This order of church service template includes all elements that you need to organize a religious service: opening prayer, welcome, calling of attendees, reading scriptures, sermon, offering, closing prayer and bowing. This church template is useful both for smaller religious gatherings and for those major services in renowned chapels with hundreds of flock members. Check out the Sunday worship order of service and the Church of England wedding order of service template.
ORDER OF SERVICE
- Call to Worship – Reading of Church Motto to help place the entire body on one accord. …
- Morning Hymn – Followed by Prayer Of Invocation. …
- Prayer for Preacher & God’s Word – A prayer requesting specific anointing for the preacher.
The key to a successful church service is a welcoming atmosphere and a well-orchestrated order of service. The order of worship template below is designed to help you execute an effective service every time. This Order of Service Template is intended for printing a hard copy without having to access the web.
This church service template has been designed to help you organize your information so that you can easily complete it in electronic form and then print out as many copies as you or your church need.
1. Opening
Call to Worship
The service typically begins with a call to worship, inviting the congregation to gather and prepare their hearts and minds for worship. This may include a prayer or a Scripture reading that sets the tone for the rest of the service. The call to worship serves as a reminder of the purpose of gathering as a community and encourages active participation from the congregation.
Welcome and Greeting
After the call to worship, there is often a welcome and greeting section where the church leaders acknowledge the presence of the congregation and extend a warm welcome to everyone. This fosters a sense of inclusivity and helps create a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. It is an opportunity for the church leaders to connect with the worshippers and make them feel valued as part of the church community.
Opening Hymn or Song
Following the welcome and greeting, there is usually an opening hymn or song, which allows the congregation to actively participate in worship through singing. The song choice may vary depending on the style and tradition of the church. This segment not only sets the mood for worship but also engages the congregation in collective praise, lifting their spirits and preparing them for the rest of the service.
2. Liturgy
Confession of Sin
The liturgy section often includes a confession of sin, where the congregation collectively acknowledges their shortcomings and asks for forgiveness. This is usually followed by a prayer of absolution, where the church leaders pronounce God’s forgiveness to the congregation. This part of the service provides a moment of reflection and repentance, allowing worshippers to draw closer to God by acknowledging their need for His grace and mercy.
Scripture Reading
After the confession of sin, a scripture reading is often incorporated into the service. This passage from the Bible serves as a source of instruction and inspiration for the congregation. It may be read by a church leader or a volunteer from the congregation. The scripture reading allows everyone to hear God’s word and reflect on its relevance to their lives. It sets the stage for the sermon or message that follows, providing a biblical foundation for the teaching.
Prayers
During the liturgy section, there are usually prayers offered to God on behalf of the congregation and the wider world. These prayers may include prayers of intercession, where specific needs are brought before God, as well as prayers of thanksgiving and adoration. The prayers provide an opportunity for worshippers to express their concerns, gratitude, and devotion to God, fostering a sense of unity and dependence on Him.
3. Sermon and Response
Sermon or Message
The sermon or message is a central component of the order of church service. It is a time where the church leaders or guest speakers deliver a teaching or reflection on the Scriptures and how they relate to the lives of the congregation. The sermon aims to inspire, challenge, and guide the worshippers in their faith journey, offering practical applications and spiritual insights. It provides an opportunity for deeper learning and personal growth within the church community.
Offering and Tithes
Following the sermon, there is often a segment for offering and tithes. This is a time for the congregation to express their generosity and support for the work of the church. It may involve the collection of financial contributions or offerings, as well as dedicating time and talents to the church community. The offering and tithes enable the church to fulfill its mission and serve both its members and the wider community.
Closing Hymn or Song
The service concludes with a closing hymn or song, providing an opportunity for the congregation to express their gratitude and praise to God. This final moment of worship leaves worshippers inspired and uplifted as they carry the message and spirit of the service beyond the church walls. The chosen hymn or song often reflects the theme or message of the service and serves as a memorable conclusion to the worship experience.
Conclusion
The order of church service template sets the rhythm and structure for a worship experience that fosters connection, growth, and worship. From the opening to the closing, each heading within this template plays a significant role in creating a cohesive worship service. Whether you find yourself in a traditional or contemporary church, the order of service template serves as a guide to ensure that key elements are included, contributing to a meaningful and enriching worship experience for all.
