SVCC - Šárka Valley Community Church

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Worship Guidelines

Notes for worship leaders and preachers

At Šárka Valley Community Church, we approach worship as an intentional, transformational experience. Rather than being something we simply do as Christians, worship is a catalyst in which the Holy Spirit may transform the lives of individuals and the community. As a multi-cultural community, we seek to give expression to our diversity in Christ, with scripture as our ultimate guide and authority-all in "pursuit of what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding" (Rom. 14:19).

General guidelines for worship at ŠVCC

• We are a multi-national, multi-cultural community. Therefore, we intentionally assure that our worship experiences reflect, celebrate and strengthen our diversity - in the unity of the Spirit - by incorporating a variety of elements, styles, languages, and participants.
• We have a consistent framework for worship (see below) which allows for spontaneity and flexibility, but provides a structure to lead people through a holistic worship experience.
• We normally have a primary worship leader - generally, someone other than the preacher - responsible for the overall conduct of worship.
• Each worship experience is united in theme. The worship plan will identify the theme and the preacher; worship leaders and other participants will design the worship experience to reflect the theme. Themes will be worked out in advance, normally as the preaching rota is prepared.
• We follow the pattern of the Christian year in our services.
• We encourage our children to participate as fully as possible in worship - assisting in music making and singing, sharing in the times of prayer, etc - until the point at which they are blessed and go to their own activities.
• We will encourage the congregation to respond verbally with praise to God after special worship offerings (special music, dramatic reading, etc.) rather than with applause.
• As a rule, we do not embarrass guests by asking them to introduce themselves to the whole congregation. The primary worship leader will find other ways to make visitors feel welcome, normally by having an informal time of greeting at the beginning of worship and/or exchanging the Sign of Peace at the Eucharist.
• Announcements will be communicated in a way that is in keeping with the tone of the worship service.
• Name cards and holders are available for members of the church and guests.
• We do not pass the offering bowl, but place it on a table (with Church information leaflets and other appropriate literature) and after the sermon bring it forward and dedicate our tithes and offerings to God.
• Resources for congregational worship include Baptist Praise and Worship, The Source, The Baptist Hymnal, an overhead projector and a video beamer. The Worship Team has access to a wide range of international Christian music resources and will assist worship leaders in their endeavor to reflect in our singing and music the multi-national character of our fellowship.
• Vocal or instrumental items involving individuals or small groups are not private acts of worship for those who lead, nor performances, but are for leading the congregation in worship.

Worship structure

Those leading worship are conductors of worship, as a conductor leads an orchestra, rather than a soloist. The goal is participatory worship which encourages and leads people to meet with and respond to God. The worship leader should try to include a variety of cultural expressions in this participatory worship (songs from different countries, different languages, different postures in prayer - standing, sitting, kneeling) and seek also to prepare the congregation to hear and respond to the spoken Word (focussed in - though not entirely limited to - the sermon).

General Timeframe

The worship service begins at 10.45 and should conclude between 11.45 and 12.00. The children should be dismissed for their activities by 11.10 at the latest. The sermon, response time and dismissal should last approximately 30-35 minutes.

Pre-Worship

The primary worship leader, preacher and as many others as are able and are involved in worship will meet for prayer before worship commences.

Prelude

The primary worship leader may consult with the worship team to arrange an inspirational "prelude" music for approximately ten minutes before the formal worship experience begins.

At 10.45, the primary worship leader will call people to worship, or ask the music group to lead in some appropriate call, normally followed (in an order the worship leader determines) by a song or hymn of praise and a welcome/time of greeting.

