I thought I’d offer you two samples of the Order of Service that we’ve been working with in the congregation where I’m serving now. What may not be clear in your reading these two formats is that they are designed to be flexible. We haven’t always used the same format, we sometimes have had guest preachers, musicians or just services that plain-old just didn’t make sense in this format, so we do modify our Order of Service as the Worship Team saw fit.
The first one is the in person order that we used pre-CoVid. This is the OOS that the Worship Team of the reunified congregation developed together in February of 2018. This OOS was created in a workshop on a Saturday where Worship Associates from the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland and the UU Society of Cleveland came together to help create the new congregation’s Sunday Morning experience. We had been revisiting the order of service for tweaks every quarter until last March.
Title of service
Date
Service Leaders
Gathering
Chimes
Welcome and Announcements Worship Associate
Call to Worship Service leader
Chalice Lighting Worship Associate & Chalice Lighters
Joys and Concerns Worship Associate
Centering Music and Joy and Concern Stones Musician
Welcoming One Another Worship Associate
Opening Hymn #
Time for All Ages Story Director of Religious Education
Carry the Flame of Peace and Love, until we meet again.
Centering
Meditation Service Leader
Stillness (Minister, 2 min.)
Ringing of the Peace Bell Worship Associate
Sung Meditation (Often #123 Spirit of Life) (remain seated)
Stewardship
Offertory Words Worship Associate
Offertory Music Musician
Acceptance of Gifts Board Members
Unison Reading
Exploration
Global Scripture Worship Associate
Music Musician
Sermon Title Service Leader
Parting
Closing Hymn #
Benediction Service Leader
Extinguishing the Chalice Worship Associate
Postlude Musician
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Notes:
In March of 2020, we went to a fully on-line service format.
Because of the feeling of crisis in March and quick turnaround needed, I largely developed this new format by myself, and then shared it with the Worship Associates in our monthly meeting for feedback. It wasn’t as collaborative a process as I like, but under the circumstances, to the group expediency seemed a high priority.
The entirety of the Worship Associates have since then been able to offer feedback, though no substantive change has occurred in the general format of the Order of Service.
What you’ll see here is an OOS which has been changed so that the times of talking by one individual have been shortened, and there are more transitions in the service in keeping with advice that video lectures are dull and lack a feeling of worship.
Also, from the point of view of Behind the Curtain, each service has a new folder created in our Googleverse, and in each of these folders there are pre-recorded elements that correspond by name to this OOS, so that the person assembling the service for Sunday can work independently and from home.
This year ministry has involved a lot of being an IT professional and teaching people how to use new technology!
Title of service
Date
Service Leaders
Intro with Music Under Explanation
(There are several of these in a folder called Worship Elements)
Chalice Lighting
Call to Worship
Music Number 1
Joys and Concerns
Unison Reading 1 (Invite to read along)
Please place the text for this reading here.
Story 1, Name Goes Here
Aim for a 5 minute story
Wayside Pulpit 1
Put a short quote here. This is to give people a short break during the service, like taking a little breath
Music Number 2
Story 2 (MultiGen Focus) - Name Goes Here
Aim for a 5 minute story
Unison Reading 2
Please place the text for this reading here.
Music Number 3/Offertory
Wisdom from the Global Scripture (Optional) - Read by Name Goes Here
Story 3 - Name Goes Here
Wayside Pulpit 2
Put a short quote here. This is to give people a short break during the service, like taking a little breath
Benediction
Postlude
NOTES:
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