Multiple services, singular messages
December 27th, 2005 by Ben Tipler | Posted in Ministry Philosophy
I know many churches do multiple services each week, and for simplicity’s sake we keep the music, message, etc the same. One thing I’ve noticed though is that when the same band, worship leader, & pastor do each service, there is an obvious amount of similarity between what each person shares. One thing I’ve appreciated is that one of our announcements people shares something fresh everytime she is on stage. If she shares her excitement about something that happened that week in her life on friday, she will share something totally different on sunday morning such as a verse she read that morning etc.
What I have noticed is that a worship leader can tend to just repeat the same ad-libs, thoughts, scripture word for word as if the words are scripted and if they veer off they will get in trouble. This has began to bug me more and more, not that sharing the same verse at 3 seperate services is bad, but when it comes off as scripted the message loses passion. If you had a wonderful conversation with the guy at Starbucks on friday and are excited to tell the congregation because the conversation relates to one of the songs you are singing but then on Sunday you tell the same story sans the fresh excitement, the message you want the congregation to understand can so easily get lost in translation.
Too often I think we try so hard to find that one perfect thing to say that by the 2nd or 3rd time we say it we’ve forgotten why we’re saying it. Though the verse you shared at the early sunday service can be just as, if not more, effective at the 2nd sunday service, if you have lost the passion in why you are sharing it you are stifling the possibility. I think the same can be said for whoever is speaking and I have noticed the pastors at our church usually do a good job of getting the same mesage across in slightly different ways to keep their passion in sharing it fresh.
Bottom line, I guess this post is a challenge to myself and lead worshipers everywhere to examine our purpose behind the songs we sing, the words and scripture we share when we are leading the congregation.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 27th, 2005 at 10:01 am and is filed under Ministry Philosophy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
That’s a great thought - if it hasn’t happened naturally during the week, I usually don’t try to come up with something to share until just a few hours before the service. Otherwise, things can sound a bit stale. If I don’t put some work in and actually come up with something to say beforehand though (which happens more than I’d like to admit!), things can come out really jumbled - so I try to find a balance between “scripted” and “improvised.”
Ultimatly though an insightful comment that makes a difference in the service has more to do with my walk with God all week than anything else.