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A prayer, a passage from a psalm, a poem, an informal welcome – all these are possible ways of calling a congregation to worship, of inviting them to meet the living God. Some congregations may already be poised to worship, but others can feel fairly busy before worship begins. A call to worship encourages a readiness to worship.
If you are using a liturgy (with a printed set of prayers and responses) then the call to worship might look like one of these examples:
O Lord, open our lips,
and we shall praise your name.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
This is the day that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it!
If you are leading worship that is less prescribed, then you can choose if a call to worship is to be calming, devotional, up-beat, inspiring (and more). Each of the liturgical examples above creates a distinctive atmosphere and it is worthwhile considering what sort of atmosphere you wish to create at the outset.
Liturgy makes it easy for a congregation to take part with the worship leader. Without liturgy, a call to worship is less likely to be responsive - it will just be a solo voice rather than solo followed by all voices (as in the examples above). The voice of the worship leader alone has to command attention and set the mood. Let the words you choose and the way you say them invite the kind of atmosphere you think is appropriate for this occasion, for these people.
Here is a prayer of approach by Peter Sheasby, from ‘The Word in the World - prayers for Christian worship Book 2' compiled by Donald Hilton and published by NCEC (ISBN 0-7197-0900-8) which is a very useful resource.
Loving God,
open our eyes to the beauty of your holiness;
open our ears to the message of your word;
open our minds to the challenge of your truth;
open our hearts to the power of your love.
Open our lives to the coming of your Spirit,
that we may truly worship you,
now and forever.
This prayer is more than a call to worship. It could be placed after a call to worship. It invites a congregation to draw nearer to God. It has a repetitive pattern of poetry about it. The way it is laid out on the page gives pointers to how you might say it. Even if you choose to pray extempore, it is worth noting how a poetic approach to constructing a prayer can help to lead a congregation into worship.
Please
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your own words (and your own pictures) for a call to worship or a prayer of approach.
We shall publish a growing and changing collection of your work on this page.
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