Rituals, Teaching or Experience

Yesterday I said that your worship preference was either ritual, teaching or experiential. I also mentioned that your preference will affect the way you enjoy, plan and evaluate church services.

Remember, no matter where you fall in these preferences, none of the options are wrong or unprofitable. You just prefer one more than the others.

If you dig ritual then you enjoy structure. You relish predictability. You get into the flow of a service because you know what is going on and what will be happening next. You love a service with a definite beginning, a middle where you feel you belong and a solid ending. You would fit right into a service with heavy liturgy or prayerbook guided.

If a church service was a success, you would determine that a structured space was created for people to encounter God.

If your preference is teaching, then you get into the sermon and songs which purposefully reveal the character and nature of God. You're a note taker during the sermon and will follow the reading in your bible.

You know you've been to a good church service if the "sermon was challenging."

Finally, if you lean towards experience, then a service which appeals to the senses is what you look for. You want to see, hear, taste, touch and smell what is going on. You value quality music and aesthetics.

A great service for you will "warm your heart."

As I said, neither of these preferences is better or worse than another.

Hopefully, each service a church puts on will involve at least an element of each preference.

But the one planning the service will have a preference and those in the congregation will value one method more than another. In order for all to live and worship in harmony, it is beneficial to keep this in mind.