Dear Pulpit Team Member,

Thank you for being prepared to serve on the pulpit team! There are certain protocols which apply to the different aspects of our pulpit ministries –

(i) Scriptural/Credal reading;

(ii) Public Praying;

(iii) Communion reflection;

(iv) Offering devotion;

(v) Sermon; and

(vi) Invitational Prayer and Benediction.

As you minister, please introduce yourself to the congregation.

GENERAL PROTOCOLS

• We strive to minister with dignity in the tension between being well-prepared and Spirit-led. Therefore, we plan and pray about what we will be doing in our worship service.

 

• Honour any specific directions provided by the Senior Pastor or church leadership concerning the content of your participation. Seek to speak with the Pastor / church leadership for any clarification or before seeking to change the nature of your content.

 

• In performing our duty we keep within the role we have been assigned which precludes requesting a particular worship song or piece of music – by all means cite it, and maybe even sing a bar of it, but it is the worship leader/director who has the role of pre-selecting the worship songs for our service in consultation with the Senior Pastor.  There have been times when playing a Youtube clip or a copyrighted song has caused our Livestream to be halted on Facebook and YouTube who have deemed it a copyright breach.

 

• Note and keep to the time allocated for your contribution in our worship service. There is a clock at the back of the auditorium which you should refer to. Never publicly ask a pastor or congregation member to tell you when your time is up.

 

• Please use the English Standard Version (ESV). If presenting Scriptures on the screen please use Georgia font 50-54 point, white on black background, or a font colour that is not obscured by the background. The slide should be 16 x 9 format (1920px x 1080px), with the text within a ‘safe-zone’ border.

 

• Please proceed to the pulpit area in preparation for your contribution to minimise delays during the service.

 

SPECIFIC PROTOCOLS

(i) Scriptural/Credal reading

* Unless otherwise asked or approved by the Senior Pastor, or his delegate, do not add any commentary to what you read.

(ii) Public Praying

* You are encouraged to write out your prayer (at least in dot points). This is not a time for commentary, Bible reading, or preaching. Keep within the scope of what you have been asked to pray for – such as prayer for our state and nation.

(iii) Communion Reflection

* In several Christian traditions, the Lord’s Table is the most sacred component of a church service.

* Please cite one of the Scriptures referring to the Lord’s Table (Mtt. 26:26-29; Mk. 14:22-25; Lk. 22:18-20; 1Cor. 11:23-25) to connect what we are doing to the command of the Scriptures and to keep your reflection relevant to this commemoration.

* Please do not say, “Take this in your own time”, instead, have the congregation join with you so that we all take the unleavened bread and then the unfermented wine together which is one of the reasons this holy ordinance is also known as “holy communion”.

(iv) Offering Devotion

• *

The Offering devotional is our opportunity to encourage and remind God’s people that:  Giving is an act of worship. It is a thermometer of our heart (Lk. 12:34). We encourage God’s people to give not so that they will get but because they have already been given (1Cor. 4:7; James 1:17). Our giving goes toward the support of those who labour to minister God’s Word among us locally and on our behalf internationally (1Cor. 9:11; Gal. 6:6). God loves a cheerful giver and it is He who supplies us with our needs and at least a seed to sow (2Cor. 9:6-11). (Point out the different ways people can give.)

(v) The Sermon

* In our Protestant-Reformed-Pentecostal-tradition, the preaching of the Word and the subsequent challenge is the central and focal point of our church service.

* It is the teaching of God’s Word with the anointing of God’s Spirit that informs our understanding and worship of God (“theology”), our ecclesiology (how we understand the purpose and structure of the Church), our praxis (how we live out our faith in Christ in the world).

* Preaching is not just a lecture.

* Preaching is not just telling a story.

* Preaching is meant to grip, challenge, charge and change people!

* Quite often we will assign a theme/topic/passage of Scripture to our preaching team.

* Every preacher should be able to answer in one sentence these questions:

  1. What is your message?

  2. What is your objective?

  3. What do you expect hearers to do after you’ve preached?

(vi) Invitational Prayer and Benediction

* THE INVITATIONAL PRAYER – Often this will be done by the preacher. This is not the time to add additional information to the sermon, this is the time to call hearers to respond practically and in prayer. This should be short and simple.

* THE BENEDICTION – (Good words) occurs at the end of nearly every New Testament epistle and in several places within the Old Testament (Num 6:24-26). It is a way of speaking blessing over people in a memorable way as they are dismissed from assembling together.

* The benediction maybe preceded with an invitation to attend the next service and then proceeded with something like, “Have a great week”.

 

Faithfully,

Dr. Andrew Corbett
Senior Pastor of Legana Christian Church, February 2023