Worshipers Make the Worship Service Work
Changes in worship service may be resisted by the congregation--unless they're involved in the process.
Lyla L. White
July 1, 1981
I sat in a pew near the center of the sanctuary and reminded myself that this was not a performance that could succeed or fail, but a worship service prepared with prayer and careful thought for the glory of God. This was our first Sunday in a small Covenant church in downtown Pasadena where my husband Mel was the new minister. Since I had a background of study in liturgy and worship and had experience planning services for a church in Portland, we entered this ministry with the understanding of the pulpit committee that I could best help Mel and the church by coordinating the Sunday morning worship service. The church was filling up quickly. The balcony and main floor were already full, and chairs were being added to the aisle. Since the attendance had been around 225 a week during the previous month, I felt a sense of excitement about the crowd. Any pride I might have had about people coming because of Mel was quickly dispelled when an elderly lady behind me began to talk to the young couple on her left. "You're new here," she said. "Just visiting?" "Yes, we've come to hear Mel White." "Well, I don't know what the fuss about him is, although the young people here seem to like him. He's a filmmaker from Fuller Seminary, you know, and nothing good has come out of Fuller since Wil-bur Smith." I looked around the sanctuary. The room was box-like, with high ceilings and no windows. The stained-glass windows were covered from the inside for acoustical reasons. The carpet was an orange color, and a simple wooden cross hung center front above an enormous pulpit. I had a "the situation is hopeless" feeling when I first saw the room, but Mel reacted differently. "This is a great room for media," he said. "The lights can be immediately ...
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