# Smooth and Flowing Liturgy



## Notthemama1984 (Jul 3, 2011)

Growing up in a contemporary worship service, I learned how to make the service flow from one thing to the next. This flow of the service was something that was always the goal. We attempted to avoid short choppy sections or dead time.

I have started leading worship at Houston Reformed which obviously has a traditional liturgy. 

I love the liturgy, but am having a hard time making it naturally flow. I want to convey the dialogue between God and the congregation, but the more I stop and start, the less I feel this dialogue is conveyed.

Do you have any ideas or suggestions on how to make the service flow better?

I am not wanting to change the liturgy, just present it better.


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## jwithnell (Jul 3, 2011)

If you mean avoiding a wait time as someone comes forward to lead a portion of the service or fumbling through a hymn book etc., than you likely have logistical difficulties that can be thought through in advance. If your primary concern is periods of silence where no one in particular is in front (say when the offering is being collected), savor that time and encourage the congregation to do so as well. A worship service doesn't necessarily need a sound track from the prelude to the postlude. If you are concerned about having a logical order, than you likely may have to look at adjusting the liturgy. This is a pew-dweller's perspective ...


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## Philip (Jul 3, 2011)

I've wondered for some time if someone could write a contemporary reformed liturgy. Flow is often a matter of what one is used to.


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## jwithnell (Jul 4, 2011)

Philip, come on over to Bethel sometime and I think you'll find a liturgy that is soundly Biblical and seamless.


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## Andres (Jul 4, 2011)

Chaplainintraining said:


> Growing up in a contemporary worship service, I learned how to make the service flow from one thing to the next. This flow of the service was something that was always the goal. We attempted to avoid short choppy sections or dead time.
> 
> I have started leading worship at Houston Reformed which obviously has a traditional liturgy.
> 
> ...



Could you explain a bit more about what you mean exactly? Perhaps some examples of where you feel the service struggles with "flowing" smoothly?


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## Notthemama1984 (Jul 4, 2011)

Andres said:


> Chaplainintraining said:
> 
> 
> > Growing up in a contemporary worship service, I learned how to make the service flow from one thing to the next. This flow of the service was something that was always the goal. We attempted to avoid short choppy sections or dead time.
> ...



Sure no problem. 

When I was a music minister years back, the service can be viewed as a whole. Although the service had various elements in it, it fit nicely together. Yesterday I felt like each element of the service was independent from everything. I was simply stacking various things on top of each other.

The service follows this outline. As I go through the service I feel as if I am merely checking the box and going through the elements. It is really hard to explain. It is as if we said, "Ok we just had our confessional reading. Done. Now we have a time of silent repentance. Done."

I just feel the continuity is missing. Again it is not in what is in the liturgy. I believe the problem is in the presentation. 

This probably doesn't help explain anything.

ORDER OF WORSHIP – 11:00 AM
Scripture Meditation - "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies--in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." 
1 Peter 4:10-11

Welcome, Announcements, and Prayer Requests 
The Lord Calls Us to Worship
* Salutation – The Lord Greets Us 
* Call to Worship Psalm 150 
* Prayer of Invocation 
Our Response to the Lord's Call
* Hymn of Praise # 12 “Exalt the Lord” 
Confession of Faith Shorter Catechism Q & A 63-66, p. 874
Silent Prayer of Confession and Repentance
Assurance of Pardon Ephesians 2:4-10 
Hymn of Thanksgiving # 164 “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”
Congregational Prayer 
Collection of Offerings 
* Doxology # 731
The Lord Feeds Us From His Word
Scripture Reading Matthew 5:1-12 
Ministry of the Word “Kingdom Compassion”
~ Rev. Matt Hines ~
* Hymn of Response #32 “Great is Thy Faithfulness”
We are Dismissed with the Lord's Blessing
* Benediction – The Lord Blesses Us
* Gloria Patri # 735

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jwithnell said:


> Philip, come on over to Bethel sometime and I think you'll find a liturgy that is soundly Biblical and seamless.



Sounds like I need to make a visit to Virginia to learn.


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## Andres (Jul 4, 2011)

Your order of service is very similar to my church's, yet I've never felt like there was a problem with continuity in our service. Perhaps you're just not used to it? Or is this how you've been doing it at all the churches where you've been preaching? For me, I just expect each of those elements to be there in their place. I have come to expect them to be there because of what they mean. When I visited a church with a looser or non-existant order of service, to me that felt uncomfortable.


