Why Church Staff Should Worship Together Before Sunday
Sam Rainer
Every Tuesday morning the West Bradenton staff gather for a short time of worship before we begin our meetings. There is nothing elaborate about Tuesday worship. We follow a simple structure each week.
1. Our worship pastor leads a song from the upcoming Sunday setlist.
2. Someone shares a devotional thought.
3. We pray for each other. Then we pray for our church requests and mission partners.
4. I share the direction of my sermon for the upcoming Sunday.
Don’t let the simplicity fool you. These times are critically important. Tuesday mornings are when we find alignment as a staff through worship.
They happen every week. Worship requires discipline and preparation. The weekly rhythm of worshiping together helps our staff stay unified. Our worship time always comes first, before all our other meetings. The priority of worship helps us keep our souls in check as we lead others in the church.
We rotate the devotion. A different person shares each Tuesday. It’s important we hear how God is working in every staff person’s life. While not every staff person has a calling to teach God Word, we all should be prepared to share God’s work in our lives.
We intentionally pray for a specific mission partner. We not only celebrate the work of our church locally, we also share the celebration of God’s work globally. To be a church for all nations you must pray for all nations.
We break into groups of three and pray specifically for each other. Our time of corporate prayer is also spent in smaller groups. We tend to share something that is happening in our lives that week. This time of prayer helps us stay connected with the personal needs of each staff person.
We sign notes to those who have asked us to pray. Throughout the week, our church receives many prayer requests. Our prayer team prays for these requests, but our staff also prays for them. Each time we receive a new request, we send a signed card via snail mail to the person who asked us to pray.
Our worship pastor explains why he selected certain songs. The process of selecting songs each week is highly intentional and strategic. He will explain his reasoning and teach us through the worship songs.
I explain why I’m preaching a certain text or topic. It’s good for the staff to have a heads up on the direction of a sermon. I will walk through my sermon briefly and explain my main points. The staff can then communicate to their ministry areas what to expect for the next Sunday.
When the staff is passionate about worship, often the church follows this lead. I cherish the weekly worship with our staff. Staff worship does not need to last long. Our time together is usually under an hour, but it’s usually one of the most important hours of the week.