Elements to Include

• A Call to Worship
• Prayers (typically, of Adoration, General Thanksgiving, Confession, and Intercession)
• Songs and hymns
• The reading of scripture
• A prayer for the children and their departure to their own activities
• A Sermon
• Presentation and dedication of the offerings (following the sermon)
• Response to God's word (silent, spoken, and/or sung)
• Dismissal
• Postlude

Elements which may be included

• Special music
• Testimony (brief)
• Drama
• Special Visual Presentation
• Other elements, as the Holy Spirit leads

More detailed guidelines for specific elements of the worship service

Leading in Prayer

• Prayer, of varying types, must be part of the service.
• We uphold the Baptist tradition of extempore or free prayer, but the worship leader must prepare ahead of time carefully, perhaps drawing upon the great heritage of Christian prayer.
• We do not ask people to pray, but instruct them clearly what they are about to do, eg., not "Shall we pray?" but "Let us pray ..."
• If one person leads in prayer from the front, it is to be corporate prayer and not the prayer of an individual heard by the many, eg. Not "I just want to thank God for ... ," but "Let us thank God for ..."
• We will include prayers of intercession for the world, for the church and for ourselves.
• The Lord's Prayer may be prayed, with people being encouraged to say this in the language they are most comfortable with.
• ŠVCC has a focus on the world; and the map on the wall can act as a focus and encourager of our intercessions for a world that will not pray for itself.

Public Reading of Scripture, a ministry in itself

• We are anxious to have declared to us the "whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27), so we will generally have more than one passage of scripture read in worship. Typically, we would want to include an Old Testament passage and Psalm, a Gospel and Epistle reading from the New Testament.
• The reading will be prepared ahead of time. Scripture will be read slowly and with expression, with good phrasing, connecting thought units which go together, as so as to bring out the meaning of the text.

The Sermon

• The preacher will work with the agreed theme/text.
• The preacher will choose the post-sermon song of response to fit the theme.
• The preaching ministry will emphasise proclamation (kerygma) of the biblical truth rather than teaching (didache). Preaching is more than a presentation of insightful biblical information or a meaningful explanation of a biblical text. It is also intentionally inspirational, calling the listener to action or commitment.
• Preaching will generally be aimed towards personal or congregational discipleship, disciplines of the Christian life, missions and world issues that concern us as disciples of Jesus Christ.
• Wherever possible, preaching on Communion/Eucharist Sundays will focus on themes such as Jesus, his death and/or resurrection, the Gospel, the meaning of salvation.

Dismissal

The service will normally conclude with a strong hymn or song of affirmation or mission and then dismissal (by the preacher or worship leader) to go out in faith and in mission into the world.

The Eucharist/Lord's supper/communion

• In our Eucharistic celebrations at ŠVCC, we draw upon insights and practises of Baptists and Anabaptists, as well as other Christian communities, where appropriate. We celebrate the Eucharist/Lord's Supper/Communion (all three terms are used amongst us as befits a community drawn from many different traditions) once per month, on the third Sunday; it can also be celebrated at other times (festivals, etc) by decision of the Moderator and Worship Team. Typical examples of such additional celebrations are:
  • Christmas Eve/Christmas Day
  • Renewal of the covenant on the first Sunday of the year
  • Palm Sunday
  • Easter Day
  • Pentecost
  • Baptismal Service
• The president at the table is normally the Moderator or an ordained Baptist pastor (male or female) who is a member of ŠVCC. This takes account of the sensibilities of many Baptists that only an ordained person should preside at the table and that he/she should be a member of the church.
• The Eucharist is seen as a response to the Word preached and thus normally follows the sermon.
• Typically the Lord's Supper/Communion/Eucharist includes:
  • An exchange of the Sign of Peace.
  • An invitation to the table
  • Reading from the Bible of the instructions (eg 1 Corinthians 11)
  • The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving for God's mighty acts in redemption, including a prayer invoking the Holy Spirit
  • Breaking the bread and distribution
  • Sharing the cup of blessing.
• We normally use a single, round loaf which is broken and passed round, and one or two chalices (more if a large number are present) containing red wine from Mikulov.
• In the distribution, we normally form ourselves into a circle around the table.
• We practice both drinking from the single cup and intinction (retaining the bread and dipping in the wine). This should be made clear to participants at the beginning of the distribution.
• The accent of the meal is on both the death and resurrection of Jesus, as we affirm: Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.

Agreed in this revised form by the Church meeting, December 2003.

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