Thoughts on Participation

by Gaynor Shaw

Worship is a participative event. In the OT the importance of festivals in the life of
Israel is profound and throughout the NT Paul makes several references that everyone has something to bring to the meeting. In Acts 2:42 they devoted themselves - in other words, they made the decision to participate. Psalm 9 exhorts us to praise him with the heart - in Hebrew thinking the heart meant the mind, i.e. a deliberate act.

HOW DOES PARTICI PATION HAPPEN?

Planned: when people have been asked to do things (i.e. read some scripture, bring a poem, song or dance)
Spontaneous: someone dancing across the front of the meeting or shouting "Amen!"
from the congregation during preaching
Corporate participation: the most active elements in our tradition are singing, praying
and participation in communion
Serving in preparation: kid's workers, stewards, deacons etc.

All are equally important - the spontaneous doesn't come above the planned and the
person out front isn't more important than everyone engaging in what is going on from where they are sitting.

POSSIBLE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE MORE PARTICIPATION:

Without wanting to push forward a list of 'suggested changes to make', here are 5
things to consider:

1. Environment

Think about how seats are arranged. Seeing one another's faces rather than backs of heads enables us to see people we are worshipping with, make eye contact and say "I'm glad to be worshipping with you".
If you use a stage think about its layout - does it create any barriers for people coming to the front? (i.e. high platform, rigid front line of instruments/monitors/disabled access)

Do you at times need to be on floor level?

 

2. Fostering an expectation to participate

Using 'we' rather than 'you' in both speech and song lyrics

Getting people to stand can often help to inject energy

 

3. Encouraging planned as well as spontaneous participation

Testimony

Prepared prayers/intercession

Communion led by a member of the congregation

Readings of scripture/poetry/stories etc.

 

4. Thinking about the types of people we are serving
Age
Race
Believers or seekers?

 

5. Building in 'active' acts of worship
In other words, does this element of the meeting involve people doing something
(speaking, creating, tasting) or is it something that they are receiving (looking, listening, smelling). A meeting that encourages participation will have elements of both, strategically placed at certain times.

Participation is of vital importance, as the objective of our coming together is to meet with the living God, to be transformed more into the likeness of his Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. In order for this to happen, people need to engage by participation in all its various forms. Above all, we remember that we are joining in with something that is already in existence - we are always participating with the community of the Godhead and we should be reliant on the Spirit to show us different ways of participating, planned and spontaneous, ancient and modern, energetic and meditative alike.

This is an edited extract from the original article. Look out for the whole thing in the near future!!