Michael D. Warren
RLGN 489: Ministry Praxis Capstone
April 24, 2023
Ministry Event Strategic Plan Assignment
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I believe it is important that each church avoid getting too stuck into habits, whether it is
the time worship starts on Sunday morning, who sits where, something the worship leader is
supposed to say, or any other tertiary issue. I believe it is good to change practices up once in a
while, even if the new practice does not stick for the long run, so that church members
experience something different. It is somewhat reminiscent of 2 Timothy 1:6 where Paul
encouraged the young pastor to “fan into flame the gift of God,” or the Prophet Hosea to a
backslidden Israel, “break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD…” (Hos.
10:12, unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV). The place of traditions
in worship in high-church contexts is not up for debate; the place of traditions in low-church
contexts is hotly debated because nobody wants to see their favorite or a time-tested part of the
service be replaced. This little night of worship, away from Sunday morning, has the chance to
help “fan into flame” or “break up some fallow ground” in the hearts of believers.
We will be gathering at the church building in the sanctuary to have a night of simple
worship. Specifically, we will sing a couple classic hymns, Come Thou Fount and Solid Rock,
with no instrumental accompaniment. Then someone will stand and read Ephesians 3:14-21, they
will say, “This is the Word of the Lord,” and the congregation will respond, “Thanks be to God.”
I will then come up to pray and preach a short message on that passage. In closing, one of our
worship leaders will come up to lead “Fullness of God” by JUDAH. on acoustic, and one of our
church’s pastors will come up to pray a blessing for everyone in attendance and dismissing us in
peace.
I have been inviting basically everyone I am close to at my church, which includes our
youth pastor, a couple of our worship leaders, a couple of our pastors, a couple older members,
my mom, a bunch of friends slightly older and slightly younger than me, and my wife. The
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content of the worship night will be simple enough for the youngest believer, but, prayerfully,
also feed and challenge the oldest, most mature believer. Nine people have confirmed, but five
more are unconfirmed. I will be inviting more people soon.
The only material I need make is booklet style handouts that contain the songs we will
sing and the passage we will read. Technically the only volunteer I needed was one of the pastors
to open the church building and let everyone in, which the youth pastor was happy to oblige. I
will be leading the first two songs acapella because I have experience leading congregational
singing out of hymnals. I still need to ask someone to read aloud the passage of Scripture for that
night, as well as a pastor to lead the closing prayer. One of my friends who is a worship leader
has already happily agreed to lead “Fullness of God” as a closing song. Because it is a song we
have never sung on a normal Sunday morning service, I have begun sending it to everyone in
advance so they can hear what it is supposed to sound like and can thus sing a little louder.
The plan is to arrive at the church building by 6pm on Saturday May 6th. The introductory
remarks and first two songs should take less than ten minutes, Scripture reading should only take
a minute or two, sermon should not take more than twenty-five minutes, and closing song and
closing prayer should take around ten minutes.
I believe I will be able to determine if everyone felt like they were able to worship in
Spirit and in truth after service by their facial expressions and conversations. My church is used
to singing with a band up on stage, but I grew up only singing acapella, so I am excited to see
how they react to it. And while most of them know I have prior preaching and teaching
experience and currently lead Bible studies at a local nursing home, they have not heard me
preach before. They are an honest bunch of people, so I do not doubt they will let me know what
they thought of the whole service.
