Unit 4: Exploring Worship

In this unit, members of the High School Sunday School class (MYF) plan, rehearse and lead a worship service for the congregation during our regular worship hour. In 2003, we had hoped to be more methodical in the way that we went about structuring this session in order that each class reflect upon the role of prayer, liturgy, drama, and sermons in our worship, but disorder seemed to characterize the weeks leading up to the service. Students worked on various aspects of the service in small groups led by very good resource people. Don Yost, the director of Bridge Work Theater, helped the drama group. June Alliman Yoder, a professor of homiletics and AMBS, coached Jeff Liechty, a junior who gave the meditation, and our two worship leaders, Veloris Hess and C.J. Hague. Susan Dengler, a minister of music at CMC, and Andrew Clouse, a senior at Goshen College, directed the orchestra and coached Fern Lehman, a senior, who led a student choir, and Ashe Abebe, a senior who led congregational singing. Everything came together in the last minute and the service itself was very meaningful. In order to ensure that some learning came of the event, we did have a wrap up reflection in which we asked the following questions prepared by Don Yost:

1. What surprised you about participating in the service this morning?

2. Think about elements of the service rather than the performances of specific people. What elements do you think went especially well? What elements could have been better?

a. Listen or an point out the difference between a good "performance" and a moment or element that worked in the sense of :

  1. Sensing God's Spirit
  2. Being inspire or moved
  3. L earning something new (includes new questions!)
  4. Feeling something powerful
  5. Feeling connected to other people
  6. Feeling closer to God
  7. Being more free or able to express praise to God.
  8. Finding healing or hope

3. What portion of the service or what moment in the service did you find the most meaningful?

4. What is a "good" worship service? What is supposed to happen in worship? Se points 1-8 in Question #2.

5. Was this a "better" worship service for you than usual? (Use points 1-8 above.) If so, do you think that the time and energy you spent preparing for it contributed to that improvement? If so, are there any ways to get the benefit of that preparation even though you're not actually involved in reading, preaching, leading?

6. If you were one of the people on the platform, what did you notice as you looked out over the congregation? What kind of sounds or expressions did you notice and how did those sounds or expressions make you feel?

7. What responsibility or function (if any) do the people in the pews have in a worship service?

8. Did you notice whether there were more, fewer, or about the same number of people in the congregation as usual? If more or less, how did that make you feel? Do we, as members of the congregation &young and old) have a "responsibility" to attend church or should we attend only when we feel like it or think the service might be interesting?

9. Do you think it's better to have only the very best (singers, preachers, readers ) lead worship or is it better to involve lots of different people even though they might not be the best (singer, preacher, reader)? What does your answer say about your view of the purpose of worship?

10. Did you find yourself wishing that you as an individual or we as an MYF would have invested more time and energy in preparation or do you think the time and energy we invested was about right?

11. Is there such a thing as being TOO prepared? Were there any "accidents" in the service that resulted in something inspiration or meaningful? Were there any accidents that subtracted from the meaning of the service or that resulted in distraction?

12. As you were involved in planning and preparing for the service, did you notice any changes in your attitude regarding the people who plan and prepare other services/

13. What advice do you have for those people? What differences would you like them to consider making in our worship?

14. Would you recommend that the MYF lead a worship service next year? Why or why not?