Worship and Hospitality: Reaching Out and Healing through Worship

by Steve Clapp, Fred Bernhard

In "Worship and Hospitality," Steve Clapp and Fred Bernhard offer hospitality as a new lens for looking at what happens in Christian worship. The practice of biblical hospitality can take people beyond their personal preferences for traditional or contemporary and help them recognize Christ as the host of the service. "Worship and Hospitality" How the concepts of hospitality and worship relate to each other and what it means to see the presence of Christ in those with whom we worship. How the practice of hospitality should influence music, prayers, the sermon, and the entire flow of the service. How the setting of worship impacts what we experience. Lighting, carpeting, seating, electronics, the pulpit, and the rest of the church facilities all affect our worship and reflect our hospitality. How to reach out to people without a church connection and to help our services speak to those person when they come without sacrificing the core purpose of worship. Specific strategies for identifying needed changes in worship, including exit interview with those who leave the church. How to understand the major trends affecting worhsip and evangelism without automatically embracing each trend. Discussion questions are included.

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003