What Does The Service Of The Word Do?

The service of the word rehearses the story of God's redeeming actions and calls us to see God at work in our own histories.

In the Service of the Word the mood shifts from the joyful and doxological note of the Entrance to an instructive mood. By its very nature the Service of the Word is more cognitive than the Entrance. The emphasis is on reading, hearing, listening, and responding to the story of God's action in history. The origin of the Service of the Word and its instructive orientation lies in the synagogue. The early Christians who were Jews probably adapted what they did in the synagogue to the context of Christian worship. After the Scripture readings, punctuated by psalms (as in the synagogue), early Christian worship contained a sermon followed by several responses to the Word such as discussion of the sermon, prayers of the people, and the Kiss of Peace. Later, another response was added, the Creed. Placed after the sermon, it replaced the discussion of the smaller communities. The emphasis on Scripture in the Service of the Word is captured in these words of Justin Martyr: "The memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits." These Scriptures were not simply read but probably discussed as they were in the synagogue. Today many renewing churches have restored the ancient tradition of Scripture readings punctuated by psalms and the response to God's Word which includes responses such as occasional discussion, the saying of the creed, the prayers of intercession, and the passing of the peace. There are, of course, a variety of ways of doing these acts of worship, ranging from traditional models to contemporary models. In all of these acts—the historical recitation of the Scriptures, the singing of the psalms, the hearing of the sermon—God is speaking and the people are responding. Liturgical traditions have been prone to regard the Service of the Word as an optional preamble to the "real" worship in the eucharistic liturgy. The Reformers called the church back to the Word, but that call is being sounded again in many liturgical churches as more attention is given to the Word and its indispensability for complete worship is recognized. Free churches historically have been tempted to emphasize the Service of the Word to excess, making Sunday worship "Sunday school for adults." Many free churches, however, are now emphasizing exhortation and encouragement somewhat more than instruction in the sermon, to keep the sermon from descending into a lecture. Without being trite, trivial, or shallow, many free churches are now using the kerygma (the church's basic proclamation) in worship and offer the "rest of the story," the in-depth didache (teaching), in a separate instructional session.