Catch their attention – The first thing you must do when you want to call people to worship is to catch their attention. Most of the people who attend a typical worship service have various things in their mind. They may be coming in with problems or concerns. Very few would really be focused on the Lord, ready to worship Him in spirit and truth. So your job is to catch their wandering thoughts. You can do this by…
- Starting with an interesting story
- Making a surprising remark
- Being quite for several seconds while standing before the congregation
- Praying a heartfelt prayer
Aim their focus on the lord – Once you get their attention, it’s time to refocus them on the Lord. You do this mainly through words, but it can be complemented by other means, like media, sound, etc. It’s important to know the worship theme so you can use it to focus people to the Lord, who He is or what He does, etc. Worship is basically our response to the revelation of God concerning Himself. The Holy Spirit reveals God the Father or Jesus to us and we respond in worship. You can do this by…
- Reading and explaining Scripture (especially the Psalms)
- Mentioning the worship theme
- Narrating a personal experience that highlights the worship theme
- Explaining the background of a song
- Praying together in unison
Leverage the first line – After refocusing everyone to the Lord, make use of the first line of the first song in the line-up. Use words or themes that segue naturally to the first line of the song. You don’t need to say the actual line, but it would be good if people can already hear the words that would actually be in the first line. Of course, you need to know the line-up of the song leader so you can interact with him or her concerning your call to worship. Sometimes you may even suggest a better song that complements what you will say during your call to worship. Make sure that you coordinate with the Praise Team also, so that they can use your words as the queue to start the music in the background. In this way there will be a natural transition from your call to the actual worship time.
Lead them to the initial worship posture – People need to respond with their bodies as they prepare themselves for worship. Lead them toward that posture. Don’t forget to explain if you’re asking them to do something that is not usual. Depending on the situation, or your goal, worship postures can be any of the following:
- Stand up
- Say something (or read)
- Shout out loud
- Bow
- Dance
- Clap
- Lift Hands
- Kneel
- Sit (while doing something), etc.
