Reformed Worship - Resources for Planning and Leading Worship

Last year during Lent at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church (ANIC) in Abbotsford, British Columbia, we used “The Lord, Our Shepherd” series from Reformed Worship (Issue 66, December 2002). The series, based on Psalm 23, offered suggestions for a Maundy Thursday service but not one for Good Friday. Because we were worshiping on Good Friday we created a service that includes all of Psalm 23 along with related readings, choral music, and congregational singing. Because the King James Version of Psalm 23 is so well known we opted to use that version for the psalm. We also used objects representing the psalm’s themes that two dancers placed on a table up front before each reading. Young people in the congregation served as the readers. The original idea for this service came from John L. Bell’s reading of Psalm 23 during a vespers service at the Calvin Symposium on Worship in 2012.

The printed music available with this service comes from the free resource Praise God in the Heights: Descants by Larry Visser, available as a download through the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

At Bethel Christian Reformed Church, we planned a Good Friday service incorporating elements of handwashing, the Lord’s Supper, and the carrying of the cross. The handwashing ceremony, which occurred at the entrances of the sanctuary, recalled Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. The Lord’s Supper was celebrated early in the service, where it fit into the narrative of the Last Supper before the crucifixion of Christ. As Scripture passages were read throughout the service, a cross was carried slowly to the front of the sanctuary and placed there to symbolize Golgotha. Lights in the sanctuary were gradually dimmed as the songs were sung. At the end of the service, the congregation gathered at the front around the cross for a time of silent reflection in a dimmed environment.

The service engaged the congregation visually, through movement, with singing, and in silence.

We are a fractured people living in a fractured world. All too often we gather on Sunday to worship against the backdrop of division—something happening in our church, our community, or our nation that is dividing us. Sometimes these divisions appear on the evening news or our Facebook feed, but even when they don’t rise to prominence, even when they are so commonplace they barely raise an eyebrow, we need to find words to come before God and confess. We need to confess not only how we have personally contributed to these divisions, but also the ways in which the church, our nation, and the systems all around us are complicit. But we also need to hear the good news: that there is another way, that our God is a reconciling God, that in Christ we are all made one. Then we must commit to doing what we can to break down barriers and work towards unity. I wish we only needed to do this once. Sadly, this is a practice we may need to do more often in our churches. But sometimes it is hard to know what to say, so we are grateful for this resource prepared by Jenni Breems.
—JB

As Christians we often struggle with how to pray communally. Simply, it is hearing God speak to us in God’s Word and through God’s creation and then responding. This service was written to help the body engage in the dialogue of prayer together following the simple acronym ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. The service is designed to focus first on God. As we focus on how great God is and on the wonders of God’s salvation, we are drawn to confess our sins and failures. Standing in wonder of the forgiveness God offers when we confess, we rejoice and offer thanksgiving. Finally we recognize our need for God in all areas of life and bring our requests to God, knowing God is faithful and good.