8 Comments
User's avatar
Jan Taddeo's avatar

Yes! And… put the announcements at the end. “If you liked this “musical,” you’ll love our upcoming program on radical welcome.” (Newcomers aren’t ready for announcements at the front end of the service… but after that great service they want to know how to get connected.

Expand full comment
Kimberley Debus's avatar

OH! I love this.

Expand full comment
Catherine Queener's avatar

Wow, point taken. Thank you from an aspiring worship associate (one of the good morningers).

Expand full comment
Kimberley Debus's avatar

It's hard sometimes, I think because we want to be welcoming and friendly... but I also think there are ways to accomplish that.

At one congregation I preached for, they did an acknowledgement of who was in the service at the start, and a thank you to all the leaders, and tech/ushers/support staff at the end. I thought that was great - like the opening and closing credits of a movie. :)

Expand full comment
Rev. Maddie Sifantus's avatar

One of my pet peeves for many years as well.

Expand full comment
Claudia Jimenez (she/ella)'s avatar

Great advice...thank you.

Expand full comment
Kim's avatar

I laughed hard at this post - I do that exact thing TOO MUCH as I lead hymns. In my deep desire for everyone to feel seen and spoken too, I always say good morning and introduce myself...even though my portions of the service are fairly deep into the worship. I will challenge myself this weekend to resist the urge... :-)

Expand full comment
Kimberley Debus's avatar

We will talk about this at our retreat in a couple of weeks... among other things, of course!

Expand full comment