Leading People To Worship

SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

LEADING PEOPLE TO WORSHIP GOD

A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO

DR. BRIAN WHITNEY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE

THE CHRISTIAN MINSTRY

PASMN 4313

SUBMITTED BY

TIMOTHY LEE FUTRELL

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

27 NOVEMBER 2000

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

ESSENTIALS FOR WORSHIP DESIGN 1

THE ROLE OF PASTORAL WORSHIP LEADERSHIP 4

Pastor As Worship Leader 5

Pastor As Worship Designer 7

TYPES OF WORSHIP SERVICES 8

Liturgical 9

Traditional 10

Praise And Worship 11

CONCLUSION 13

BIBLIOGRAPHY 14

INTRODUCTION

Worship is "human response to the perceived presence of the divine, a presence which transcends normal human activity and is holy." Worship in the Bible appears in differing patterns and styles. However, worship for the modern church is very different from what it was to people of biblical times. The first objective of this paper is to present essentials for worship design in a Free Church tradition. Next, this paper will describe what the role of pastoral leadership is in the Free Church tradition. Lastly, this paper will briefly describe some different styles of worship which can be found in the modern Free Church practice.

ESSENTIALS FOR WORSHIP DESIGN

What creates a worship filled atmosphere for the modern church where the presence of God can be felt? Jesus taught that true worshipers would worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23). Worshiping in the spirit means "to worship God in every ounce of a person's being."

Worshiping in truth means that a worshiper has "a clear definite knowledge of God." To decide what are the essentials of worship, a person must understand what worship is. One problem of Free Church worship description is "worship has been defined almost exclusively as music." However, music as worship is "not what is meant by praise and worship in the Bible, at least not in the New Testament."

Traditionally, Free Church worship holds highest "the authority of Scripture, the central role of preaching as communicating God's Word to every generation, and the individual's worth before God." Within the order and tone of the church's worship service, a pastor should "lead his people in their pursuit of the Lord." In worship, an essential element is that God's people "center their attention first on God Himself." Worship is not made up of merely its components which are "praying, praising, singing, listening, giving, receiving, and edifying." Believers pool together "the richness of their individual perceptions of God into one experience of exaltation, and they tell God in as many ways as possible that they love Him above all else." Because a church's focus in worship is on God, the worship experience should be "well prepared and creatively crafted, drawing on the multiple talents and gifts available within the community of believers." Another essential of worship is the involvement of the believer. Real worship involves the "total person, both mind and emotion, in a way that calls him or her to praise God for who He is and what He has done and, in so doing, to reach new awareness, to learn more of God."

Another essential for worship is its form. The message of God found in a sermon "will be particularly effective if it is preceded by meaningful worship; it will be lifted and enabled by its very context in the service." Isaiah chapter six "gives a fine order of service."

Isaiah's form to follow is "praise and adoration, prayer and confession, presentation of the message, and response." Every believer should be reminded of what Paul taught about the worship experience. Paul said that in a worship experience everything should be done in an orderly manner. (1 Cor. 14:40). If worship is to be effective, it must be planned, and "it must also be well led."

THE ROLE OF WORSHIP LEADERSHIP

The worship experience depends on "the worshiper, the Holy Spirit's power, and the human leadership provided in the order and conduct of worship." Although there is no distinction between the so called clergy and laity in the Free Church tradition, the congregation "selects leaders who are qualified to give direction in all its acts of worship and ministry." Usually, the pastor and minister of music are the primary leaders in worship, "although in most churches other staff members and laypersons share in the leadership." However, this paper's focus is on the leadership of the pastor an music minister.

Pastor As Worship Leader

Two aspects of pastoral leadership in worship are preaching and leading worship time. The first aspect in consideration is preaching. Although there are some exceptions, "preaching normally takes place within a context of worship." While preaching is an important part of a worship service, "its importance does not devalue the significance of prayers of confession, songs of praise, or verbal declarations by the congregation of God's majesty, love, and grace." If biblical preaching is effective