The Worship Nerd Post

For those of you looking for witty and interesting things about living in London or news of how the Rousus are doing, this may not be the post for you.  This is Amanda, indulging her worship nerd self and sharing a crazy amount of details about worship at St Johns of Downshire Hill for the few of you who are interested.  I promise that I will go back to pithy and fun things in the next post...or get Jacob to do that since he's our most popular blogger.

As both Matt and I have shared, St John's is without question, the friendliest, most inviting church we have ever attended, anywhere. This church lives the idea of being the house of Jesus, established not just for those who know Him, but those who want to know Him.  Some examples of this hospitality at every level:

* From the moment we walked in the door the first time, we have had people tripping over themselves to welcome us AND other visitors.  As a staff member mentioned to us today, they expect and seek out visitors each week and work hard to not only chat with them, but help connect them to others that may share an interest, background or other common ground.  It is a skill that is learned by all members and practiced by everyone, regardless of age, gender and race

* When worship is over, coffee, tea and biscuits are served in the pews to all gathered every single Sunday. 

* I have been invited to two different small groups that meet during the day

*We received a welcome email from Jonathan, the vicar and an invitation to their partnership dinner at the end of the month with a handwritten note from Jonathan.

*Because the expectation is that there will be visitors, Jonathan and others leading worship very informally and almost conversationally guide worshippers through the elements of worship.  Somehow, this makes a very traditional service seem contemporary and approachable.

Now to the mechanics of the service (I told you that I was indulging my worship nerd self.  You are welcome to quit reading at any time!)

Generally Jonathan reads a few verses of a Psalm connected to the first hymn as a way of bringing us into a spirit of worship.  We often read together a welcome (which is included in the bulletin on a laminated card that is re-used each week at each service)

"We have come together as the family of God in our Father's presence to offer him praise and thanksgiving, to hear and receive his holy word, to bring before him the needs of the world, to ask his forgiveness of our sins, and to seek his grace, that through his Son Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may give ourselves to his service."  

Because Jonathan introduces this differently every week, often highlighting a different part of this welcome, it does not feel as staid and rote as one would expect for something read each week.  We sing two hymns to begin worship, usually 3-4 verses (all lyrics printed in the bulletin, we have no hymnals), with Jonathan introducing each to share why we are singing it etc.  There is a majestic pipe organ that is used sparingly and a grand piano with one or two people leading all the singing with microphones.  From talking to the pianist, I know that they do not rehearse these songs until about an hour before worship...sometimes this works better than others. 

Next is the children's message, which is lead by a member of the children's ministry team (we have never seen the same person lead it).  One major change is that this message is lead from the front, but the children remain in the pews, which makes it a talk addressed to all of the congregation (and does not force the leader to deal with discipline issues).  Afterwards, we sing a song together that is geared towards the children- a song to help them learn John 3:16 has been common lately, but it changes each week with the theme of the message.  After the song, the children are dismissed to their Sunday clubs (or Sunday School classes) that run about 30 minutes after worship.  Worship stops for a few minutes while the children and leaders leave and parents return from escorting younger children.  Again, many nearby visitors introduce themselves at this time.  Because of the leadership of the service, this does not feel like an interruption to the flow of worship, but is a grace granted to those with children (it cannot be coincidental that the pews are FULL of children each week).

We move to a time of confession and prayer at this time.  Jonathan again shares a few verses to focus our confession (not in the bulletin), we have a time of silence and then pray together the printed prayer of confession (again on the laminated card inside the bulletin).  Afterwards, we sing a hymn that addresses the grace we receive from Jesus. 

Next it is a time of prayer, with specific prayer points shared with Scripture to focus our prayer.  Today we prayed for the Queen, the UK government, Christian leaders in the UK, Jonathan and our church leaders and our community.  In past weeks, prayers have been raised for Syria, for gang violence and for how St John's can reach out in the community.  These prayers are typically not lead by Jonathan, but by another member of the staff or even church member.

The morning's Scripture is shared next by a member of the church.  We have been studying Ecclesiastes (and will through March, I believe), so each week the reading has been a full chapter or more (today we read Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12).  The page number for the reading is included in the bulletin and read aloud before the reader begins.  We sing another hymn as a response to the reading.

Jonathan's sermon is next.  He is a very good preacher, clearly unpacking a somewhat challenging book of the Bible in ways that apply to our lives today.  We heard Erwin McManus discuss Ecclesiastes 1 at the WGLS in August, and I was more engaged in Jonathan's sermon than his (this could also be that Mr. McManus was the final speaker and followed the most emotionally charged segment of the conference). 

We close with a final hymn and prayer.  It always seems a little awkward as there is no procession or benediction.  The pianist often plays the final hymn for a bit and then the servers come out with the tea etc.  As I said earlier, the children's programs go on for about thirty minutes after worship concludes, so this allows time for fellowship.  The sanctuary is large, so we remain in this space until the children meet us, chatting and meeting people. 

There are many other little things I've noticed, but I've certainly rambled enough.  We feel very blessed to have found this church and become a part of its family so quickly.  There are many lessons I am learning about being a follower of Jesus by being part of this church for this short time.  There are also things that might greater enrich our worship at home.  I may share more as we move through Lent, but I've certainly co-opted the family blog for church purposes enough for today! 

Praying for all of you back home.  We miss you very much.  Though we are welcomed and enjoy this church, it in no way replaces the family we have at CUMC.