Where 20 or 30 Are Gathered �?BR>Creative worship options that smaller congregations enjoy.
by Lisa A. Stracks

Ever been scheduled to both take the offering and play the offertory during the same service? Found yourself the sole soprano while singing hymns? Been locked out of your worship space because the only two key holders were both out of town? If so, you probably belong to a smaller congregation.

Smaller congregations—whether they have 15 or 75 worshipers—have some interesting challenges. They also have wonderful strengths and opportunities.

First, smaller congregations share a strong sense of community. Everyone knows everyone else. Years of hearing one another's joys and concerns through prayer and coffee-hour talk can build a strong bond. When regular attenders know each other, they notice visitors—and they can welcome and include them to the extent the visitors feel comfortable.

 
 Smaller congregations have many opportunities for creative, meaningful worship in ways that may be ineffective or impossible in a larger congregation.  
 
Second, small congregations tend to run on lay involvement. They don't have large staffs. Members of the congregation are highly involved. Whether that involvement means greeting at the door or leading worship, it feeds the sense of community and gets everyone invested in the church's future.

Third, smaller congregations are characterized by a sense of authenticity. There's not much to hide behind when worshiping in a group of 40 as opposed to 400. Emotions are more obvious—both happy and sad. Mistakes are more obvious, too. The resulting worship tends to be open and honest. No one expects polished presentations. This is not to say that smaller congregations can't have excellent services with wonderful music and profound sermons—rather, the goal is not presentation but authenticity.

Fourth, smaller congregations have the luxury of flexibility. There aren't as many people to persuade when experimenting with something new. In addition, the combined sense of community and authenticity often makes people willing to try new things—not all at once, perhaps, but still willing. As my pastor says, it's much easier to turn a small speedboat than a huge coal freighter—and then turn it back again if you need to.

Keeping these strengths in mind can help you develop creative worship services that work in the intimate setting of a smaller group. Here are some ideas to use as starting points for developing your own services.

Prayer
In a small congregation, worshipers can hear one another, which allows for people to pray in their own voices. It's not always perfect—sometimes two people will begin praying at the same time and sometimes no one will pray aloud. But hearing each other's thanksgivings and difficulties strengthens the ties between the members. Here are some types of prayer you may want to try:

Bidding prayer. The worship leader or pastor opens the prayer and bids worshipers to pray out loud or silently for each category he or she mentions. These may include thanksgiving, concerns, and other categories determined by the particular service, such as prayers for the persecuted church on All Nations Sunday.

Joys and concerns. The worship leader solicits joys and concerns from worshipers, while the pastor or another leader writes them down. Then the pastor or other leader offers the prayers of the people, incorporating the items mentioned.

Encircling prayer. The worship leader gathers everyone into a circle for prayer, perhaps also for the laying on of hands around someone who's having a particularly difficult time. For example, a member of our congregation brought a family to church who was grieving the loss of their mother. The worship leader invited them to the center aisle and gathered the rest of the congregation around them for the laying on of hands while we prayed for them. This can be a powerfully moving time of prayer.

Prayer journal. Ask someone in your congregation to keep track of prayer requests as they are offered during the prayers of the people. At the end of the year, review some of the requests during a service or ask someone to distribute a synopsis of all the requests so you can see how God has worked in your congregation throughout the year.

Communion
Around the table. Invite worshipers to come forward—all together or in groups, depending on the number of worshipers—to stand in a circle around the communion table. Each worshiper passes the bread and the wine with appropriate words: "The body of Christ, given for you," or "The blood of Christ, shed for you," with the receiver responding, "Thanks be to God," or "Amen." Passing the bread and wine from one to another emphasizes community as people share the communion meal.

Read Scripture during communion. If you usually sing hymns while people are coming forward for communion, ask someone to read Scripture in place of one of the hymns. This is particularly appropriate if you don't have enough people in the congregation to sing while another group is up front.

