(I promised yesterday that I would start unpacking the definition of a worship leader today. But I forgot that this is Q&A Friday. I really will get to it next Tuesday.)
Forrest is at a church currently without a pastor, and sent in this question:
“We have typically used the worship service time as a means of giving out information about upcoming events. However, we are also trying to be more conscious about planning worship services that focus on God’s revelation of Himself and His works and our response to that revelation. We are having a lot of tension between worship planners and ministry leaders who want to give announcements. Do you have any insight or resources that might help?”
In my experience, dry, dull, long, and uninspiring announcements can be one of the most effective ways to quench the Spirit. Can announcements be included in a service where we desire to worship God? I think so. Here are a few thoughts.
1. Worshipping God includes edification.
David Peterson makes the point that “it is misleading to think of church services simply as occasions for worship in the sense of prayer and praise. Paul’s teaching requires us to recognize also the central importance of the concept of edification for the meeting of God’s people.” (Engaging with God, p. 196) He draws this conclusion from passages 1 Cor. 14, 1 Thess. 5:11, Eph. 4:11-16, and other Scriptures. We edify others when what we say and do builds others up and strengthens our unity in the Gospel.
2. The New Testament letters were read in church meetings.
This means that greetings (Rom. 16:3-16), corrections (Phil. 4:2-3), announcements (2 Cor. 9:3-5) and more were all part of the meeting. When Paul met with the church after his first missionary journey, he shared the details of what had taken place with the church (Acts 14:27). All of these were done to build up the church, thereby glorifying God.
3. The explanation and number of announcements can affect how edifying they are.
Well prepared announcements can bring glory to God in a number of ways. Here are some examples.
* motivate people to share the Gospel. “We will be having a special event next month designed to answer questions many unbelievers have.”
* thank God for the expansion of the church. “We’d like you to carpool because we’re running out of space.”
* honor true servanthood. “Tom Green, one of our children’s ministry teachers, has been serving the church for ten years.”
* display the effects of the Gospel. “This morning we’d like to welcome 23 new members to the church, another sign the God is continuing to add to the church those who are being saved by the gospel.”
But if we don’t help people connect what we’re saying to the Gospel and the glory of God, those connections will be missed. Announcements should be shared with enthusiasm, clarity, brevity, and faith. Creativity and humor are an added bonus.
On the other hand, too many announcements can cause people to forget why we’re meeting. We don’t gather simply to hear about what’s happening at some other time.
4. To avoid announcement overload, we should make use of alternate means of imparting information.
Some options we’ve used include:
* e-mails
* an easy to navigate church website
* announcements projected on a screen before the meeting
* flyers and brochures
* newsletter
I’m sure you can think of others. The important thing is to decide what the church needs to hear on a Sunday morning, and find alternate ways of sharing the rest.
Can the church function without announcements? Of course. But used wisely, they can be opportunities to build the church and bring honor to our Savior.
Bob,
I like your comments on announcements and agree wholeheartedly. Assuming we do edifying, creative, gospel-centered announcments during our gathered worship time, when is the best place in the service to put announcements without killing the flow or quenching the Spirit? Thanks!
Jeff
Jeff,
The best place for announcements really depends on how your meeting is put together. We have a time of singing up front for about 30-35 minutes. That may include other elements as well (corporate confession, responsive reading, brief exhortation, prophetic impression). After that we typically welcome guests, receive an offering, and during that time make any announcements. If you look at this past Monday’s post, you can see the announcement/prayer I made between the third and fourth songs.
Some churches share announcements at the start of the meeting, which solves the flow problem but misses people who come late. If you’re limited to giving announcements during the singing time, it may work right after the first song as you welcome people.
A pastor can also weave announcements into the start of a sermon, especially if he connects them to what God is doing in the church.
Rather than quenching the Spirit, I think thoughtful and well-delivered announcements can actually help people be aware of how the Spirit of God is at work.
We (Christ Church of Arlington) currently do announcements at the end of the service, right before the doxology. However we filter what is announced versus what folks can read in the bulletin.
At our church, we use an announcement scroll on our audio-visual system before our pastor begins the service. He begins with usually two announcements highlighting a very soon approaching event, then encourages everyone to pick up a printed bulletin (yes we still have those, lol) for all the other happenings of the church.