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Spring 1987 · Vol. 16 No. 1 · pp. 68–79 

Translating Liturgy into “The Work of the People”

Alan Peters

Whenever Christian believers gather together to worship, they create the opportunity for a miracle to occur. Worshippers who have experienced this miracle describe it in a number of ways:

  • “We all seemed to be thinking and feeling the same things.”
  • “There was such closeness in the service.”
  • “We felt such a spirit of unity while we worshipped.”

This miracle of corporate worship occurs when a spectrum of different individuals—dozens, or even hundreds of them—come together and become one body, with a single mind and purpose. Each participant brings a special and unique cluster of life experiences, attitudes, knowledge, gifts and hopes, and then donates them to a common purpose: the praise of God. {69}

Liturgy . . . shunned by some, can be creative corporate worship.

Perhaps it is the regular reappearance of this “miracle of worship” which enables Christian believers to accept and acknowledge the mystery of the Trinity. Each time believers become one in worship, they see firsthand how many can be one.

WORSHIP AS THE WORK OF THE PEOPLE

Many congregations have rediscovered that public worship is not a presentation by a select few, but rather an activity and effort of the entire congregation. In those settings where once a minister presided and a choir responded, now all worshippers join to participate in prayer, singing, ministering and speaking. The members of these congregations are affirming that worship is what they do together, not what they have done for them. For these congregations worship is active, not passive. It is the “work of the people.”

This understanding of worship is an ancient one, firmly grounded in the stories, descriptions, and instructions contained in the Old Testament. The fundamental activities of Jewish worship—the psalms, prayers, and sacrifices—were the duties and responsibilities of all the people. Everyone who entered the temple was incorporated actively into the proclamation of faith.

The early church built upon this concept of public worship. The early church fathers even described their worship services by using the Greek word liturgy, which means: “the work of the people.” Their intent was clear: worship is to be the avenue which all believers travel to glorify God.

PROCLAMATION AS THE WORK OF THE PEOPLE

Some leaders of the reformation, including a number of Anabaptists and Mennonites, questioned the value of the traditional orders of worship, or liturgies, used in the established churches. The repetition of formulas and phrases, often in a language unknown to most members of the congregation, was totally unacceptable to those who were cutting through the traditions in an effort to bring new life back into the church. As a result, the responsibility for proclaiming the faith within the worship service was often placed solely upon the minister, who read the Scripture, instructed the church, and offered the {70} prayers.

However, even those congregations which declared themselves free of the limitations of the liturgy still found themselves acknowledging in subtle and sometimes uneasy ways that worship was still the “work of the people.” The singing of hymns, with many voices blending as one, still united members of the congregation in worship. The use of the Lord’s Prayer, often spoken in unison by the entire congregation, continued as a frequent expression of worship—probably because Christ gave clear instructions to his followers that they should follow the pattern of this prayer.

There is still a degree of discomfort in many churches when the idea of a liturgy is raised. The very concept is still viewed with suspicion and distrust by a considerable number of Christian ministers and congregations who see in it a return to a pattern of worship based on an impersonal routine, with little thought to commitment required. However, many of these same congregations have gladly and innocently adopted patterns of public worship which demonstrate that worship is still “the work of the people.” In essence, the term liturgy has been avoided by churches who are translating what the word stood for into contemporary equivalents. Through this process, these so-called “non-liturgical” churches are rediscovering the miracle which happens when worship within the body of Christ once again becomes “the work of the people.”

It is in the area of “proclamation” where the new trend toward congregational involvement is probably most noticeable. The increased use of unison statements and readings by the congregation is a visible result. While congregational singing has somehow always managed to survive as a congregational expression of unity in praise and worship, unison speaking by the congregation has suffered from neglect for many years. Only recently have some churches recognized that this form of joint proclamation can be used as a symbol of the unity of faith.

Until recently, it was a strange phenomenon in the church that the singing of a hymn was perceived to be a stirring way to bring people together in worship, but reading the words of that same hymn together in unison was somehow unacceptable. The unfortunate result often was that many hymns, especially those with catchy melodies, were energetically sung with little comprehension of the messages contained in their words. {71}

SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE

If corporate worship is “the work of the people,” then the congregation must be active participants in the entire process of worshipping. Those who plan and lead congregations in worship have a responsibility to enable the congregation not only to sing and listen, but also to speak and pray and respond and exhort. The Scriptures teach us that the massed voices of the people of Israel were powerful enough to cause the walls of Jericho to fall. God can certainly use the massed voices of our congregations today to convict, exhort, encourage, and instruct.

