What does a "typical" worship service at your church look like? I know we vary things, but everyone falls into general patterns. Does your church tend to be more traditional or contemporrary? Lean toward gospel hymn, Southeren gospel,or more "churchly" hymns or choruses?
We tend to be traditional to blended, using a variety of styles in worship. Hymnically we tend to use more "churchly" hymns, gospel hymns and some praie choruses.
Here's my church's typical service
organ prelude
Welcome
welcome/fellowship song - greet one another
Invocation
Call to worship - generally choral - could be other
Hymn or Hymn medley or Praise
Children's message - children come down front after they go to children's worship
Hymn - or solo, or choral, etc
Morning prayer by pastor
Offertory hymn or medley
Piano or Organ offertory
Musical message - generally choir
Sermon
Invitation hymn
Opportunities (fancy name for announcements)
Piano or Organ postlude
Thanks, I look forward to hearing from you about this. I love learning what others do and how they do it.
What is a "typical" worship service at your church
Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by tenor, Sep 14, 2007.
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RE: Typical church service
In the Old Regular Baptists, we start singing approx 30 mins or so before the actual service starts. While we are singing, people are usually going around shaking each other's hands and hugging each other. The moderator/pastor then gets up and welcomes everyone and reads the prayer list. Then people will call off someone's name if they aren't on the list. After this, the moderator will call on someone to "introduce" the service. A lot of times it will be a young brother who is just starting out in the ministry. After he preaches a few mins, he will call for a song. While we are singing, we will go around and shake each other's hands again. After the song is finished, we are then "led" in prayer by someone. He is the only one who prays really loud enough to hear. The rest of us pray either under our breath, or in our head. Then someone will "follow the opening". He usually is the "meat and potatoes" preacher...the one who has preached for years. After he finishes, someone else will preach and close the service by announcing an "open door" to receive members by experience and baptism. The closing preacher usually doesn't preach very long. After the singing is finished, the visiting brothers announce their church meeting times. In the ORBs, we don't have church at our home churches every week. My home church meets on the first saturday and sunday in each month. This enables us to visit our brother's churches. It is a very old tradition that they decided to hang on to, I guess. But I do love it. I hope this helps!!
Willis -
RE: Typical church service
As you can tell, we like to shake hands alot. They don't call us "hand shakin' " baptists for nothing!:laugh: My father-in-law is a pastor of a United Baptist church, and he calls his church by this nickname sometimes. LOL!!:) -
Convicted1 ,
I don't know if I could handle 3 or 4 sermons in a service. About how long dos this usually last? Is there a meal together after the service?
Is this pretty typical of Old Regular Baptists in other areas as well?
Do you attend church every week, only at another location? Do you have anything for the afternoons or evenings?
A few questions, I love learning other traditions.
Thanks for responding,
Tim -
Our worship of God is ordered like this:
1. Welcome from one of the pastors.
2. Announcements.
3. Hymn or Psalm or Spiritual Song is sung.
4. Prayer requests and praises.
5. Scripture reading.
6. Men expound the Scripture read, 2 or 3 at the most, women may give a testimony but not teach.
7. Congregation prays for prayer requests.
8. Hymn or Psalm or Spiritual Song.
9. Peaching the Word of God.
10. Benediction.
From our website:
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RE: Typical ORB service
Most of our meetings last about 1.5-2 hours. Usually two of the preachers won't preach no longer than 15-20 mins each. I have to work every other weekend, so I can only go two sundays a month; but I do go other places as well, not just to my home church. As far as I know, pretty much all ORBs conduct their services this way. Most, not all, have dinner after church. Some churches will have a saturday evening service that isn't on their regular meeting. If their regular weekend is on the second weekend, they may have a saturday evening service on, say, a fourth saturday night. We do not have SS or bible study, but a lot of people will talk to one another on the phone and discuss bible this way. I hope this helps you.
Willis -
We sing a couple songs
read from this day in baptist history
cover anouncements
sing a couple more songs
then preaching
simple and sweet -
ps. its traditional/old fashioned stuff
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Our offerings come after the instruction in the Scriptures, commonly called preaching. The principle of course is illustrative of the response of the believer to God and so our service is structure that way. It is centered around the person of Christ and the nature of the Gospel. God gives and believers respond.
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Reformed,
I'm assuming a member of a "reformed baptist" body, to what particular group do you or your church belong? -
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I just put together our service for the projector. Here it is:
Call to Worship
3 songs (contemporary worship) "Sing to the King", "Everlasting God", "This is My Desire"
Prayer
Dismiss students for Sunday School
Congregation greet one another
Welcome and announcements
Offering with special music
Offering Consecration - "Doxology"
Worship "Glorious", "Be Lifted Up"
Message - from the senior pastor
Closing worship "May the Words of My Mouth"
The service typically lasts an hour and 40 minutes - with 45-50 minutes of that for the sermon. -
Call to Worship (Choral or Congregational)
Welcome/Announcments
2 or 3 Songs
Scripture
Focused Prayer Time (For Our Church, Our Community, Missions Efforts)
2 or 3 Songs
Sometimes a "Message in Song" (Solo, Ensemble, or Choir)
Message
Invitation
Worship Through Tithes and Offerings
Dismiss -
It's interesting that most of these services are very similar in structure.
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Here is our rough schedule:
Announcements
Organ Prelude / Meditation Time
Choral Call to Worship
Invocation
Hymn
Scripture Readings
(Monthly Children's Sermon; occasional Vocal Solo)
Pastoral Prayer
Hymn
Offertory Prayer (by a deacon)
Offering/ Offertory
Presentation of Tithes & Offerings / Congregational singing of Doxology
Choral Anthem
Sermon
Invitation
Benediction
Choral Response
Organ Postlude
We have a traditional service with singing from hymnals and scripture readings and sermons based on lectionary. All of the elements of the service are planned by our ministers to amplify the scripture passages and prepare the congregation for the sermon. In the thirty years I have been a member of the church, we have changed the service order occasionally, so it is not a hard and fast schedule. Also, in all of the surveys we have taken over the years, our youth have never expressed a desire to have our service order changed to a more contemporary style.
Tim Reynolds