Awhile back I wrote about how much I hate announcement time.  Go back and take a look at it, because I feel justified in saying that.  Announcement time, as I’ve experienced it in the several congregations I’ve served has, for the most part, been a horrible train wreck.  This is mostly the case because it is not fully utilized or appropriate to the congregation.  Let me give you an example.

One wonderful congregation has this beautiful worship space, very polished liturgy, and an excellent choir.  This is a great congregation to worship with.  And yet, many there seemed to like a home-spun sermon and super-chatty announcement time.  It was a perfect example of a congregation not really knowing itself, or at the very least, not really knowing what they are good at.

How we feel about announcement time is really just a stand in for something else. It’s about how we feel about our church.  Is it the country club: the place you join and become a member?  The place you visit on a weekly basis to make an appearance?  The place in which you network and take care of civic responsibility?

Maybe your church is a community: the place you are welcomed into and given space to be yourself.  The place you seek comfort from and spiritual renewal.  The place that compels you to be a better person.

You can quickly figure out which classification goes with which announcement style, can’t you?  At the club, you have orderly, prompt, and minimal announcements because we need to get back to our busy lives of business and tee times.  While at the community, you have “popcorn” announcements of random events spoken to by random people.

Must we embody only those two?  What if neither accurately describes what church is supposed to be?  What if church isn’t about joining a club or retreating into comfort?  What if it isn’t supposed to be rigid or chaotic?  What if we aren’t supposed to be efficient or wasteful?  What if our sense of church is messed up?

A few months ago, I read this short book called Read This Before Our Next Meeting by Al Pittampalli and he makes several great arguments for how we’ve screwed up staff meetings, but there is one essential truth from which he operates: meetings interrupt our work and keep us from excelling.  Therefore meetings must be kept essential and powerful and non-essential communication must be handled elsewhere.

I’m not suggesting that our Sunday worship should be seen as a business meeting, but there is something to the mindset.  Our worship isn’t really about information or comfort.  And really, it isn’t about inspiration.  We worship because loving G-d comes first.  Full stop.  Everything else: the stuff that takes our minds away from that love: needs to go.  Pitch it.  Get rid of it.  It is non-essential when it comes to our worship.

Challenge Question:

What are some ways that we can make sure everybody gets the essential information without distracting from worship?