What does your journey into worship look like? Do you find yourself rushing to get to church on time, and slipping in the door feeling breathless and stressed? Do you take a while to ‘get into’ the service, battling to keep your mind from wandering? Or do you feel prepared and expectant?
In many of the churches where I have worked there have been long conversations about how a worship service should start. Do we keep the sanctuary quiet so that people can pray as they wait for the service to start? Or do we encourage people to chat with one another? Do we make sure we start on time or do we allow some leeway so that latecomers can settle down before we begin?
These may seem like unimportant questions, but the way we enter the sanctuary can make a huge difference to our experience of worship and its impact on our lives. That’s why, in ancient Israel, the people were intentionally “called” to worship.
When the time for worship was approaching, a priest would blow a ram’s horn (or shofar) in order to sound the call to worship, and then the people would begin the journey up to the Temple. This procession became a time of preparation, both through the people walking and chatting together, and through the focused sense of moving into the sanctuary. That’s why David could sing: ‘I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord”’ (Psalm 122:1)
In my experience, though, little thought is given to the first few moments in the worship service and the result is that our worship often lacks the power it could have. This is why the simple practice known as the “Call to Worship” is so important. While it would be good if all participants came to worship after spending some time alone preparing their hearts for the encounter, we cannot assume that everyone will do this. In addition, if we want our worship to draw us into a meaningful, transforming encounter with God, we need to ensure that we are focused on meaningful practices from the first moment of the service.
So – for those of us who lead worship - instead of beginning worship with jokes, notices and unstructured greetings, it may be better if we create a moment which invites people into the journey right from the start. This could be a song, a prayer, a poem, a video clip, or anything that meets people where they are and helps them to connect with the theme and the activities of the service.
For those of us who simply attend worship, we can be more intentional about how we enter. We can take a few moments before we leave for church preparing our hearts and praying for the worship, thinking of all who will be gathering with us in the sanctuary, and asking God to touch us. Then, as we travel to worship, we can give ourselves time to travel slowly and mindfully, perhaps listening to worship music or keeping silence in our vehicles or as we walk. Finally, we can enter the sanctuary with reverence, greeting friends and companion worshipers, and then, as the service starts, making the choice to be attentive to the words and actions that we are invited to share.
If we can make a regular practice of having a true “call to worship”, we will be amazed and inspired by the way our worship is deepened and enriched, and we will find that the power of our worship to change us becomes even greater.
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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.
Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.