The OneWord Worship Model: A New Paradigm for Church Worship Planning

By Lisa M. Allen

The OneWord Worship Model: A New Paradigm for Church Worship Planning offers a clear, concise, and collaborative approach to planning congregational worship using the biblical text as its foundation. The model engages laity and clergy in the true definition of liturgy--the work or action of the people. This text serves as both invitation and instruction for pastors, worship leaders, and congregations to plan powerful, fruitful, and transformative corporate encounters with the triune God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Release date: Sep 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666746938

Lisa M. Allen

Lisa M. Allen is an Emmy Award-winning pastor, professor, and public theologian. She is the Helmar Emil Nielsen Professor of Church Music and Worship at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She has over forty years of experience as an educator, liturgist, and church musician. She is the author of A Womanist Theology of Worship: Liturgy, Justice, and Communal Righteousness (2021).

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Introduction

Church was great! This morning’s service was awesome! Wow, didn’t we have a good time today in worship? The pastor really preached this morning! Often, following worship services, we may hear these types of statements from attendees. In many instances, worshipers often felt that these services offered transformative experiences that impacted them in personal ways. Perhaps they heard sermons that spoke directly to their lives, maybe music selections served as healing balm or inspiration, or certain scriptural texts pricked their consciousness in ways that they had not before experienced.

Unfortunately, for many who attend church, these experiences are not the norm. They may happen once in a while, or there may be glimpses of transformation within a service, but services as a whole are uninspiring. Even if there were moments that provided some sense of encounter with God, persons may leave unsure of what was the primary message of the service. They may experience confusion regarding foci and functions of the service and ask themselves, What am I supposed to leave here thinking, doing, or becoming as a result of this worship experience? What are the sources of this confusion? Why do people leave worship, at times, unable to remember sermon foci, scripture texts, hymns, or other music? I would contend it is because often worship is done without the benefit of planning.

How is worship planned in most churches? I have learned, from personal experience as a pastor and minister of music, as well as from research conducted during worship courses and workshops I teach, that the overwhelming majority of services in most churches are planned either solely by pastors, pastors and musicians jointly, or pastors and persons responsible for assembling weekly service bulletins. Often, this results in worship that is a collection of disparate elements/texts/music that simply reflects one person’s or a few people’s preferences or abilities. Other times, worship is structured according to what I refer to as the plug-and-play method. That occurs when orders of service (saved in a computer document) never change, only persons’ names and titles of hymns and texts. Week in and week out, worship remains unchanged, very few consider changing it, and so, very few are changed by it. Seldom are congregants involved in planning processes. Most often, they do not see orders of worship until Sunday morning when they receive them from an usher or read them on screens. If that is how it’s been done for dozens, if not hundreds, of years, and that method is working fine, why change? Simple—because it’s not working fine. While this method of assembling services may seem to work well, actual engagement of congregations in acts of worship tells a different story.

Too often, congregants are passive worshipers during a majority of services. Once they have stood and sung opening hymns, perhaps recited the Apostles’ Creed and/or the Lord’s Prayer, they don’t actively engage again until they stand for benedictions, which are generally pronounced over them. Of course, there are exceptions, but, from personal observations of thousands of worship services, as well as from decades of data I’ve collected from student interviews and surveys, I believe I’m on solid ground with my assertions. Indeed, with the advent of televangelism and online worship services, many persons don’t attend worship physically anymore, they stream it and watch, often as they engage in other activities. But even those who are physically in sanctuaries overwhelmingly engage worship passively, hearing scriptures read, songs sung, prayers prayed, and sermons preached. I intentionally used the verb hearing, instead of listening, because so often worshipers are not actively listening but merely hearing sounds of worship without engaging in acts of worship. This is why people exit sanctuaries and can’t remember what happened during worship. They will exclaim or affirm how good it was but can’t say specifically what was said or sung that made it so good. While that may seem humorous, what it really means is they will go into their weeks with little to no spiritual undergirding, spiritual assistance, or communal affirmations to help them face what is ahead. Part of the reason we who are believers participate in worship corporately is to fellowship with each other; however, another important reason is to experience encounters with God, who draws near to us, with Jesus, who walks with us, and with the Holy Spirit, who works within to transform us. If we are not actively engaging in worship, we are missing opportunities to encounter the triune God and to experience much-needed transformation, for ourselves and, ultimately, for communities in which we live and serve.

Often worship planning is determined by the order of service. Either the church’s or denomination’s book of discipline or worship offers models of worship services that are considered appropriate for use. I have yet to read any denomination’s book of worship or discipline that states the models offered are the only models churches may use, or that those models are singularly correct methods of worshiping. However, many times churches employ the one or two models offered without ever adjusting, adapting, or changing them in any way, shape, or form. Indeed, to even consider changing anything about worship in some contexts is anathema. I am not suggesting that transformative worship planning requires doing away with books of worship or discipline or models found within them; what I am suggesting is that transformative worship planning does not begin with books of worship or discipline or the models contained therein. Rather, transformative worship planning begins with the Word of God.

