How Can Worship Build Relationships?

How Can Worship Build Relationships?
By David Reinholz

The Seven Rivers District just completed the third of four regional workshops where the main topic of conversation was how to build relationships, those within our local church families, and external to our churches with those in our communities. The final series of workshops will be held on Saturday, April 9, from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm at a church near you. Let me share that kind of work we have been doing at the worship workshops.

Goal: The goal of this workshop series is to share best practices and ideas about how a weekly worship experience can help build strong relationships internal to the local church and with those in the surrounding community.

Objective: Model and facilitate an interactive worship experience and discussion to stimulate and engage clergy and lay teams toward reimagining the context of their worship environment to enhance internal and external relationships.

Here are some topics illustrating the kind of work we have been doing at the worship workshops:

How can scripture reading be more engaging and build relationships? Or, how can sermons be more interactive and relational?  These are just a couple of questions asked during workshops within the Seven Rivers District meant to share the best practices in worship and to nurture strong relationships, both internally and externally.

What is Worship?

For our purposes, we define “worship” as the entire “Sunday morning” corporate gathering as a faith community. This timeframe includes any initial welcoming at the door to departing to serve following a time of fellowship, and everything in-between.

A workable definition that will serve our purposes is that worship is defined by the effort to “connect with God, and connect with each other, including those in the surrounding community”.

Principles of Corporate Worship

While the components of and order of worship are often based on tradition or the context (reality) of the local church setting, there are some common desired outcomes:

• We desire an encounter with God
• We desire an encounter with other people
• There is a component of teaching and remembrance
• Worship needs to be relevant to peoples’ lives and their personal reality
• Worship should be engaging and not distracting; it should flow with a theme
• Worship should leave participants with a sense of hope
• Worship should provide a call to action and a potential change of behavior
• Since weekly worship is often the only time the community gathers, we have to be intentional about using this time to build relationships

Why Are Relationships Important?

• We worship a Triune God who is by our doctrine, a being in community (Father, Son, Holy Sprit, Wisdom); we worship sort of a “divine family’
• This divine presence desires to be in relationship with all of creation and loves humankind much like a parent loves a child; ‘friends of Jesus, children of God’
• How do we respond to this divine relationship and the call to be in relationship with others?

Elements of the Worship Gathering

Think about your local church setting and reflect on the impressions a first-time visitor might have about attending worship at your church.

• Think about how your church does hospitality
-How well is the worship service marketed? Website, newspaper, signage?
-Is there signage when you enter to guide a person to the restrooms, coffee bar, sanctuary, Sunday School?
-Are they met at the door? How are they greeted? Is there an offer to show them around?
-What if they have children with them?

• Think about the existing interactions that take place during worship
-Could we reimagine “Passing of the Peace” or “Welcome and Announcements” to make them more relational?
-Can we do more with “Prayers of the People” or “Joys and Concerns”?
-How might we do the offering to celebrate new relationships?

• Think about the Sharing of the Word during worship
-How could scripture reading be more engaging and build relationships?
-How could the sermon be more interactive and relational?
-Could this be a discussion forum that builds relationships?

• Think about how your church celebrates communion
-How might we build stronger relationships during communion?
-Should we be celebrating more often? Why or why not?

• What role does music play in worship? How can we use music to build relationship?
-How could singing be more relational?
-How important is the quality of music and the style?

• How might the worship gathering be used to develop stronger relationships with those in the community?
-Could you invite local musical groups to enhance your worship?
-Could you sing songs or use music from the culture of the community?
-Could you take your worship service into the community?
-Could you join other groups in worship in a different setting?

So much like Jesus told Martha not to worry so much about doing things, but to focus on the “one thing” that is important…what is the one thing most important about your worship experience?

If you would like to share the different ways your local church community is working to improve the overall worship experience while nurturing different relationships, e-mail channels@pnwumc.org.