1. Must have an EXCELLENT preacher focused on Law & Gospel messages. Great Sermons develop growing churches (For Call committee consideration)

2. Keep Traditional worship

a. Occasionally change the Liturgical worship settings using selection in new hymnal -- perhaps with church seasons -  stick to new settings long enough for people to gain comfort level (weeks or months)
b. Commit to Children’s sermon at least twice per month. Use children’s sermons to teach the basis of our liturgy and the symbolism in our worship area to everyone.
c. Personalize the prayers so a prayer request is not just announced but specifically prayed for in the congregational prayer.
d. Move the pastor to different areas in the sanctuary for Gospel or Creed or even during sermon.
e. Involve more lay people in services through:

i. Readers who read well (even dramatically) whether men or women
ii. Ushers
iii. Presenters of Children’s sermons
iv. Prayer teams up front at end of the service and invite anyone desiring prayer to meet with them

f. Greet your neighbors or pass the peace to welcome each other and greet visitors
g. End every service on an inspiring (upbeat?) hymn to send people out ready to share Christ 
h. Ask for a sermon notes or outline sheet prepared by the Pastor which would assist in retention and provide a visual to the sermon time. Possibly a fill-in-the-blanks style.
i. Recommend one service starting no earlier than 10:00 am and that Bible Class and Sunday School be held prior to service.
j. Suggested place/time for announcements – to avoid disrupting worship they should never be at the end of service 

i. First choice before service
ii. Second choice after offertory

a. Be certain that praise or contemporary songs are theologically sound and not works righteousness oriented
b. Use recorded praise music to eliminate need for musicians and a band
c. Keep the liturgical format and follow the church calendar, with popular contemporary praise music, if possible
d. Introduce and experiment with other visual additions to the service
e. Probably need to find a worship leader.

The worship committee held two meetings with lengthy and diverse dialog in each. Several suggestions / recommendations came from those meetings

1. The excellence of the Pastoral message focused on Law and Gospel is the focal point of the worship service. Great sermons develop growing churches.

2. Without exception the committee supported, as was a strong reflection of the congregation, the consideration of traditional Lutheran worship incorporating Liturgical worship settings in the new hymnal. When using new variations of the liturgy, be certain to introduce alternative service orders over a long enough time period for congregation to gain a comfort level.

a. Children’s sermons are of great values and should be held at least two times per month. Explore the possibility of a lay person with teaching skills and a passion for children’s ministry to conduct this portion of the worship.
b. Involve layman (and laywomen) in the worship service. Do not limit readers to the Elders but rather consider such things as presentation, public speaking skills and dynamics to make the readings as impactful as possible.
c. The positioning of the announcements was discussed at length and the committee concluded the placement should be at the beginning of the service as it was where the information would be least distracting or interfere with the worship.
d. Personalizing prayers with an Elder or Pastor enumerating individuals when prayers are requested and stating the nature of the need. The Pastor should then mention all individuals in the corporate prayers by name instead of simply a generic reference to “all we mentioned earlier.” We might also consider prayer request cards in the pews.
e. There was a strong, though not unanimous recommendation for one (1) worship  service on Sunday mornings No earlier than 10AM preceded by Bible Class and Sunday School). In this area the committee recognized the need to explore a contemporary worship to be held at some time other than Sundays. Perhaps a Saturday or Wednesday evening would be beneficial.
f. Introduce visuals by providing sermon outlines in the bulletin, projecting a pictorial image to illustrate a point in the sermon or set the theme for the sermon, or repositioning the Pastor to different areas of the chancel during Gospel, Creed or occasionally during the sermon.
g. Other topics discussed as options were:

i.  a recommendation to have a greeting of those around you or “passing the peace”
ii. Hymn sings
iii. Upbeat familiar hymns to close the service
iv. make prayer teams available at the end of service

Respectfully submitted
 

St Paul Lutheran Church

updated:  February, 2008