Over my years as pastor, I have come to notice that certain conversations circle back around among staff and elders. One of those has surfaced again recently: the dreaded topic of announcements at our weekly corporate worship service. For some reason, this quirky space in our service has almost become a rite of passage into ministry. I did it for 8 years, Tim Wilson is in his 7th year of doing it, and, starting in September, Collin Sherrill will jump into the rotation. As much I try to get Nita to do it, her staunch resistance is a thing to behold.
At various times we have kicked around a number of thoughts about announcements. Where in the service should they go? Which things should be included and which things should not? Should we pre-record them and just play the video during the service? Do we even need them at all? I have gone back and forth on all these questions (for better or worse, I tend to think about these kinds of things all the time). And, depending on the day, I have come up with different answers to all these questions. Until I read an interesting fact about the Psalms recently.
According to one scholar, over two-thirds of all the psalms contain some reference to a particular experience in a particular time and place. If the Psalms are the part of the Bible that most instruct us on how to come before God, it is noteworthy that the vast majority of them are framed by what is going on for the psalmist at the moment he pens the psalm. In other words, worship flows out of time and place. It does not happen in the abstract but rather is always grounded in a specific context.
After reading this fact about the Psalms, it hit me that this is one of the reasons it makes sense to start our service each week with announcements. They ground us in context. They remind us that we are not just “worshipers” but “worshipers in community.” Whether we are announcing the start of shepherding groups or a prayer service or the Christmas banquet or a new member class, announcements remind us of the current chapter that is being written in the overall story of Grace Church.
Each week after announcements we read a call to worship from a psalm. In doing so we reflect the very structure of so many of the psalms, in which coming before God is deeply connected to everyday experience.
Ben
Below are some articles I have recently found helpful:
New Resolve after 55 Years in My Wheelchair
Why We Sleep (and the God Who Doesn't)
Five New Stats You Should Know About Teens and Social Media
How Can I Be Sure I'm Saved? (video)