"Going
Further - Week 2""Going
Further - Week 2"
GOING FURTHER
Study (2) Worship the Lord
We live at a time when there are guidebooks on just about every imaginable thing! Imagine you have been asked by the Lonely Planet organisation to prepare a guidebook on the churches and in particular their worship. Where would we start?
I am going to suggest one approach would be to move around some churches and audit their worship, a sort of "taste and see" experience. To help, I have printed below a WORSHIP AUDIT.
Start by using it on your own church's worship and then get out and visit some other places of worship in your local area. Make a day of it! Take some friends along for experience and afterwards go somewhere interesting for lunch and discover what the audit tells you.
After a number of visits, see if you can identify some trends.
The Question of Worship 1
This questionnaire is designed to help this church to assess its worship and to see if there are areas which need improving. It would be a great help if you could answer these questions.
Where there are boxes, please tick the most appropriate one. Some questions require you to give an answer on a scale from 1 to 10 (where 10 is the best and 1 is the worst) - please put a ring round the number that best reflects your feelings.
What was the Date and Time of this Service?
..
SECTION A Tell us a bit about yourself:
A. 1 Which of the following best sums you up?
1 I am here for worship most Sundays
2 I come quite often (say, between 10 and 20 times a year)
3 I come occasionally (less than 10 times a year)
4 This is a special visit (perhaps because of a Baptism or Wedding
Banns, or because of a recent bereavement or you are visiting
relatives)
5. Other ............................................................................
A.2 If you are a regular worshipper (1 above), then how long
have you been worshipping here?
1 less than a year
2 1-5 years
3 5-10 years
4 more than 10 years
A. 3 Do you regularly worship at another church? Yes No
A. 4 Which of these age groups do you fit into?
1 0-12
2. 13-20
3 21 40
4, 41-60
5 60+
A.5 Are you, - Female - Male
SECTION B Before the service started...
B. 1 How good did you feel the welcome was when you arrived?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
B.2 How helpful did you find the 'atmosphere' in church before the service?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
B. 3 Do you have any other comments to make about things before the service, or suggestions for improvement?
SECTION C During the Service....
C. 1 How easy did you find the service book or leaflets to use and follow?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C. 2 Was the print large enough for you to read? Yes No
C. 3 Did you have any other problems with seeing or hearing during the service? If so, what particularly?
C.4 How helpful and clear was the leadership of the service?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C. 5 How well did the service seem to 'hang together' (give a high score if it felt good, and a low one if it felt a bit disconnected)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C.6 How helpful did you find any symbolism and ceremonial used?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C. 7 Do you have any other comments about things in this section?
SECTION D Music
D. 1 How well do you feel the music fitted with the rest of what went on in the service?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
D.2 How happy were you with the mix of styles of music (eg. traditional
and modern)?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
D.3 Was any of the music unfamiliar to you? Yes No
D. 4 How well did the music help you to praise or adore God?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
D.5 Any other comment about the music?
SECTION E Sermon, readings and prayers
E. 1 How understandable and clear did you find the sermon/talk?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
E.2 How challenging or thought-provoking did you find the sermon/talk?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
E. 3 How helpful was the way the Bible reading was introduced
and read?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
E.4 How helpful did you find the intercessions (prayers)?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
E.5 How helpful was the service forgiving you silence to use for yourself (perhaps a chance for you to do your own praying and reflecting after the readings, during the prayers, or after communion)?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
E. 6 Do you have any comments to make about the sermon, bible
readings, intercessions (prayers) or use of silence?
.
E. 7 How well did you feel that the worship was connected to your daily life (perhaps by things that were said in the sermon, or mentioned in the prayers) ?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
E. 8 Did you feel part of the worship, or did any aspects make you feel excluded, unwelcome, awkward, stupid, or second-class?
If you have time, you may like to think about the following:
F 1 What does 'reverence' mean to you?
F 2 Think about the other people who were present. Obviously not
everyone might feel the same about the worship as you did. Do
you think there are any particular things about which others would
have felt quite differently to you?
F 3 Do your home circumstances a allow you to have your own
private
Prayer/devotions on a regular basis (if you wanted to)?
Yes
No
Yes - but 1 find it hard to know how to use such time.
PDF Files of this questionaire