The liturgist assists the minister in leading the people in worship and praise of God and preparing their hearts to receive God’s pardon, instruction, and comfort.

It is right that members of the congregation should do this as part of their service to God and one another—the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers makes it theologically reasonable and proper—but it is a weighty responsibility, and so it is also right that those who thus serve should receive training and give deliberate attention to this service.

Preparing

Everything you do to

• direct your own heart towards God,
• grow in Christlikeness,
• understand the Bible, and
• respond to God in loving devotion and service,

all this is a form of training and preparation. I hope you are able to find a few minutes each day for private Bible reading and prayer and take every opportunity the church gives you to worship together and receive the sacrament. Our website contains a short paper on private prayer—click here to view it.

You also prepare for your work specifically by

• reading thoughtfully through the service as printed in the bulletin,
• praying the prayers for yourself as your own petitions, and
• entering into the scripture lessons to understand and appropriate their truth.

We try to run the bulletin on Thursday of each week and mail a copy (or at least a draft) to the liturgist Thursday afternoon.

Practice

It should go without saying (but I still say it) that you rehearse your work, especially the scripture readings. This means standing up and reading them aloud ahead of time. Do this until you are comfortable with all the words and can read without halting or stumbling.

Here are some specific suggestions about the various parts of the service, especially those that may be the liturgist's responsibility:

1. The Approach to God.

   The minister of word and sacrament ordinarily opens the service and offers the prayers of approach (adoration and confession), together with the assurance of pardon, leading to the acclamation(s) of praise. The liturgist’s first part is normally the prayer for illumination. If there is a guest preacher, however, the liturgist may be asked to open the service.

2. The Prayer for Illumination

   At present, the liturgist offers two prayers:

   • for illumination, before the first scripture reading, and
   • for the dedication of the offering.

   For some time now, these prayers have been unison or responsive, but I’ve lately dropped that feature (in the interest of simplification), and now, as liturgist, you offer those prayers yourself. You may choose one from those I provide you or can be found in various books of worship, but you are also free to write one yourself or offer them extemporaneously.

   Part of your preparation for offering these prayers is to pray them through yourself ahead of time until you understand them and have made their petitions your own. Then, ask God to help you pray them in the service with a passionate heart that will carry the hearts of the congregation along with you.

   Illumination

   This is usually the point where the liturgist's service begins. Since it immediately follows the acclamation(s) of praise, be free to wait until the congregation has settled back into the service before you go ahead. Then, simply say something like

   • “Let us pray for illumination as we hear God’s Word.”
   • “The prayer for illumination. Let us pray.”
   • “Let us pray to hear and rightly receive God’s word.”
   • Or even just, “Let us pray.”

3. The Scripture Readings

   The reading of the scripture lessons is part of the preaching. Therefore, you need to understand each passage and see its connection with the day’s theme. Only then can you read it aloud so that the reading itself becomes proclamation.

   The most effective reading will be possible only after study of the passage. Sit down to read through it prayerfully, thoughtfully, reflectively. You should seek to understand each sentence of the reading as it moves ahead. Try to rephrase each sentence in words or ideas of your own and discern its connection with those that precede and follow. This will help you develop a sense of the passage as a whole.

   Make jottings of your questions or insights. The most effective oral reading will be that which arises when you are yourself gripped by the Bible’s truth—and you can be gripped only when you understand. I’m eager to discuss any passage with you and would be glad to receive a telephone call asking any questions. For general information about how we choose the scripture readings from week to week, see #11, The Texts, below.

4. Introducing the Readings

   Introduce the reading by saying simply, “A reading from [book]” (examples: “A reading from First Timothy,” “A reading from John,” etc.). The chapter and verse are printed in the bulletin and don’t need to be repeated by the reader. A longer and more traditional introduction is, “Let us hear God’s Word as found in [book].”

5. The Summary

   I’m still of two minds about reading the summary aloud. For some months now, I’ve asked the readers to read it aloud. My suggestion now is to omit it. However, it will be printed both in the bulletin, with the line-item giving the reference, and the printed text on the blue insert.

6. At the Close

   At the end of any reading, you should at least say, “Amen,” or “Amen. Thanks be to God for his Word.” At the end of the third (or second, if there are only two) reading, say instead, “May God bless to our understanding these readings of his Word, and to his name be glory and praise.” This is a traditional conclusion to the readings in Presbyterian worship.