1. Calling the Congregation to Worship

Most public worship services begin with some indication that worshippers are now to set aside their own private meditation and worship and join together in worship with the others in the congregation. This can be done in a number of ways.

Traditionally, the minister or choir announces in some way that public worship is now beginning. There is often a special beauty and significance to this “Call to Worship” when the entire congregation participates in challenging each other to worship.

The traditional liturgies often contained a sequence like the following:

Leader: The Lord be with you.
ALL: AND ALSO WITH YOU.

Non-liturgical churches have often used a pattern that is not much different. For example, many pastors have used the following type of exchange with their congregations:

Leader: Good morning, brothers and sisters!
ALL: GOOD MORNING, PASTOR FRIESEN!

In our efforts to construct a congregational Call to Worship that suits a particular service, we may want to draw from Scripture or from Christian poetry or literature. Or we may wish to create our own statement which involves the whole congregation. Such a Call to Worship may be as simple as:

Leader: This is the day that the Lord has made;
ALL: LET US BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN IT. {72}

Or it may be as involved as:

Leader: Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place?
ALL: HE WHO HAS CLEAN HANDS AND A PURE HEART.
Leader: He will receive blessings from the Lord
ALL: AND VINDICATION FROM THE GOD OF HIS SALVATION.
Leader: Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
ALL: THE LORD OF HOSTS, HE IS THE KING OF GLORY!

The use of such a congregational expression at the beginning of a service has a number of advantages. First, the members of the congregation are alerted to the fact that they will be a part of the beginning, middle, and ending of the worship service. Second, the congregation is drawn, from the very beginning, into the theme and content of the service. Third, the person planning the service is required to focus his or her own thoughts on the service, for such a congregational expression requires careful planning and preparation and needs to be in a printed form available to every worshipper.

Those portions of a reading designated for the “Leader” to read may be read by the minister or worship leader. In addition, it is very effective for these portions occasionally to be read by other members of the congregation. This kind of freedom demonstrates that the spoken word may come through any believer and at unexpected times and places. The person reading these lines must be clearly heard, however, which means that careful planning is required in large sanctuaries where amplification is needed.

2. The Reading of Scripture

Scripture was meant to be read to large gatherings of listeners. The Old Testament is filled with accounts where the Law was read to the whole congregation of Israel. The Psalms were clearly intended to be an integral part of the corporate worship services in the temple and synagogue, and some were even written to be sung or spoken as worshippers struggled along the roads climbing into Jerusalem.

In those churches which believe that the Scriptures are {73} the very word of God, it is very appropriate for the word to be uttered through the loud, unison voice of the congregation. Just as the jubilant words greeting the birth of Christ were spoken by a “multitude of the heavenly host,” so also the majestic statements of praise to God that are found in Scripture may find their most suitable expression in the combined voices of the whole church.

Some scriptures are particularly suited for unison reading. For example, the great doxology found in Ephesians 1:3-10 can serve to unite a congregation in praise and thanksgiving as stirringly as any great hymn of faith, and this passage almost cries out to be read by the whole congregation in unison:

  • ALL: BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR
  •    LORD JESUS CHRIST,
  • WHO HAS BLESSED US IN CHRIST WITH EVERY
  •    SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENLY
  •    PLACES,
  • EVEN AS HE CHOSE US IN HIM BEFORE
  •    THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD,
  • THAT WE SHOULD BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS
  •    BEFORE HIM.
  • HE DESTINED US IN LOVE TO BE HIS SONS
  •    THROUGH JESUS CHRIST,
  • ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIS WILL,
  • TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORIOUS GRACE
  • WHICH HE FREELY BESTOWED ON US IN THE
  •    BELOVED.
  • IN HIM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS
  •    BLOOD,
  • THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR TRESPASSES,
  • ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE
  •    WHICH HE LAVISHED UPON US.
  • FOR HE HAS MADE KNOWN TO US IN ALL
  •    WISDOM AND INSIGHT
  • THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL,
  • ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE WHICH HE SET
  •    FORTH IN CHRIST
  • AS A PLAN FOR THE FULNESS OF TIME,
  • TO UNITE ALL THINGS IN HIM,
  • THINGS IN HEAVEN AND THINGS ON EARTH. {74}

This passage from Ephesians clearly demonstrates why it is important that the worship leader carefully prepare for congregational readings. The congregation must be assisted to read together effectively. Some members of the congregation can read better than others, some have better breath control, and some can look ahead in the passage better than others. As a result, the worship leader must give the congregation necessary clues to assist them in their reading.

