1. The Very First Step - Examine Yourself

I graduated from Bible College in the year 2000, and started working as Associate Minister in a church in Sydney, with a great senior minister (Rector, in Anglican lingo), who was an excellent teacher and trainer.  He loved telling people about Jesus, and he loved giving people opportunities for growing their ministry skills.  So I was as happy as a wallaby in my mum's rose garden.

But here's the interesting thing - in the more than 16 years since then, I have never been permitted to organise the order of service - by that I mean, it has never been delegated to me to decide what sort of prayer we'll have at which point in the service, which song we will sing when, etc.

© Petarpaunchev dreamstime.com

Before I went to Bible College and learnt how to do these things 'properly' the Anglican way, I regularly led an evening service at the local cathedral, and I could organise the services however I liked.  So it might seem rather strange that that door closed after three years intensive study of theology, and a lot more experience.  Surely I can be trusted with these decisions more now than  as a young'un all those years ago?

Well, from a purely theological point of view, yes I can. I didn't need to go to Bible College to lead a perfectly adequate church service.  But I did sign up to be an Anglican, and that has implications.

I'm telling you this, because I know volunteers sometimes get a bit miffed, or hurt, when they aren't given freedom to work out the order of service - they feel patronised and controlled, and in some cases so offended that they decide not to continue leading.

But here is what I have learned, in 16 years and three different churches in three different Dioceses:

When a minister undertakes to be the senior minister of an Anglican church, he or she takes on responsibility for what happens in Sunday services.  This is not something that they generally feel inclined to delegate to others, and that's probably because Anglicans have a slightly higher regard for 'the sacraments' (namely baptism and communion) than some other denominations, and the sacraments happen most often in the context of Sunday services.

But you may notice that you are given a lot more freedom - perhaps absolute freedom - when you lead, say, a youth service in the evening, like the one I led before I went to Bible College.  This is because Anglican churches have to have one service (and it's preferably the 'main' service for that church) which follows an authorised order, and if they don't have such a service, they can get into all sorts of hot water with the Bishop. Any other services held in that church can be as un-Anglican as you like - well, maybe that's an exaggeration;  but they have a lot more flexibility.

So the senior minister of your Anglican church is constrained by the commitment she or he has made, and by the requirements of their Diocese.  Not giving you freedom is probably more about that than about their trust or lack of it in you.

Orders of service are authorised by the Bishop, so when you move from one Diocese to another, you may find that what was perfectly acceptable in your previous church is outlawed in the new place.  Frankly, I find this all rather silly, especially when we all basically agree on what the message of the Bible is.  But as I say, I did sign up to be an Anglican.

As far as I personally am concerned, what matters is what Jesus thinks of my ministry.  Sometimes following his example means lovingly but firmly objecting to the status quo, and sometimes it means graciously going along with things that I think are silly.  I don't think I'm brilliant at either, but you aim high and pray for the Spirit to make you wiser and more disciplined and better than you would be by (fleshly) nature.  For 16 years I have led services where someone else decided what we were going to do when.  One day, I will not have to answer to anyone but Jesus - whose service is perfect freedom!  But that won't happen in this world, so for now you and I need to 'suck it up', as they say.

So the first thing I would recommend for someone setting out to learn how to lead church services is:  find out what the rules are in your denomination and your particular church and the particular service you will be leading, and decide if you can live with them.  Ask the senior minister, if you can, to explain what your responsibility will be as leader of a church service (ie what are you expected to do);  and also what the limits are - what are you NOT allowed to do?

If you can't live with the answer, it might be a good idea to look for another area of ministry, where you are able to have respectful appropriate relationships with those in authority.  If you are certain that leading church services is what God is calling you to do, and you can't live with the restrictions in your context, you might need to go looking for another church.  What you absolutely must not do is accept the ministry, and then use the safety of the public forum to disobey your senior minister, by doing things that you know he or she would not have permitted had you asked in advance. It is an honour to be asked to undertake a ministry, especially one where you become a public face of your church, someone others will look to for an example.  When you undertake to lead services, you are accepting a heavy responsibility;  use it to honour God, not yourself.