I'm the director of college ministries at my church, so while I have a lot of opinions about the conducting of the Sunday morning church service, I don't have much actual authority to change things.
But if I could choose only one thing to cut out, it would definitely be the "special." Even on the rare occasion that the person performing the special has chosen something new and refreshing to perform and does so admirably, it doesn't seem worth it. I can't help but think of the actual time invested, which in the case of a four-minute song or instrumental piece, in a congregation of only 250, comes out to nearly 17 man-hours. I don't know about you, but I can get a lot done in seventeen hours. In a congregation of 1000 that comes out to 66 man-hours. That's more than a full-time work week being spent listening to a very pious and earnest woman singing Michael W. Smith, or doing sign-language to I Can Only Imagine. Surely there are better ways to invest our time.
My church is moving soon to two services, which means we will be cutting ten minutes from the actual service, to facilitate transition time. I'm really hoping the "special" gets cut.
What about you? If your job was to remove five minutes from your Sunday-morning church service, what would you cut out?
-NDSR
Comments (16)
Reading the list of names of soldiers who died during the week.
I can't tell you how nervewracking it is. I'm so afraid that I'm going to find out right then that someone I know and went to high school or church with is dead.
I didn't know that there were still churches that did Special. I remember that from when I was a child. I didn't know there were any churches that still did it
I think the service should have structure but be Spirit led. Who is to know that special isn't JUST what someone needed.
The special. Definitely. At my former church, the pastor requested that the one and only black woman do a rap at least one a month. It was ridiculous.
"Special" everything.
Special songs, Special events, Special services, Special offerings .... all of it.
Oh ... and the handshake greeting thing many churches do. BIG waste of time. Greet GUESTS before and after the service. Spend TIME with each other during the week.
As a musician, sometimes the special is good, sometimes it is just ....better off cut. Be more selective about the specials. One church I know reads all 300 names on the prayer list. Another one takes 10 minutes for "passing the peace." It must be different with every church. And don't allow applause in church! It's not a performance. And it takes more time.
The structure of the Catholic Mass was developed long ago. The structure of the Mass in 150AD is basically the same structure as it is today.
Vatican II reforms to the Mass made it more warm and understandable to the layperson, but the structure of the Mass didn't change.
The Mass takes place in a crisp, well paced 60 minutes.
At my church, we are usually crushed for time, so we normally have to cut something. We have a script... everything is all timed out, and we can't work outside the script... It's really quite dumb.
I'd take a bite out of lunch. I like ours the way it is.
I'd cut out the dramatic plays or dramatic scripture readings. Even if they're written and performed well, they still do little for me. We don't have a lot of them, so it would save little time over the year, but I'd still like to see them go.
What! 168 hours in a week and we can't sit still for another 4 minutes? What's the hurry? Those who are bound for hell should relish those few more minutes to contemplate God's love and salvation. Those bound for heaven ought to be ashamed of themselves for being impatient with the Holy Spirit.
They always refresh the pans at the smorgasbord anyway.
@quest4god@revelife - I don't want to cut four minutes out of the service. I want to use that four minutes for something more beneficial.
Oh, I see. How is it though that a few minutes are so critical? That was the gist of my comment. You know, like who or what dictates the total length of the service - and why is there such a rigid time constraint?
I'd cut the children's moment, even if we weren't trying to cut down the service.
Our church has "specials" that are typically called "responses" (to one of the lectionary readings). They're usually sung by the choir, and I think they add to the service.
I'd like to add 10 minutes or so for weekly observance of the Lord's Supper.
My liturgiology prof on service structure, three-word highlight: "Announcements edify nobody."
I'm with you. The "special" usually isn't that special and oftentimes brings glory to someone other than the Christ.