Since returning from the Worship Symposium of Calvin College at Grand Rapids, Michigan, I have been doing a lot of thinking about worship in the church. Worship is and will remain the key element of Christian expression. We remember that worship was vital to the life of the early church and that Jesus regularly went to the synagogue. If, for the average church member, Sunday morning worship is the main or primary experience of God, then it is important for us to consider carefully what we do in worship.

Every congregation I know at least says it wants to grow and share the good news. (We call this ‘doing evangelism’). I enter every congregation in which I serve with a mind for growth. After all, that is what we are called to do as a people of God, isn’t it? In addition to the vital aspects of our Christian ministry of offering care to the needy and justice to the oppressed, we are called by Christ to a ministry of evangelism, that is, to share the good news and make disciples of all the nations.

A worship service gives us a wonderful opportunity to share the good news. We don’t often think of our worship services in that way, but we should. In his book, Good News Travels Faster, (CTS Press, 1990), Joe Donaho states that research on main line Protestantism reveals that “in far too many congregations, the worship service is structured to appeal to the long-time member” and not the first-time worshipper.

However, a person’s decision to join a church is based largely upon his or her experience in the worship service. The worship service may provide newcomers with their only experience of God in the week.

In the mid 1980s, Richard Stoll Armstrong offered many pastors and congregations an opportunity to rethink how we reach visitors to our churches in his book, The Pastor-Evangelist in Worship (Westminster John Knox, 1986). Effective evangelism, Armstrong says, begins in and with the parking lot. Mark Waltz in First Impressions – Creating Wow Experiences in Your Church, (Group, 2004), says the same thing. Providing ample parking is seen in many churches as a luxury most cannot afford. However, it is essential. In my previous congregation, as we grew, we came to realize that parking was a huge factor in whether or not people would come to church. Parents with small children and the elderly are of great concern when it comes to parking issues.

Once appropriate parking is established, what happens in the parking lot is essential as well. A friendly greeting, a helping hand, or helpful advice to a newcomer or regular member helps set the tone of worship before the church is even entered. I recently preached as a guest in an unfamiliar church. Before I was even out of my car, I was greeted by two members entering the building. It certainly conveyed the feeling of warmth and welcome to me, a stranger in their midst! Greeters and ushers are also vital to a church’s evangelical ministry. They are the first people visitors meet when they enter the church.

Greeters need to be friendly and helpful to both visitors and members alike. When a greeter identifies a new person, he/she offers a welcome, exchanges names, and gives helpful information about the church, the facilities, and the service. It is imperative to give a good first impression!

Perhaps the most important evangelistic opportunity arises in the worship service. The bulletin is elemental in this. The bulletin is the primary piece of literature people keep when they leave the worship service. Having the name of the church, address, minister’s name, phone number, e-mail, hours of worship, and office hours are important pieces of information everyone needs. The bulletin should be readable and the announcements should include all relevant information. I have been accused of being a publisher of small books! A bulletin doesn’t have to be big, but if you consider that many people refer to their bulletins through the week for dates and times of meetings and events, a bulletin with all the church’s important pastoral news and activities in it will be very helpful.

User-friendly bulletins do not assume anything! Page references should be clear, and words to the doxology, introit, or other “familiar” songs should be provided for visitors. Not everyone who enters a Presbyterian church knows “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” One pet peeve I have is with the variations we, Presbyterians, have with the Lord’s Prayer. Simply adding the word “trespasses” or “debts” beside the Lord’s Prayer will go a long way in keeping a visitor (or guest preacher) from embarrassment.

It goes without saying that the sermon is key to announcing the good news to worshippers. The message needs to be scripturally-based, meaningful, challenging, and most of all relevant to people’s needs and concerns today.

Music is about as important an evangelical tool in worship as the sermon. Music has the ability to reach people on a deep emotional level and can appeal to people of all ages. “Music for worship,” says Richard Webb in Widening the Circle – Designing Worship that Reaches, “… must speak God’s truth and grace with the same power and clarity as the flow of the worship pattern (p. 46).”

When it comes to evangelism and worship, there are many other areas in the worship service to which we could give some attention. Corporate prayer, the children’s story, special music, choirs, scripture reading, pew booklets, and visitor letters are all parts of the worship service we can consider. How do we share the good news in an effective way?

Worship, as one writer puts it, is the stewardship of faith, a natural response to the gift of faith we have been given. Therefore, our worship services must be a reflection of our beliefs. Our worship must be an outward expression of our inward joy. If people visiting our churches witnessed more of that joy, warmth, and conviction, they may just come back for more; and then maybe, just maybe, we’ll find ourselves looking for the extra chairs.