Call to Worship

Growing up in church, I considered the call to worship something of a mystery. Where other parts of the service were being done extemporaneously (like the pastoral prayer), here was something written down that everyone said together, but we weren’t singing it. Unlike the Lord’s Prayer, the call to worship changed every week. So, my child-brain would wonder, “Did Jesus tell us to do this, or is there a special holy book approved by The United Methodist Church where they get all of these, or do you have to have special training to know how to write a call to worship the right way?” In other words, “Where do these words come from!?”

Now, I’m grown and writing calls to worship, and I know exactly where the words come from. Mystery solved! And yet, as per usual, one mystery solved opens up a deeper, more intriguing mystery. What are we actually doing in the call to worship? Why do it at all? These are excellent questions for all of us who plan worship to ask from time to time, but they are also good questions to present to the whole congregation. Now, this doesn’t have to look like opening your service with a conversation (though, if you want to, go for it!). Consider opening worship with a time of welcome that transitions people from gathering into the call to worship that calls everyone’s attention to the why of the call to worship. You might want to emphasize the pedagogical aspects of the call to worship as it plants the seeds for what the gathered body will encounter throughout the service. Or you might want to emphasize the community building that happens in the call to worship as we join with one another in declaring our purpose in gathering for worship. However you approach it, invite the congregation to claim the purpose and intention of the call to worship for themselves this Sunday and every Sunday.

Visually, continue implementing the altar/chancel theme you began last week. Whether you spell out “CALL TO WORSHIP,” add symbols for togetherness, or reference art and/or photographs that speak to your community’s identity and history, fill the space with images that celebrate your community and the work the congregation does when they gather together. Consider, too, how you might reinforce these visuals with congregational song. This is a wonderful time to have a mini-hymn sing of some of your congregation’s heart songs, especially the ones that speak to who you are as a community. Or you might want to introduce a new or not well-known hymn that you will feature over the next few weeks. It could be a hymn specifically about being the church, like “We Are the Church” or “The Church’s One Foundation,” or it might be a hymn that speaks to your values as a community, like “Draw the Circle Wide” or “Help Us Accept Each Other.” Whether you lean into what the congregation knows or introduce something new or both, may this “call to worship” Sunday be a time when you reorient yourselves to your purpose in gathering as a community that worships the Triune God and is bound together by God as the Body of Christ.