For example, it is helpful to print the words that the congregation will read TOTALLY IN CAPITAL LETTERS. This distinguishes the words that the entire congregation will read from those that will be read some other way. This is particularly important when individuals will be reading portions of the scripture interspersed with the verses that the congregation will read.

The scripture text to be read in unison should be printed in the “Order of Worship” in a way that carefully indicates how the scriptures are to be read. For example, the Ephesians passage printed above, like many quotations from the Epistles, has a very complex sentence structure, which can unnecessarily confuse the readers and leave the congregation breathless! Wherever possible, one line of the printed text should contain the words to be spoken in one breath. Where the amount to be spoken in one breath does not fit on one line, the following line is indented to indicate that it is still part of the previous “breath’s worth.”

The congregation, after some experience, knows how to identify the end of each thought—and breath—and learns to pause and take a short breath before starting the next line. In the Ephesians example, there are 28 lines representing 17 thought units. The 11 indented lines continue the thoughts of the lines which immediately precede them.

When a unison reading is complex and lengthy, as was the case with the Ephesians passage, it is also helpful to break the reading into major sections, or stanzas. This allows the members of the congregation to pace their reading better, catch their breath occasionally, and identify when a major thought has been completed. When all these simple clues are used consistently, the congregation will be able to read together with comparative ease, increasing the impact of the reading while simultaneously helping the congregation to understand better what they are reading. {75}

Some other scriptures are especially suited for responsive reading, with designated individuals or groups within the congregation reading alternating sections of the passage. This allows one group to catch its breath while the other is reading and also dramatizes those scriptures which use a “dialogue” approach or style. The “Call to Worship” cited earlier, which was adapted from Psalm 24, is a perfect example of this type of dialogue. In fact, most of the Psalms and other poetic passages are more accurately expressed when read responsively, since Hebrew poetry is written using different forms of parallelism, which repeats and compares ideas in much the same way that some of our poetry uses the repetition of sounds.

A notable example of scripture which is well-suited for responsive reading is Psalm 136. The Psalm consists of 26 verses, each being a statement of praise with a consistent, repetitive response. Using the first 9 verses as an example, we could construct a responsive reading as follows:

Leader: O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.
Leader: O give thanks to the God of gods,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.
Leader: O give thanks to the Lord of Lords,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.
Leader: To Him who alone does great wonders,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.
Leader: To him who by understanding made the heavens,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.
Leader: To him who spread out the earth upon the waters,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.
Leader: To him who made the great lights,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.
Leader: The sun to rule over the day,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.
Leader: The moon and stars to rule over the night,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.

This particular reading opens up a wide number of options and opportunities for a creative worship setting. For example, the lines designated above for the “Leader” to read can also be read by various other individuals selected in advance. They could even be read by other groups in the church, such as the Choir or Children’s Choir. The congregation itself could be {76} divided into sections, with each responding to the other.

One may also indicate in the printed text that these sections will be read by individuals within the congregation who volunteer to read these lines on the spot, without prior arrangement. This, of course, requires a congregation that is comfortable with such an approach and contains individuals who can be expected to accept such a challenge. A worship experience takes on a special, wonderful quality when members of the congregation randomly and spontaneously lead the congregation in a responsive reading of this type.

To alert the congregation that individuals will have the opportunity to volunteer to read in this way, some congregations use the special term “Voice” in the printed text of the passage to be read. For example, the first two verses of Psalm 136 would appear as follows, if they were to be led by volunteer readers:

Voice: O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.
Voice: O give thanks to the God of gods,
ALL: FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER.

The worship leader who includes congregational readings of Scripture in a worship service must choose a version of Scripture which is well-suited for unison reading. This choice is simple in those congregations which have settled upon a particular version for overall congregational use. When identical versions are available in the pews, all scripture readings, even those within the text of a sermon, can be read aloud by the congregation as a whole.

When a choice of Scripture texts is possible, the worship leader should carefully select a text which is suitable for public reading. The texts of Scripture used in this article were all selected from the Revised Standard Version, which is used in many congregations, including that of the author. The New International Version is another version which seems to be well-suited for unison reading. A version like the Amplified Bible is less suitable since variant readings in the text make it cumbersome to use for reading purposes. Whenever a congregation is going through the process of adopting a single version for congregational use, it is important that public “readability” be considered. {77}

3. A House of Prayer

In many respects, worship and prayer are interchangeable terms. The united outpouring of adoration, honor, and glory which we offer to God in worship all come under the broad category of prayer. It is no wonder that Paul exhorted the church to “pray without ceasing,” for that simply meant that the life of a disciple was to be a continual conversation with God.

