Worship is formative - we become what we behold. This is a weighty responsibility for those of us choosing songs, creating setlists, and leading worship. What are we putting before the eyes, hearts, and in the mouths of the people we lead and serve?
If worship is indeed formative, we need to think long-term about how our choices are forming and discipling the people we lead. Our vision must be larger than 20 minutes once a week. Selecting a handful of songs for the weekend may get the job done in the short term, but it will create malformed disciples in the long run.
So how do we shape our perspective? How do we attempt the deep work of formation and discipleship if we are responsible for such a small sliver of people’s time? My proposal: become a liturgist.
Liturgy means work of the people.
Although we often associate liturgy with ‘high church’ services (think, incense, robes, and scripted prayers), every church has a liturgy. So even a loose structure of songs and service order for churches who have never followed the Church calendar or cracked a prayer book are still liturgical.
The first step in becoming a liturgist is realizing, you already are. If liturgy is the work of the people, we all contribute to the corporate gathering. But those of us who carry responsibility for what happens as we gather have a unique opportunity to intentionally form our liturgy to form intentional disciples.
As liturgists, we must hold a bigger picture in mind in our planning, preparation, and decisions. Liturgy is no silver bullet or secret weapon, it is a helpful framework for thinking and working toward greater formation among those we lead and serve.
Next week I’ll write about some of the ways we can begin to be more thoughtful and intentional in crafting our liturgies.