at the same time.

Structuring our services: your thoughts

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I’ve been thinking some about our assemblies. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about the structure of said assemblies. I’d like to hear some opinions about the structure of our worship.

How spontaneous do you think we should be? I know some of that has to do with the size of a congregation, but there’s more to it than that. I’ve heard people argue that we have to leave room for spontaneity to allow the Holy Spirit to work (a la 1 Corinthians 14). Others feel that we need structure and planning.

In the same way, to what degree do we try to address different worship views? I don’t mean extreme things, which in our fellowship would tend to refer to instruments and participation by women. I’m talking about things like spontaneous vs. structured, traditional vs. modern, formal vs. informal. One answer some congregations have tried is having multiple services, each with its own personality. Others try and keep things varied within one service.

The other question that I wrestle with is: have we given these sorts of issues too much importance? Do we spend too much time focused on our assemblies, to the neglect of other things?

Those are some thoughts for a Monday morning. I’d like to hear your views.