7. Announcing Hymns

   The liturgist has the opportunity to announce both the gathering hymn and the pulpit hymn. Since the numbers are printed in the bulletin, they do not really need to be announced; on the other hand, to do so is likely an advantage to older people and children. If you do choose to announce them, please say something like, “The hymn ###,” or, “Let us sing hymn ###.” Please don’t say, “Let us now stand and sing hymn ###.” The congregation should stand as a body when the choir stands, near the close of the organist’s introduction, which is better than straggling up a few at a time at the same time they are looking for the place in the book.

   If you are announcing the gathering hymn, consider saying first, “Children, please come forward for the children’s story,” leaving to second place, “as we sing the gathering hymn.” It’s more important to get the children moving than to get the hymn going, and since we use the same hymn for a period of weeks or months, it hardly needs to be announced at all. I ask those doing the children’s story to try to be at the front of the church before the children come down.

8. The Confessional Response

   These texts are statements out of the church’s doctrinal heritage that express what we hold to be true about God, ourselves, and the relationship between God and us. The congregation make this declaration as a response to the preaching of the Word of God.

   The “Apostles” and the “Nicene” are formal, ecumenical creeds, and are always appropriate. I often pick statements that are appropriate to the theme of the day or the sermon, usually from The Living Faith (a document of the Presbyterian Church in Canada with the status of a subordinate standard) or from the Heidelberg or Westminster confessions, as found in our Book of Confessions.

   Introduce the confessional response simply—for example, “Please stand, as we say what we believe.” There should always be an “Amen” at the end, and if we’ve left it out of the bulletin, say it anyway.

9. The Offering

   Following the Confessional Response, the liturgist announces the offering. If no mention has been made of the red friendship pad, ask people to pass it down the pew and sign it. To call for the offering, say something like, “We respond to God by presenting our gifts. Freely you have received; freely give.”

   The prayer of dedication follows the Doxology. Remember #2 above about preparing to offer prayer. In services other than communion, the ushers should bring the plates forward during the Doxology, stand with them in front of the Lord’s Table until after the prayer, then place them on the Table and return to their seats. On communion Sundays, the ushers should hold the plates until the communion hymn, during which they bring the plates down, place them on the Lord’s Table, and return to their seats; the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving serves as the dedicatory prayer.

10. On the Platform

    • Be sure the microphone is level with your mouth. There is no need to lean forward, for the sound is set high enough to pick up the words.
    • Speak slower and more distinctly than you think is necessary. You’ve studied and rehearsed these prayers and readings, but the congregation is hearing them for the first time. (It does help them to have the blue insert.) They need time to recognize the words and grasp their meaning. Unless this grasp takes place, the reading has been wasted for that person.
    • Don’t try to be dramatic in reading the scripture. A normal reading voice is best, although it is certainly good to use inflection to help convey the text’s emphasis. Your task is to enunciate the text clearly so that people understand it. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to direct it into their hearts.
    • Cultivate the pause. Worship leaders often begin too quickly. Wait a moment before beginning. Allow the bustle of the sanctuary to become quiet. (This is especially true after the peace and the acclamation(s) of praise.) Give people a chance to direct their attention towards the pulpit and the prayer or reading.

11. The texts

    If I am following the lectionary (which is about half of the time), the readings are already set, and you can know what they are as early as you wish. If I am preaching a series, they have usually been announced in advance. I admit, I am sometimes still working during the week, but I can usually tell you what the readings are earlier than the Thursday or Friday that the bulletin is done.

    • Sequential Preaching

      The traditional practice of the reformed churches has been to preach sequentially through biblical books or large blocks of text. No passage is disconnected from the whole, of which it is a part and helps to give it its meaning, or can be neglected or disregarded. This truly gives the Holy Spirit a chance to speak through scripture and thus instruct and nurture God’s people. This method is called lectio continua (sequential reading) and was the practice of John Calvin and other reformers and also of the earliest great preachers of the church, such as Origen, Jerome, Augustine, Chrysostom, and Theodoret.

    • The Lectionary

      A lectionary is a group of set readings for every Sunday and special service in the church year. There are two commonly available.

      1. When I follow a lectionary, I use that prepared by the Joint Liturgical Group (JLG) and published by Oxford University Press as The Calendar and Lectionary. Each Sunday has a theme appropriate to its position in the church year, and the readings are selected to be generally suitable for that theme.
      2. The other lectionary widely used is the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), which is fundamentally based on the Roman Catholic lectionary of 1969, Ordo Lectionem Missae, but frequently and substantially altered for use in various Protestant denominations. It claims to follow lectio continua for many of its readings and is partially successful in that, but, for example, only 50% of the Gospel of Mark is read during that year. The RCL does not use a theme for each Sunday, and the three readings are most often unrelated to each other.