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## Notthemama1984 (Jul 4, 2011)

In the Baptist churches that I had been preaching at, the services did not have all of these elements. I have been in churches that use all of the elements though. It isn't too foreign, but it is the first time with me conducting all of the elements. 

It may come down to the fact that this is a little new to me (I had to learn the Gloria Patri before my first service. I had sung it before, but not enough to bust it out acappella without the words or notes in front of me)and I am stumbling a bit.

---------- Post added at 01:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 PM ----------




Andres said:


> When I visited a church with a looser or non-existant order of service, to me that felt uncomfortable.



I totally understand what you mean. I filled a pulpit for a church three weeks ago where the entire service was constructed on the fly. I felt awkward the whole time.


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## py3ak (Jul 4, 2011)

I would suspect you are overthinking it. Worship isn't about having a smooth experience; it's about employing the elements God has commanded for His public worship. Unless you're losing people's attention with long pauses or pointless digressions I doubt it matters whether it feels smooth or not.


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## Pilgrim (Jul 4, 2011)

jwithnell said:


> If you mean avoiding a wait time as someone comes forward to lead a portion of the service or fumbling through a hymn book etc., than you likely have logistical difficulties that can be thought through in advance. If your primary concern is periods of silence where no one in particular is in front (say when the offering is being collected), savor that time and encourage the congregation to do so as well. A worship service doesn't necessarily need a sound track from the prelude to the postlude. If you are concerned about having a logical order, than you likely may have to look at adjusting the liturgy. This is a pew-dweller's perspective ...



From another pew-dweller, I think this is exactly right. I've long thought that an aversion to silence, especially in worship, is one of the scourges of our age. A Baptist brother told me once that this avoidance of silence at all costs is a fear of the "still small voice." Maybe it is, whatever you want to call it.

Now, I'm not about to argue for monasticism. But the idea that, for example, playing music is conducive to prayer or any kind of contemplation has always been utterly foreign and bewildering to me.


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## LawrenceU (Jul 4, 2011)

'Smooth' or 'flow' can actually become a distraction to worship. Too often that is a subjective analysis based upon sensory/emotional response to stimuli. A worship service is not a packaged event. Too often that is what they are today, even in some Reformed churches.


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## Jack K (Jul 4, 2011)

I've never led worship. So maybe what I'm about to say is crazy talk. But, Boliver, it sounds like you'd feel better with segues. Just a single sentence, or even half a sentence, to transition from one element to the next.

Segues were crucial for creating smooth flow when I was in the TV news business. (I know, I know, worship services should not be driven by what works in TV news. But hear me out anyway.) In TV news, a good newswriter never starts a new story without first reading the last line of the one that came before it. You need to say something to signal to the audience a transition, or a connection, from one to another. A segue.

So, for example, maybe the first line or opening theme of a prayer makes reference to the hymn that was sung just before. Maybe as you move from opening praise into the confession part of the service you say a transitional line like "God is so great it makes us eager to confess our allegiance to Him. Let's do that by..."

I believe your desire for some smoothness in a worship service is a good thing, so long as it doesn't become the driving thing or get hackneyed. A flowing service, with signals here and there to explain where we're going next and why, helps people understand and engage. It's good communication, and that's part of a worship leader's job. Again, the old newsman's trick is to never write the opening line of anything without first reading the last line of what came before.


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## Notthemama1984 (Jul 4, 2011)

Thanks Jack, 

I think segues are what I am needing.


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## Philip (Jul 4, 2011)

> From another pew-dweller, I think this is exactly right. I've long thought that an aversion to silence, especially in worship, is one of the scourges of our age.



There are silences and there are awkward silences.


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## Berean (Jul 4, 2011)

Chaplainintraining said:


> I think segues are what I am needing.









This could be you, Boliver.


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## Notthemama1984 (Jul 4, 2011)

Berean said:


> Chaplainintraining said:
> 
> 
> > I think segues are what I am needing.
> ...



That could work.


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## Berean (Jul 4, 2011)

Go with the flow.


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## Pergamum (Jul 4, 2011)

I've never liked highly liturgical services; too busy if you need a hand-out to keep up. 

If choreography is needed then something needs to simplify. 

In today's fake and insincere world, a smooth and flowing service looks more polished, but among religionists I have learned that polished presentations are not to be trusted and I prefer a simple service that may vary week by week, and even have some elements changed on the fly. 

