The purpose of this series is to offer some basic “entry points” for beginning to explore your Minimum Factor graph.
This post is for those whose Minimum Factor is Inspiring Worship Service.
Two initial points need to be made.
First, all the questions relate to the degree to which the worship service is inspiring. The higher a question’s result, the greater its contribution to the service being inspiring.
Secondly, the questions are included in the survey because it has been shown to high degree of accuracy in international statistical terms that they distinguish healthy growing churches from those in decline. In effect, churches attracting higher scores for these questions are more likely to be growing, and vice versa. Not liking the questions, or thinking other questions would be better, in no way detracts from the 11 appearing on the graph.
I see seven different entry points and I would pursue them in the following order.
1. Why?
Q50 – I can easily explain why I come to the worship service
In my experience many church leaders take it for granted that people know why they gather corporately and are surprised by a low score. They are even more surprised when they struggle with the question themselves as leaders. Touche.
Some answers can shock, like this one I’ve heard more than once: “I come for the food and chat after the service.”
Once upon a time people came to the service out of loyalty to the institution. No longer. The “why” of worship is foundational to it being inspiring.
2. Preparation
Q88 – I always look forward to the worship service
Q89 – I prepare myself to participate in the worship service
We can forget that the principal “ingredient” to worship is people not liturgy. The frame of mind in which people arrive has a fundamental impact on their receptiveness to what occurs. Knowing why they are coming to worship will shape expectations. Regular positive worship experiences will heighten anticipation. Expecting a spiritual encounter increases both preparation and participation.
My wife and I attended a church once where we lingered after the morning service and every week left with heightened anticipation of what would happen in the evening service. We couldn’t wait to be there.
3. Impact
I like this group of questions in the following order:
Q56 – I’m often bored during the worship service
Q15 – I feel the worship service has a positive influence on me
Q47 – Attending the worship service is an inspiring experience for me
These questions seek an overall impression from a personal perspective. Quite so, because corporate worship rests on the capacity of individuals to worship.
The questions also acknowledge that perceptions of the corporate worship experience are largely based on the entire service not individual component parts.
The questions relate to the degree of impact on the worshippers – from completely “switched off” to totally “switched on”. The questions are not concerned with models of worship, liturgical style, etc, but engagement in worship.
4. Preaching the Word
Q10 – I feel the sermon in the worship service speaks to my personal situation
Q25 – I enjoy listening to the sermons in the worship service
That two questions about preaching appear in the Survey is proof positive of its importance to a healthy growing church. The questions rightly begin from the perspective of the impact of the preaching on the hearers. Effective communication always begins with what is heard not what is said.
There is much discussion about preaching – purpose, value, styles, etc. However, these questions point to the essence of preaching: (i) that the preacher is able to take timeless biblical principles and apply them in relevant ways to listeners’ lives, and (ii) that this is done in an engaging way. I recall it was Gordon Fee who said, “The preacher stands between the Word and the people.”
5. Music
Q53 – The music in the worship service helps me worship God
Like the preaching, music is singled out for special mention because of its impact on the degree to which people find their worship service inspiring. No surprise there.
Music is a minefield. My only comment is that the question is quite direct, and rightly so, in its focus on music’s primary purpose of facilitating worship of God. And it is based on what the participants perceive rather than on what they are told the chosen music should do for them.
6. Visitors
Q85 – Our worship service attracts unchurched visitors
In my experience most survey participants skip the “unchurched” bit and focus purely on the “visitors”. It reflects the fact that many churches are happy just to see new people. The principal link of this question is with Need-oriented Evangelism.
It is worth pondering how this question contributes to worship services being inspiring.
7. ‘The God connection’
Q12 – I connect with God in a meaningful way during the worship service
This brings us back to the ‘why’ question we began with and in effect it acts as a summary question for all of the above.
The Greek word for ‘church’ – ekklesia – carries the sense of the gathering of God’s people, especially before the Lord. The primary reason for gathering together is to worship the Lord and receive from Him in ways which enable ongoing spiritual growth to maturity in the context of our daily lives. Are we ‘church’ if when we gather together the vast majority of people experience no meaningful connection with God?
In what ways does experiencing God in a meaningful way on a regular basis contribute to worship services being inspiring? And vice versa.