PUTTING AN END TO WORSHIP WARS - Elmer Towns

various church concerns including members who are sick and upcoming special events. The
pastoral prayer is followed by various announcements. People are encouraged to return for the
evening service and reminded to attend Sunday School next week. The announcements are
usually followed by the offering. One of the ushers offers a brief prayer and the musicians play a
hymn as the offering plate is passed.
Another hymn is sung just before the pastor comes to preach. In a larger Congregational
Church, children are invited to attend a special church service called, "Children's Church." In
smaller churches, the children may gather at the front of the church for a special children's story
by the pastor or some other member of the congregation. As the hymn concludes, people sit in
their pew ready to listen to the sermon.
The emphasis of the pastor's sermons most Sunday mornings tends to be an exhortation
based on a selected verse of Scripture or group of verses. The three points of the sermon tend to
emphasize different aspects of the topic under consideration, perhaps each point suggesting a
reason why the behavior advocated should be practiced. The people have come to identify the
conclusion of the sermon by the extended story illustration or poem usually given by the pastor to
end his message. As he completes the sermon, the pastor asks the congregation to stand as they
sing together a hymn. Often the message of this closing hymn is related to the commitment he
asked in the sermon.
As the hymn concludes, the pastor prays. In his brief prayer he asks God to help them
apply the message to their lives this week and watch over the church until they meet again. At
the conclusion of the prayer, the pastor makes his way to the back of the auditorium as the
musicians play another verse of the hymn. He greets each of the worshippers as they exit the
auditorium. For some he has a special exhortation. The people gather their families together to
make their way home. Once again they have come together to worship God.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH?
The last of the six worship styles considered in this book is the Congregational Church.
These churches tend to be smaller than the other church types mentioned in this book, but their
number may be greater than all other church types combined. Whereas the previous churches
emphasized the leadership of the pastor as an evangelist, teacher, group leader or worship leader,
the Congregational Church emphasizes the people of the church, because they are the
congregation. Unlike other church types which are committed to a specific vision or mission of
the church, Congregational Churches tend to have a more balanced commitment to various
aspects of church ministries. This blended view of mission common among Congregational
Churches is reflected in the following statement taken from a church constitution used by many
of these churches.
The object of this church is set forth in its Covenant and Statement of Faith, namely: for
worship, biblical instruction, the observance of the divinely instituted ordinances, the
presentation of a corporate testimony to the power of the Gospel and its constituency and such
service as the one supreme Lord and Lawgiver and taking His Word as its only and sufficient rule
of faith and practice.