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Sunday, March 13, 2011

The HEAD of worship

1 Corinthians 12 speaks of the Body of Christ having many parts. The foot is not the hand and the ear is not the eye. The elbow cannot assume supremacy nor can the ankle function apart from the foot or the leg. All of the parts are beautiful and all are important.

I thought of this Scripture the other day as I was thinking about elements of worship. I began to consider how many of our Evangelical services seem to be lopsided. Our standard formula seems to be sing/sing/sing/read Scripture if it fits/sing/sing/pray/hear the Word/pray/sing/leave.

We put a lot of emphasis on the singing part of our worship. Singing seems to reign supreme as our #1 worship element. I would hazard a guess that the amount of time we give to the singing reinforces for us and our congregations the notion that worship = singing (which we try very hard to dispel).

And so I am reminding myself that since our God is infinitely worthy of our worship, perhaps I can be more creative in my worship service preparation. Here are some elements I have thought of which can be incorporated into our worship settings more often:

Scripture readings
Responsive readings
Dance
Sign language
Art - the creation of, explanation of and enjoyment of
Breaking bread together
Drama
Video
Foot washings
Prayer services
Prayers of confession
Testimony and celebration
Interviews or conversation with missionaries - in person or via Skype
Community service days
Historical services - Covenant service, Tenebrae service etc.


How about you? Do you see value in creating variety in your worship services? How do you accomplish this?

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