Working on Worship
Pastor Charlie
The Pastoral Staff Team is hard at work at Calvary. Last Thursday afternoon I met for our weekly staff meeting with Paul and Lorraine and the main subject of discussion was worship at Calvary. There was a noticeable unity around the priority of worship in our church and the desire to work hard to make the worship experience on Sunday mornings a time of meeting together with God to give him the praise and honor due him. Here are some of the things we talked about and decided to try as we seek to improve our leadership in this important priority ministry.
We are seeking to improve the worship experience on Sunday morning by moving the announcements to the beginning of the service and before we begin corporate worship. A few of the more important announcements will also be projected for all to see both before the worship begin and after the worship time concludes. Announcements will also be found in the bulletin, on our church web site at www.calvarytacoma.org and some on the Facebook and Twitter pages of Calvary @calvarytacoma. Right after the announcements, we will have the usual time of greeting one another which is a change we hope and pray will help you to worship.
I have recommended to Lorraine who is our worship team leader that we also begin to put together a longer worship segment of singing instead of breaking it up so much. We will use Christ-centered variety and creativity but will try to include two more traditional hymns on most Sundays. To try to keep the younger generations participating and involved, these traditional hymns and songs will be sung and played more energetically and with a variety of instruments. You will probably notice more variety and creativity in Calvary’s worship experience in the coming months.
We acknowledged the presence of continual challenges in our use of the sound system. Two or three people are needed to be willing to receive training for this important ministry. It’s not any easy ministry and it requires a high level of commitment. If you are willing, please contact Lorraine for an interview to go over the requirements and opportunities.
To provide for continuity and application of biblical teaching, I am providing small group Bible study questions based on the previous Sunday’s message and Scripture text. The Wednesday night Bible Study and Prayer Meeting is already using these questions and beginning this fall, all small group meetings will also use the study guides. These guides will also be available in the foyer and on the church web site for personal use and study beginning next week.
We agreed as a staff that the entire worship time on Sunday morning is a worship experience and so the sermon is a very important part and aid in worship. Worship is much more than singing songs, choruses and hymns. Our aim is to help you as an individual and the church as a whole experience God and give him the glory due him. My worship messages beginning last Sunday involve a walk through the New Testament book of Ephesians in a verse by verse style where Christ and his work are revealed in a powerful way. We want all in the worship service with us to lift up Jesus as our exalted Savior and Lord.
Please feel free to give us constructive feedback in person, over the phone or by e-mail, and by all means pray for your pastoral staff as we seek to serve God and you as a congregation.