However, the church has long designated certain types of statements directed to God as “prayers.” These include Opening Prayers, Dedicatory Prayers, Prayers of Confession, Pastoral Prayers, Seasons of Prayer, and Prayers of Benediction. Prayers pervade the entire process that we call worship. If worship is truly “the work of the people,” then congregational involvement in the offering of prayers is necessary and valuable.

The Lord’s Prayer is the obvious example of a prayer that is usually spoken in unison by the entire congregation. Unfortunately, it has often been the only prayer which congregations have been able to offer together. There are a large number of other prayers which deserve occasional reading in a public worship setting. They can be found in the countless worship resource books at most libraries and religious book stores.

The most effective congregational prayers, however, are those which are written by those within a congregation for use at a special service or celebration of the church. There are specially-gifted people in most congregations who can be asked to compose a special prayer for use by the church. Furthermore, there are those momentous events in the life of the church and its members which are remembered and cherished because a prayer or other act of worship was given to the congregation by a sensitive, generous member of the church. Examples of these occasions would be special dedications, baptisms, weddings, funerals, anniversaries.

The principles for assisting a congregation to participate in public prayers are much the same as those listed above for the reading of Scripture. If published prayers are used, the printed text should certainly give proper credit to the author.

In some congregations spontaneous prayers represent the only acceptable way to pray. The use of printed or prepared {78} prayers is not allowed in these settings. This policy often rules out the use of the unison congregational prayers except perhaps the Lord’s Prayer and other prayers found within Scripture. Even in these congregations, some members can be involved by arranging for individuals in the congregation to lead in prayer or inviting volunteers within the congregation to pray during the service.

Unfortunately, the exclusive use of the spontaneous prayer does prohibit some less vocal members of the congregation from participating in the offering of prayers. It also precludes the congregation from benefiting from the many valuable and touching prayers that have been offered by sensitive Christians at other times and places. Perhaps the ideal goal of a congregation is to experience the best of both options by encouraging the offering of spontaneous prayers and occasionally enabling the entire congregation to join together in prepared unison prayers of praise and supplication.

THE WORD AT WORK AMONG US

Most of us can recall times and events when a single word has changed our lives. It may have been the simple “Yes” in response to a proposal of marriage. It may have been the abrupt “No” that shuts us off from a promising goal. It may have been the stirring “Amen” that gave us the courage to try again.

The words that a congregation speaks have the power to change the life not only of an individual, but of an entire community. And when these words are the words of God, only He knows how powerful and energizing they can become. When the miracle happens, and a congregation of diverse individuals is momentarily transformed into a single body, with one mind, voice, heart, and purpose, then we know first hand the meaning of fellowship, community, power and hope.


ALL: PRAISE THE LORD!

Leader: Praise God in his sanctuary;
Praise him in his mighty firmament!

ALL: PRAISE HIM FOR HIS MIGHTY DEEDS;
PRAISE HIM ACCORDING TO HIS EXCEEDING GREATNESS! {79}

Voice: Praise him with trumpet sound;

Voice: Praise him with lute and harp!

Voice: Praise him with timbrel and dance;

Voice: Praise him with strings and pipe!

Voice: Praise him with sounding cymbals;

Voice: Praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

ALL: LET EVERYTHING THAT BREATHES PRAISE THE LORD!
PRAISE THE LORD!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following books provide additional information or resources regarding the use of corporate expressions in worship.

  • Allen, Ronald and Gordon Borror. Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel. Portland: Multnomah Press, 1982.
  • Filthaut, Theodor. Learning to Worship. Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press, 1965. This book presents a Roman Catholic view of liturgy and worship. It gives a valuable historical outline of comments of the early church fathers regarding worship.
  • Hymns for the Family of God. Nashville: Paragon Associates, 1976. This hymnal is unusual in the number and quality of congregational readings which it contains. It provides a ready resource of prayers, scriptures, and readings for a variety of worship settings.
  • Maus, Cynthia Pearl. Christ and the Fine Arts. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959. This book contains an absolute wealth of poems, readings, hymns, and essays, which can be incorporated into a worship service.
  • Rayburn, Robert G. O Come, Let Us Worship: Corporate Worship in the Evangelical Church. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1980.
  • Taylor, Michael J., editor. Liturgical Renewal in the Christian Churches. Baltimore: Helicon Press, 1967.
  • White, James F. New Forms of Worship. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971.
  • ———. The Worldliness of Worship. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967.
Alan Peters, currently the Assistant Director of the Fresno County (California) Department of Social Services, is a graduate of the M.B. Biblical Seminary, Fresno. He has also served for many years as Worship Leader at the College Community M.B. Church, Clovis.

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