The structure of worship articulated
here is derived from the "Uniting in Worship 2[1]".
Developed from a long tradition this structure seems to reflect a common sense
approach. There is a flow and completeness in the components and the pattern.
Once you are confident
with this simple form of worship you are encouraged to do some further research
so as to discover other elements that will enhance the diversity and vitality of
the worship in your congregation.
The Gathering of the People of
God:
* 1. Call To Worship/Prayer of
Invocation
The Call to worship, calls us into God’s sacred
space - the space of worshipping God. It is also a declaration of why and whom
it is we worship. So the call to worship often has a Trinitarian form, reminding
us that we worship the Christian God and at the same time articulates why we
worship our God. For example, "We worship you Creator of all being, with us in
Jesus Christ, inspiring us by your Holy Spirit." In these words we have said
whom we worship, and something of the reason why we worship God (our Creator,
with us, and our inspiration).
2. Hymn
Often we will now sing one or more songs. These songs are a further declaration
of the nature of God and typically of praise and adoration. We have been called
to worship and as we sing we enter into that worship in praise. It may be
possible that the theme of the song/hymn(s) provides an introduction to the
theme of the service.
* 3. Prayers of Adoration/Confession
Now is the time to praise God for who
God is – it is not a time of thanksgiving, but a time to marvel at the grace,
mercy and generosity of our God. It is also a time to acknowledge and confess
the incompleteness of our relationship in the presence of the Holy. We sense the
brokenness and incompleteness of the world and our relationship to God and
creation as both community and individual. This confession can be a personal
confession, it can be a confession on behalf of the church, or as nations, or
simply in terms of the nature of human kind.
Declaration of Forgiveness.
Once we have offered our confession there is always an of expression of the
divine grace that has been given us through Jesus Christ - the Declaration of
Forgiveness. As we receive that forgiveness we experience the divine embrace
just as we are. We are freed and made ready to hear the voice of God in our
midst - which takes us to the next element of worship.
[1] Uniting in Worship 2. 2005. Sydney. Uniting Church Press.
October 10, 2007 - December 2009