That worship planning begins with the Word of God may seem self-explanatory, even redundant. Where else would it begin? In reality, answers to that question are endless, and may or may not reflect prevailing assumptions about worship and worship planning. That notwithstanding, it is often a certainty that Christian worship services include scripture texts taken from the Bible. But are these texts related? Do they reflect foci of the worship service? Do they reflect sermonic foci? Or do they take attendees in every direction imaginable, leading them to the aforementioned confusion at service conclusions? Chapter 1 explores definitions, meanings, and purposes of, as well as perceptions around, worship and the need for worship planning that birthed the OneWord Worship Planning Model.

One of the hallmarks of the OneWord model is the advantage of a singular focus in worship. Whatever has been planned as the message for that service serves as the focus. Consequently, all elements of a particular worship service, music, biblical or other texts, drama, and dance point to whatever is the particular message. Chapter 2 examines the inner circle of the OneWord model, which is the Word that will guide the service. Word here does not simply mean biblical texts, but the message or focus drawn from biblical texts that serve as foundation for all acts of worship in the service. In this chapter, we explore several points of departure for choosing the Word, such as the Christian liturgical year, the lectionary, and communal concerns, explaining how each can help guide the formation of a meaningful service.

Chapter 3 offers a detailed look at the model’s first concentric circle, which examines elements of worship to be used in a service, including music, drama, dance/movement, and other texts that might be used to highlight biblical texts chosen for a particular service. Collaborative planning around elements of worship, using the Word as central guide, helps those entrusted with programming choose elements that undergird and support the message for a particular service. This helps center planning efforts and focus preparation where it is needed. Many pastors encourage congregants on Sunday to reflect through the coming week on the message that was preached. How much easier would that be if every act of worship in a service pointed to that message?

A singular focus in worship also aids persons in planning holistic congregational worship. What is holistic worship? According to one definition, the term holistic means relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts.¹ How can this term be related to worship? A holistic approach would apply both to worship as an event and to persons experiencing the event. This means viewing or relating to worship events and attendees, respectively, as whole entities, rather than the sum of various parts. Chapter 4 explores how engaging persons in holistic worship can be achieved much more effectively when using the OneWord model, by delving into its third concentric circle, which represents the four quadrants of personhood: heart, mind, soul, and strength. These quadrants directly correspond to Jesus’ command to love God with all one’s heart, mind, soul, and strength. The model’s singular focus allows planners to begin with the end in mind by posing initial planning questions like How will this message reach everyone in their full personhood? How can this Word be communicated so that it engages the full personhood of worshipers? and What do we want congregants to experience and do as a result of receiving these messages? From those questions, planners are able to select guiding scriptures or Words that will connect the four quadrants of personhood with the message for the service.

After worship planners have intentionally engaged in selecting the Word or message for a service, fully discussed and begun selecting elements of worship, and determining how those elements will connect worshipers with their four quadrants of personhood, they must decide upon an order of worship. Most churches follow a design that identifies acts of worship within the following categories: Gathering, Proclamation of the Word, Response to the Word, and Benediction/Sending Forth. I include a fifth category in the OneWord model—Thanksgiving, which includes all acts of worship pertaining to celebration of the Eucharist/Holy Communion. Chapter 5 examines these categories, offering theological and ecclesial rationales for each, and delineates how various acts of worship might be categorized. Further, chapter 5 offers suggestions on how orders of worship can be structured using these categories, acknowledging that these categories are not static, and often acts of worship can serve across multiple categories, depending on intent.

Chapter 6 explores collaborative worship planning, why it is essential to transformative worship, who should be involved, and how to build an efficient, effective, and sustainable worship team, regardless of church size. We will discuss configurations of great teams, where to begin, potential benefits and drawbacks, and spiritual foundations necessary to maintain team cohesiveness and momentum. The book concludes with practical applications of the OneWord model. Chapter 7 provides templates for each stage of planning with full explanations and suggestions for use. Also provided are examples of OneWord orders of worship and other planning resources, including online resources, available for immediate use.

It is evident that many methods of worship planning do not inspire actively engaged congregational worship. Part of the impetus for this text was to address a dearth of communal engagement in worship as well as a lack of laity involvement in planning worship. How can passive worship be changed into active worship? One way is to invite congregations to help plan worship. A collaborative approach to planning worship can be an extremely effective way of engaging laity and clergy in the true definition of liturgy—the work or action of the people. It is my hope and prayer that this text serves as both invitation and instruction to engage this most necessary work that has potential to create powerful, fruitful, and transformative corporate encounters with the Holy.

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Genesis

Worship can be defined in many ways, depending on context and who is doing the defining. Many people define worship based on personal experiences or desires, what they’ve heard in sermons or read in religious studies. Often, persons use worship and church synonymously, i.e., I am going to church/worship on Sunday , in the sense that worship is a noun, and in particular, a location. Indeed, the COVID- 19 pandemic showed many of us exactly how much we think of church as a building or edifice. When buildings were closed, some congregations were in disarray and dismay over not being able to assemble together physically. While many churches used technology to overcome these challenges, worshiping via online meeting and streaming platforms, others were not able to make that crucial shift and, as a result, suffered losses in attendance and membership. Unfortunately, some churches closed permanently, in part because their congregations could not fathom worship without a building.

Another way that worship is considered a noun is the perception that worship is an event, a happening that is attended. When persons exclaim that worship was wonderful, exciting, or not so great, often they believe they are commenting on the event of a worship service, the sum total of a conglomeration of varied, albeit somewhat related, pieces. However,