Featured SongRe: Grace Gathering, 5/21/06 (David)
Home » Blog » GeneralPosted by David L. Ward on June 8th, 2006
Kevin,
Thanks for posting your service orders. I hope that it will help readers think critically about how they plan their own services. One way in which we differ in our planning is how you structure your service into groups or functions. For example, you give each song or group of songs a section heading like "Songs of Meditation." While I might have the function of songs in mind when I plan, I like to leave this out b/c service items can fulfill multiple functions, which can change based on how the Spirit is moving on our hearts and minds as the service goes along. Another reason I don't add functions to items is that my people don't have a service order. We use the overhead projector and most people seem to feel comfortable just following along. We do make a music/lyric booklet available for those that want it, so those that need that sense of security that comes from knowing what's next can satisfy their desire.
The opening song is a great choice. It presents God's character and asks for help worshipping Him. I often use a great hymn that describes God and our approach to Him as our first song. A great next step is to confess our sin, which you accomplish with a read prayer. I will use either the worship leader's prayer, a time of silence or a song (and sometimes an instrumental verse during a song) to accomplish this. I think it's very important that we regularly come before God as repentant sinners - this is sorely lacking in today's worship services by and large.
The next two songs represent songs that I wouldn't use in congregational worship, at least here at Redeemer. Thy Mercy, while being a great text and catchy tune, suffers from what I call "disjointed prosody." That is, the verses actually sing differently from one another rhythmically, making it very difficult to learn unless you have listened to the recording many times or have sung it many times. Goodgame's tune to Wesley's hymn has always seemed disjointed with the lyrics to me. I get the sense that I'm sitting on a country fence swinging my legs in the breeze while I sing "I have long withstood His grace, long provoked Him to His face." Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's because I wrote another tune to that hymn in '99 which is much different.
So thanks again for leading your people in worship with thought and care and giving them God's Word and songs full of God's Word. When there is so much truth in our services I find the job of leading worship much easier - all I need to do is emphasize and point out various aspects of the truth that are affecting me, modeling how to respond to all this truth, and believers respond in true worship!
