Encouraging Participation in Congregational Worship
Mark A. Taylor reflects on David Faust’s concern about declining congregational singing and points to a larger issue in worship planning: participation versus nonparticipation. The article encourages churches to plan services that invite meaningful engagement rather than passive observation.
- Congregational singing raises a broader question about how worshippers participate.
- Public worship should engage hearts, not merely present a polished program.
- Simple, low-cost elements can help worshippers respond more actively.
By Mark A. Taylor
David Faust touched a bigger issue when he asked, “Whatever happened to congregational singing?” In his September 26 column in The Lookout* he reflected on a recent worship experience in a congregation he visited:
The worship leaders’ skill and preparation were obvious. Every guitar riff was well played, every vocal note well toned, every PowerPoint slide properly displayed. The band members played with personality and passion, and there was no reason to question their sincerity or motivation.
But hardly anyone in the congregation sang. . . .
My concern is not about “traditional” versus “contemporary” music. . . . The issue really isn’t musical tastes and preferences at all. No, it’s about participation versus nonparticipation.
Participation Versus Nonparticipation
That last sentence states the larger concern: Too many going to church these days are watching more than they’re worshipping. The question for everyone planning a public worship service this week is, “How will we engage attendees in the worship we’re leading?”
It’s one thing to stage a well-planned presentation. It’s another to capture the hearts of the crowd in the seats. Perhaps neither is easy, but I wonder how much attention we’re giving to the second half of the equation. Corporate worship is not a concert followed by a lecture, but a confrontation with the living God. And he’s been moving worshippers since long before believers debated worship styles or created worship budgets.
Planning Worship That Engages
I thought about this again after attending a worship service not long ago that included a personal testimony from a missionary and silent meditation time led by a church member. Both elements happened in the middle of the minister’s two-part sermon and were enhanced by well-chosen congregational choruses. It was obvious worship planners had carefully considered how to prompt meaningful responses to that morning’s Scripture texts.
Any church could do something similar. Opportunities abound for no-cost/low-cost ways to involve worshippers: Ask several volunteers to pray. Divide the congregation into two parts for a back-and-forth responsive reading between the halves. Distribute a fill-in-the-blank sermon outline or a quote for the congregation to read and underline. Pose an open-ended question for church members to discuss for 60 seconds with their neighbors.
Once you decide to add a little variety or maybe a small surprise to every Sunday’s service, you’ll think of many ways to help worshippers track with each week’s themes and lessons.
And in the process, you might even discover ways to get more of them singing!
*Find the article at www.lookoutmag.com/articles/firstlook.asp?id=2242
Author: Mark A. Taylor
Mark A. Taylor, who served as Christian Standard editor from 2003 to 2017, retired in June 2017 after almost 41 years with Standard Publishing (Christian Standard Media).
Great article, thank you! I will share this with my students who are preparing for worship ministry.
May I humbly suggest that the main reason for non-participation in many churches is our desire (and perhaps success) in reaching the un-churched? It is not their unwillingness to participate, but their unfamiliarity with what is being done. With the abundance of new songs for praise and worship, it is obvious in a gathering as large as the NACC, that there are many times when only half of the audience is singing, simply because they do not know the song.
Also, I remember several years ago, I was leading the singing at a revival. There was one gentleman in particular who was quite disturbing. He stood there in the front row, with his arms folded across his chest, never singing a word. He never participated in the responsive reading, and even during the sermon he did not appear to be listening. After the service, I was at the back of the room when the man approached me with another man.
The other man spoke and said, “George wanted me to tell you how much he enjoyed the service this evening. It really meant a lot to him.” “Thank you,” I said, offering my hand to him. He shook my hand, while the other man explained, “George is almost deaf, he cannot speak because of a stroke, and he is going blind – but oh how he loves to worship God!” It was then that Jesus’ words rang loudly in my own ears, “These men worship me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
Since that day, I have never assumed anything about a person during a worship service.
How wonderful to note a clear thinker sharing the thought! We have greatly erred by thinking our assemblies should be worship services. The Bible teaches no such thing. The only apostolic guide we have to how we should plan our assemblies is in 1 Corinthians 11-14, and specifically in 1 Cor. 14:26. Some speak of “authorized acts of worship” just as if the Bible taught any such thing. It doesn’t. It teaches that we worship God every day as we work in His world and enjoy our families in our homes and elsewhere.
No early congregation ever held a worship service that is spoken of in Luke’s history of the early church. No apostle taught that Christians should meet together in order to there do anything called “worship.” Each passage which calls for us assembling speaks to our need to edify one another and to BE edified by others. Their Lord’s Supper observance was in a MEAL, odd as that sounds to us. But they had no ceremonious ritual with only a sip of wine and a small cracker which they called a supper in memory of the Lord. Nor did they ever take up an offering during an assembly, so far as the record tells.
That they shared is recorded. That those who had gave to those who had need is clear. But the gift went from the one who had to the one who needed, so far as we can tell except in the very first days of the church when a great many from out of town were suddenly guests of Jerusalemites. They ate together. They counted nothing as being their own. They lived communally in those first heady days, with all eating together with food purchased through gifts given to the apostles for the purpose.
Kudos to Mark for a great article much needed. Singing is an effective beginning in our worship services. It preps the heart and focuses the mind into the mode of humility in God’s Presence. After all, even the angels are singing along with us if you think about it. Adding a touch of variety is another idea that has proven efffective as well.
One thing that tends to hinder the spirit of participation is found in the volume of the instruments. I’m the sort of disciple who can sing and worship either with instrument(s) or no. But when the volume is so high the words cannot be understood—then the instruments have lost their purpose and intent to enhance the corporate worship time. It is fixable though…simply turn down the volume so the heart is touched more by the words of the choruses and hymns. I’d much rather be into the heart of worship than any “unnecessary noise.” In Jesus’ words HE says: “God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” [John 4:24].