If you’re reading this, it means you’re curious about parts of a church service. We get it—church can be scary! You might feel like you’re not allowed to ask questions or participate, and maybe you don’t know what to expect. But we promise: Your church is different from any other church in the world—and that’s a good thing!
We’ve put together this guide to help you learn more about what happens at your local church service. It’s broken down into two categories: the parts that are universal to all churches (like singing songs) and the parts that are unique to your denomination (like Communion).
We hope that this guide will help make your experience at church less intimidating and more comfortable. Just remember: no matter how weird it feels now, one day soon you’ll look back on this moment as a piece of history—and an important part of who you are today!
Right here on Churchgist, you are privy to a litany of relevant information on Parts of church service, and so much more. Take out time to visit our catalog for more information on similar topics.
Parts of Church Service
Hymns, altar calls, announcements, and sermons. Those are the parts of a church service you might be familiar with. But there is more to it than that: worship music, choir rehearsals, lighting decorating and so on. Here is what else goes into planning a church service:.
In a church service, there are various parts. Some parts may be led by a person who has been selected to lead it. Or it can be an item that is included in the program of the day without someone having to be appointed to lead it. If a part is led by a person, but the program of the service itself did not have that item included, the role may be discussed and assigned.
The church service started with a greeting, prayer and a song. The first reading was then given by Mary who told us it was from the book of Psalms. Next came the responsorial psalm. This meant that another member of the congregation had composed a new melody to go along with it. This helped to make part of the congregational singing more uplifting and enjoyable. The second reading was on being kind to one another and doing things for others without expecting anything in return.
The parts of a church service include:
- Opening hymn. This is the first song that the choir or congregation sings.
- Call to worship. This is an invitation to join in prayer and worship with other members of the congregation. The pastor will usually lead this part of the service.
- Confession of sin. This involves a congregation member confessing their sins to God and asking for forgiveness.
- Prayer of confession and absolution. This involves a representative from each side of the congregation praying aloud together, asking God to forgive them for their sins and giving thanks for his grace and mercy towards them.
- Hymn of praise and thanksgiving. This is another song sung by the congregation or choir which praises God for his goodness and mercy towards us as humans beings on earth today.”
Sunday Service Church
Gathering
- Gathering: the gathering of the people is one of the most important parts of church service because it’s what sets the tone for an otherwise serious event. In this segment, we pray and sing together as a congregation. We usually begin with some form of greeting, followed by announcements or other necessary information such as birthdays and anniversaries. This can also include statements of purpose like setting an intention for your day or sharing what you hope to get out of attending services that day. The next step is usually a call to worship (sometimes called an invocation), which is often done through song or prayer before moving onto more formal prayer time.* Opening Prayer: After we have gathered together as a community, our pastor will typically pray over us individually and/or collectively in order to set our minds on God’s word for that particular week.* Opening Song: Next up comes a musical portion where everyone sings together in praise!
Confession and Pardon
Confession and pardon are a crucial part of the service.
The minister will remind us of our sinfulness, and help us come to terms with our failings. He then invites us to acknowledge God’s forgiveness for our sins, which frees us from guilt, shame and fear. We can then be free to follow Jesus into a new life of faith and obedience (Romans 6:1-4).
Offertory
Offertory is the time for the collection of offerings. It’s also known as the presentation of gifts. Offertory gifts can be financial, or of time and talents. In any case, they should be made in the spirit of worship.
Offerings are collected by a designated person or persons who may be assisted by other members of the congregation. In most churches, this responsibility falls on ushers; however some churches have other people handle collections during their services (e.g., children).
Eucharistic Prayer
The Eucharistic Prayer is the main part of the Mass. It is a prayer that thanks God for all his blessings and leads us to offer ourselves, our lives, and our whole being as a sacrifice in union with Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary.
This prayer expresses our faith in Jesus Christ, who suffered death and rose again; it serves as a commemoration of his life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven; it makes present his real presence among us; it unites us to Christ through the partaking of bread and wine which are transformed into his body and blood through an act called transubstantiation (the change from one substance into another).
Great Thanksgiving
The Thanksgiving is the central act of the Eucharistic Prayer and consists of three parts: a preface, sanctus, and anamnesis. The preface is the part of the prayer that is recited before the eucharistic prayer (Eucharistic Prayer I). In this prayer we give thanks for all our blessings and ask God to accept our worship. The Sanctus is “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isaiah 6:3). When it is sung or spoken aloud at Mass it echoes throughout heaven with angels singing in response to God’s holiness. Finally, anamnesis refers to remembering what Christ did for us on Calvary when He died for us and rose again from death into eternal life.
Doxology
A doxology is an ancient hymn that praises God. It is also known as a doxologia, which means “word of praise.” The doxology was originally sung in Greek and other languages in the early church. It’s still sung today at the end of many Christian services, including those held on Sunday evenings.
The Doxology can be found in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) of 1928 and 1979 editions:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!”
The same words are used for each Sunday service; only their order changes from week to week depending on which holy days fall during that period. When we sing this hymn before we say our Lord’s Prayer together as one congregation, it reminds us that all worship comes from God and should be centered around Him alone!
Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that Jesus taught us and is also known as the Our Father. It is a prayer for God’s kingdom to come and for our daily needs. It is a prayer for forgiveness and protection from evil.
Breaking of the bread and sharing of the cup
The breaking of the bread and sharing of the cup are important parts of church service. The holy communion is a celebration of the Passover, which Jesus celebrated with his disciples on the night before he died. At that time, Jesus told them to “do this in memory of me” (Matthew 26:17). In other words, it was an important event for him and should be remembered by you too.
The bread represents his body that was broken for us after he died on the cross for our sins. The cup represents his blood poured out for us during his death on behalf of our sins as well as all others who have sinned throughout history (1 John 2).
Send Us Forth
The Send Us Forth is the prayer of blessing and commissioning before we leave church. It’s a time to reflect on what we have just heard and experienced, as well as look forward to a new week or challenge.
There are two parts to this prayer:
- “Send us forth…” – As Christians, we are sent by God into the world for his purposes. In our prayers, we ask for God’s guidance as we go out into his world in service of him (and others).
- “to proclaim your everlasting gospel…” – We pray that through our lives, work, service and relationships we will bring glory to God by sharing his message with others (1 Peter 2:9).
The worship service
The worship service is typically divided into three main parts, with each part having its own purpose. The first part is the gathering. Here, you will find the people who will be participating in your worship service and those who are there to watch and listen.
The second part is the proclamation of God’s word (i.e., reading from the Bible). This time is for you to proclaim an important message about Jesus Christ or another religious figure that has come before us.
The third major component is offering songs/chants with a specific theme that relates back to your message or lesson plan (for example, if you want to talk about how we can live our lives better through God’s guidance, then you could use one song as an example).