I remember visiting one church where they had their choreography timed out exactly and no one was leading it from the front. BUT..I forgot to grab a bulletin and was constantly lost. They would be through the 3rd verse of their second hymn before I was able to steal a look at which hymn book and which page the song was being sung from. 

I often think that we ought to ditch church bulletins and elaborate liturgies entirely; the only instructional guide that should be needed for visiting a church on Sunday should be the Bible. This would save weekly printing costs as well.


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## C. M. Sheffield (Jul 4, 2011)

Pergamum,

While their is much to lament in Primitive Baptist doctrine and practice, one thing I've often enjoyed is the simplicity of their worship (which is pretty close to how Baptists would have worshipped in the sixteenth century). They will typically open by singing three or four hymns (without accompaniment) followed by a long prayer (the main prayer of the service), then the elder will expound upon some portion of God's Word (usually picking up where he let off last time). After the sermon, they will sing a closing hymn and be dismissed. Admittedly, there are things I would add, but the simplicity of it is most commendable.


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## Curt (Jul 4, 2011)

It's all in the rubrics (segues, if you will). The liturgy needs to be thought about, not just slapped together from a template. But, if the minister explains each part or introduces it properly the service will have a flow of its own. That's why we have leaders, not just a DIY format.


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## Philip (Jul 4, 2011)

I might suggest taking a page from Cranmer's liturgy in terms of how one can segue from one portion of a service to another.


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## jwithnell (Jul 5, 2011)

> Welcome, Announcements, and Prayer Requests
> The Lord Calls Us to Worship
> * Salutation – The Lord Greets Us
> * Call to Worship Psalm 150
> ...



You share w/many other reformed churches the concept of our hearing God and responding to Him, and the elements you use are similar to what I've seen in churches that hold to this approach to worship. Might I observe that the _order_ might be tripping you up? For example, why would we be led to personal confession based upon what has been read from the catechism? (I realize some parts are convicting, but isn't this supposed to be our public confession of what we believe?) Why would a hymn of thanksgiving be sung prior to prayer? I think your service could hold together better with better "grouping" and with one addition.

The concept of coming into God's presence looks solid -- has that part "flowed" for your congregation? I bet it has. Next, what can help focus us upon God's utter grace and our utter dependence on Him? This can be brought about by the reading of the law, either the 10 commandments or other scripture that shows the impossibility of our coming before God on our own merit. (This is the one addition I'm suggesting.) Public and/or private confession of sin naturally flows from that (and I love your mention of silence here) as does the assurance of pardon. Thanksgiving and offering ourselves to God is a next reasonable section: praise (you mention a hymn of thanksgiving), the offering, expressions of thanksgiving (doxology), and the confession of faith. The Pastoral Prayer makes a natural segue (the non rolling kind) to God's instruction as it likely offers both praise to God and asks for His response to us in our petitions. From there on out, I imagine your service flows well with the sermon and responses and dismissal.

As a pew dweller, I have found it interesting to observe reformed churches independent of each other adopting these elements of worship and aligning them in a logical order. I believe God has been moving churches to a more profound realization of our worshipping Him. May you be blessed in your attempt to bring worship and glory to our God!


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## iainduguid (Jul 5, 2011)

JWithnel's comments here are extremely insightful, which speaks volumes for what is going on in the church she attends. The basic structure is fine (and indeed classically Reformed in many ways), but you shouldn't assume that the people in the pew have a good understanding of why each part fits where it does. There's nothing wrong with a template either (our services have a standard structure too) but putting together a service that flows is far more than choosing a "hymn of thanksgiving" for that slot. We work very hard indeed to connect together all of the hymns and other elements with the theme of the sermon. The better we do the design work, the less the leader has to talk. And we work hard to train the men leading our service to know when to talk and when not to talk - we can be "overly didactic" as Reformed people.

I agree that as it stands the lead into the confession of sin is confusing. There's nothing wrong with using the Catechism to convict people of sin, though my preference would always to have a Scriptural reading directly related to the sermon topic. But if you are using it for that, it isn't acting as a confession of faith. The same reading elsewhere in the service might serve as that, though. It can help people (especially younger believers) to point out why we are doing what we do. We occasionally explain all of the different elements - for example, who knows what a benediction is? Again the key is to know how much to talk and not talk too much.

Bryan Chapell's book "Christ-centered worship" is a great introduction to the historic "gospel centered" shape of Reformed worship, and will help you to think through the flow better. But putting together worship services that really flow well is a lot more work than the "hymn sandwich" approach that I started out with because I didn't know any better.


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