Order of Church Service Template
Church Service Order
- Opening Prayer
- Psalm 47 (Psalm 47:1–9)
- Reading the Holy Gospel (Mark 3:20–35)
- Homily (St. John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John)
- Creed (Nicene Creed)
- Lord’s Prayer (The Lord’s Prayer)
- Communion of the Holy Gifts (The Rite of Communion)
The following is a sample of the order of service for the Sunday morning worship service at [church name]. Worship begins with the song “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The song leader leads the congregation in this hymn. The pastor will then give a short message on the topic of “The Challenge to Worship.” After a response by an altar call and prayer, we will sing “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Everyone will sing along as we sing “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” together. We will then reflect on God’s love for us with a time of prayer, during which we will offer special prayers for those who are sick or suffering. After this time, we will pray together again that God will use us to spread his word throughout our community and beyond.
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Sunday Worship Order of Service
There are many factors that go into creating an order of service. If you’ve never created one before, it might seem like a daunting task. But with these steps and tips, you can be sure that your order of service will be well-crafted and successful.
- Create an outline for the service by dividing it into sections.
- Choose a theme for each section based on what’s being discussed or celebrated during this particular gathering (e.g., if you’re planning a wedding ceremony, your theme may be love).
- Fill in each section with relevant details, such as those listed below:
- Opening Words; Who will speak? What words will they use? When should they begin speaking? How long should their speech last?
- Music; Which songs do we want to sing during this part of our gathering? Should we have instrumental music playing while people are seated or standing around talking before services begin? (if so, who will lead us in prayer while others pray silently? How many songs do we need in total—and how much time do we want them to take up in total (assuming there won’t be any other reasons why some pieces might run longer than usual)? Do all musicians know which instruments they’ll play beforehand so that no one has difficulty finding theirs once things get going? Will someone need help setting up equipment prior because there aren’t enough volunteers available at once through signing up earlier? – sign up early if this sounds like something worth doing! If music isn’t needed, then skip straight over these questions entirely since there won’t ever be any need for answers here unless otherwise specified later on down below where applicable only under certain circumstances, like when singing hymns around campfires, but even then only when sung inside tents rather than outside under trees due too risk factors involved with birds flying overhead causing damage by dropping nests full lots seeds all over areas nearby so keep everything safe and away from anything else except maybe flowers bushes trees shrubs grasses, and weeds
How to make the order of church service a living document
- Make sure it is clear and simple.
- Keep it flexible.
- Make sure it is short enough to be read in one sitting.
- Make sure it is relevant to the congregation.
- Make sure it is consistent with the church’s mission statement
A well-written order of service will help your congregation know what to expect and when to expect it.
A well-written order of service will help your congregation know what to expect and when to expect it. This can be as simple as listing the parts of the service in chronological order, or you may wish to include more detailed information, such as who will perform which tasks and what they need to do before they begin.
If you want an example template, please feel free to download our Order of Service template below:
[Download link](https://www.churchteams.com/downloads/order_of_service_template.docx).
Order of Service For Church Programs
Let all things be done decently and in order. –1 Corinthians 10:31
Have you even stopped to consider how the smallest details of your order of service can communicate importance to the congregation? Did you know that even a simple detail like how you begin the service can set the wrong tone for the service? Specifically, have you considered that the way you package and present the music in a service reveals what you believe about the role of music and worship in the church?
Students often ask, “How should we structure an order of service?” More often than not, these students are looking for the smoothest flow that results in no dead time, smooth transitions, and a streamlined service. While I am certainly against wasting time, flow can be the very thing that hinders the worship service.
The biggest obstacle I’ve seen in an order of service is when announcements, offerings, hand-shaking, or other activities frequently interrupt corporate worship. Equally hindering is the use of music for transitions or fillers. The worship rituals, like the physical offering, are so routine (and often meaningless) that we have to occupy our ears with a piano solo or special number.
I’m certainly not saying any of these things are wrong in and of themselves, but they should not distract from the meaning of the worship ritual. There are two premises to this post: (1) that the worship service is primarily for believers to gather, worship, hear the teaching of the Word of God, and edify one another, and (2) that there are specific “worship rituals” that the church ought to perform regularly, if not every time it meets. These include praising (primarily in song), praying, preaching, and providing (for the work of the ministry and/or the needs of the poor). You can read more about this here.
This is not a philosophical post. Rather, I’d like to offer some practical ideas for retaining meaning while increasing flow. Here are a few “detail” ideas that can help you achieve a meaningful flow to your service.
1. Have a definite call to worship.
There needs to be a clear signal that the service is beginning to allow members to prepare. For years, we did this with a choir opener. The choir would enter, signaling the imminent start of the service, and would sing a short opening number before the congregational singing began.
I’ve heard of other churches that begin the service with announcements, ending that time with a word of prayer to commence the song service. This is the model we began to follow for chapel services at West Coast Baptist College. We give the announcements, pray, read a Scripture related to the topics of the songs for that service, and then commence in congregational singing.
