The Greeting
The greeting in worship is a Christian exchange between the worship leader and the people.
After the Entrance song is completed and the minister, choir, readers, and others are in their places, worship continues with the simple and straight-forward act of greeting extended to the people. It is best to keep this section simple and short. In terms of spatial communication, worship leaders have found that it is best not to do the greeting standing in front of the pulpit, if possible. This is true of other parts of the Entrance as well. The constant movement from chair to pulpit by the person or persons leading the Entrance does not adequately communicate the sense that worship is an action going on between God and the entire worshiping community (including the leader). When the action takes place between the pulpit and the congregation, it symbolizes communication between leader and congregation. Therefore, churches have found it is best to lead from a chair set sideways on the bema (platform). Standing, the leader may turn at the conclusion of the Entrance song, face the congregation, and say in a loud, clear, and cheerful voice, "Good morning," to which the people respond, "Good morning." Or, "The Lord be with you," to which the people respond, "And also with you." In this way the bodily position of the leader works together with the words to communicate what is being said. Symbolic action and verbal communication work in concert to establish the meaning of the greeting. Examples of the greeting are below: Traditional Forms of the Greeting The Lord be with you. And also with you. (Ruth 2:4) or The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And also with you. (2 Thess. 3:18) or Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. And also with you. (Rom. 1:17) or Other passages of Scripture that can be used as a greeting to the congregation: 2 Corinthians 13:14 2 Peter 1:2 2 Timothy 1:2 Revelation 1:4–5 Contemporary Forms of the Greeting A greeting can often be prepared from the Scripture texts of the day. The greeting works best when it is short. Take a phrase out of one of the Scripture readings and put it into a form of greeting similar to the examples below. Leader: Brothers and sisters in Christ, Today I greet you with the words of St. Paul taken from today's Epistle reading, Ephesians 1:9: God has "made known to us the mystery of His will." People: Thanks be to God. or May God be gracious to us and bless us. Amen. May his face be illuminated for us Amen. May his salvation come upon us in Jesus, his Son, our Lord. Amen. (Adapted from Lucien Deiss, Reflections on His Word, Cycle A [Schiller Park, Ill.: World Library Publications, 1980], 158.) In the name of the Father who loves us from all eternity (Eph. 2:4) and who calls us; In the name of the Son who knocks down the wall of hostility (Eph. 2:14–15) and gathers us all into a single new man (creature); In the name of the Holy Spirit who makes the peace and the joy of heaven flourish on our earth: May the grace and the joy of God be always with us. Brothers and sisters, let us praise the Lord Jesus! He is our Good Shepherd (Ps. 23). He gathers us together today for the feast of his Word; he sets for us the table of his Eucharist. May his grace and goodness accompany us all the days of our lives and open for us the door of the eternal feast! (Adapted from Lucien Deiss, Reflections on His Word: Sunday Prayers, Cycle B [Schiller Park, Ill.: World Library Publications, 1981], 171.)