Planning a Service

Here is a condensed outline of elements for planning a service I gleaned from Bob Kauflin’s workshop on service planning. I try to keep these in mind no matter what the order or theme is for any given Sunday. I don’t necessarily think each of these elements needs to have it’s own specific place (like a prayer of adoration, followed by public acknowledgement of sin, then a word of assurance from a passage). I think we can accomplish a few of these in one event, such as a prayer beginning with adoration and moving to acknowledgement of our sin, and finishing with assurance for example. I think it is a goal to include as much of these key components as possible when planning a service.

As we plan and order our services, discerning the content to include, we shape the beliefs and devotional lives of our church members.

-Bob Kauflin

1. Adoration of God’s greatness
2. Acknowledgement of our sin
3. Assurance of God’s forgiveness in Jesus
4. Gratefulness for God’s provision
5. Requests and intercession (lament as well)
6. Proclamation of God’s Word
7. Communion
8. Charge and Blessing

1. Exaltation – Praising God for who he is
2. Edification – Being built up in the gospel
3. Exhortation – Stirred up to good works in response to and empowered by gospel
4. Encounter – God’s presence should be acknowledged and experienced as a primary benefit of the gospel
5. Evangelism – The church’s desire ought to be to share this God and his gospel with the world