Bring children into the communion circle. If children are elsewhere during the service, bring them in to join the communion circle with their families to reinforce the sense of community. They can receive a blessing from the pastor as professing members receive the bread and wine around the circle. Bringing children back into the service also allows nursery volunteers or teachers to join the circle to receive communion.

Baptism
Introduce the child (or adult) to the congregation. After the person has been baptized, have your congregation sing a hymn of welcome as the pastor or an elder walks the newly baptized person around to introduce this newest member of God's covenant to the whole congregation.

Baptismal bowl. Invite grandparents or godparents to hold the baptismal bowl. Having a member of the child's inner circle hold the bowl reinforces the sense of community as well as the multigenerational nature of God's family.

Baptismal banners. One option for a baptismal banner is to add each person's name as he or she is baptized, so that the names are dancing across the banner whenever a baptism is held. Or create a banner for each one baptized, which the family can take home as a reminder of this special occasion.

Special services
Ebenezer. You can base a great Thanksgiving service on Ebenezer—the milestone Samuel built to remind God's people of God's grace and love (1 Sam. 7:12). When worshipers arrive, they receive a brick and an adhesive label on which to write what they are thankful for from the previous year. They attach the label to the brick. During a cycle of alternating hymns and quiet, they bring the bricks forward to build an Ebenezer. One of the songs could be "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," in which verse 2 mentions raising an Ebenezer. Silent times between the hymns allow worshipers an opportunity to read a Scripture passage that's meaningful to them or to tell the congregation what they are thankful for.

Scapegoat service. This service of repentance and renewal is appropriate at the beginning of the year or as part of Lent. Ask worshipers to write particular sins on a slip of paper. After the confession and reconciliation, during a time of silence or soft instrumental music, invite them to come forward and burn that slip of paper, using the Christ candle to light the paper. The paper disappearing into ash symbolizes how Christ causes our sins to vanish.

Maundy Thursday. Incorporate footwashing (or handwashing) into the Maundy Thursday service before communion. Ask one person, perhaps the pastor, to wash worshipers' hands or feet and another person to be available with a towel to dry.

Flowering of the cross. For Easter Sunday, make a cross of chicken wire nailed to 2 x 4s. Ask worshipers to bring flowers to the Easter Sunday service (and make sure to bring extra flowers for visitors). After the confession and reconciliation part of the service, sing several Easter hymns (especially ones that people know the words to). Invite worshipers to come forward to insert their flowers into the chicken wire cross. The flowers symbolize the new life we receive in Christ through his death on the cross. They turn a symbol of pain and suffering into something beautiful.

Relocating services. Worshiping in small groups eliminates the need for amplification and makes it possible to worship in locations other than your usual worship space. For example, my church holds adult baptisms at a beach on Lake Michigan (this works better in August than in April). After the baptism we celebrate communion together. Everyone brings a blanket or a towel to sit on (and usually a picnic lunch for afterward). A card table functions as the communion table during the service and as the coffee table afterward. You might also plan to have a worship service outside before your annual church picnic.

Community
Greeting time. Allow enough time for everyone to move around. In one church I visited, everyone moves into the center aisle and walks down the length of the church. In this way, everyone greets everyone. An extended greeting time can be a great way to make visitors feel welcome too.

Passing the peace. At the end of the service, during the closing hymn, the pastor passes the peace to the end person in each row as he or she exits the sanctuary. Those people then pass it to the next person in the row and on down the row.

Benediction and parting hymn. Invite everyone to stand in a circle around the front of the church or around the sanctuary for the benediction and parting hymn. This is particularly effective after communion services, after everyone has shared a meal around Christ's table. At the end of the hymn, worshipers may pass the peace around the circle.

Smaller congregations have many opportunities for creative, meaningful worship in ways that may be ineffective or impossible in a larger congregation. These suggestions are only a starting point. Build on the strengths, flexibility, and community of your small congregation and enjoy the wonderful opportunities to worship!

This article first appeared in Reformed Worship Number 71 (March 2004) www.reformedworship.org.

Lisa Stracks is a member of Loop Christian Ministries in Chicago, Illinois.

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.
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