This should not be a congregational song. You know what it’s like when the song leader comes to the platform and introduces the song while people frantically scatter to find their seats (after, of course, they finish their conversation, sometimes lasting into the second stanza).
Remember, we have gathered to worship together. There is nothing special about singing a song if the entire congregation is not involved in offering the song of praise to God.
2. Move the announcements out of the primary worship service.
There are several GREAT ideas floating around to make this possible. At Lancaster Baptist, we have the “UpNext Video” at the close of the service to cover all relevant announcements just before dismissal. This works well, but an obvious issue some people have with this model is that it often displaces the message they just heard.
Another option I’ve not seen done (but I’m sure someone does it) would be a pre-service and post-service announcement video. I imagine this video would play at the 5-minute mark before the service, signaling the start of the service and encouraging members to begin finding their seats. I imagine the video could end with a statement like, “Please find your seats and silence your phones. The service is about to begin.”
If you don’t have the personnel/resources for videos, a repeating PowerPoint running screen announcements is a good alternative (if done well. No clip art. Sorry). Anything is better than 10 minutes of monotonous announcement reading.
There are many other great ways to utilize social media, church apps, email, and websites in order to remove announcements from the main service.
3. Package each worship ritual instead of breaking them up.
In other words, don’t scatter congregational singing between prayers, offerings, special music, and announcements. Despite what you may think, most congregations can handle standing for 15-20 minutes of singing. They don’t need to stand for two minutes, sit for five minutes, stand again, etc.
Instead, group all your congregational songs together in a meaningful package. This package can be based on the sermon series, sermon topic, or even the Christian calendar (a neglected resource for worship leaders, but a topic for another post). Song arrangements work wonderfully in this kind of a package and such arrangements can be very engaging to the congregation. Why should the choir get to sing all the great music?
Song arrangements work wonderfully in this kind of a package and such arrangements can be very engaging to the congregation. Why should the choir get to sing all the great music? Accompaniments, key changes, added instrumentation—all these can significantly improve the singing of the congregation if employed creatively and tastefully.
One obvious area of potential overlap is the offering. Perhaps sing a hymn about God’s provision or our joyful giving. There can be better ways to keep the congregation engaged in the meaningful ritual of giving than to have a special number. Many congregants don’t mind talking or checking their emails during an offertory.
Package the music, a time of prayer and perhaps Scripture reading, the sermon and response, and baptism. The goal, once again, is to retain meaningfulness despite the repetitiveness. It can also greatly improve the flow.
4. Don’t be afraid of structured silence.
The only reason we fear dead time in a service is that we overthink how our visitors might feel. If the service was for them, our concern would be justified. As I said in the introduction, however, the service is for believers. The guests are bystanders and observers at best. It’s most important that they see a congregation of believers authentically and passionately worshiping their God (Psalm 40:3).
There is a way to seamlessly transition from one ritual to the next, but sometimes the most meaningful response to a song, Scripture, or prayer is simply silence.
Our church members’ lives are busy. They’re used to going from one appointment to the next in a relentless cycle. Some of them may sincerely wish to “be still and know that [He] is God” every now and then.
5. Train, communicate, practice, and repeat.
There is nothing insincere about rehearsing a service. Most of us use volunteers in areas of music, media, sound, etc. These volunteers need to be coordinated and trained. Musical train wrecks, stuttering worship leaders, unbalanced sound, slides that don’t advance at the right time—all these can be a serious distraction and hindrance to the flow of the service.
Here are some ideas for rehearsing a service:
- Have a pre-service warm-up, especially on Sunday morning. This can save you from calling volunteers in other days of the week. Ask them to come a little early, run through the cue card, and check the sound.
- Use a system like Planning Center Online to plan your services, notify your team, keep performance notes, and more.
- Plan and communicate the service elements at least a month in advance. You can email your team once a month with the upcoming month’s schedule or create a Google Doc for sharing and planning. This allows you to plan out more than just the upcoming services.
- Provide training for the members of your worship team. Take them to a conference or send them to a local module on sound technology. There are SO many cheap and often online resources for training. You just have to look.
Preparation is key, whether you’re a singer, speaker, preacher, soundman, or cameraman. The less you prepare, the more you improvise. The more you improvise, the more time you waste by saying or doing more than you need to.
Baptist Church Order of Service Template
Our church services follow the format listed below.
- Music: We sing songs of praise to God.
- Prayer: We ask for God’s guidance and help.
- Reading: We read from the Bible, which is the word of God.
- Sermon: The pastor gives a talk about how we can live our lives better in accordance with God’s will.
- Bible Study: We discuss what we learned from the sermon and how it applies to us on an individual level.