The rit·u·al of Worship

/ˈriCH(əw)əl/

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noun

1. a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.

       Within the black church I've noticed a theme of rituals. Now, immediately when I think of the word "ritual", because the negative connotation surrounding the word, I think of the most extreme case of animal sacrifice and illuminati conspiracies. However, when I take a step back, look at my life, and consider the true meaning of a ritual I realize my life is full of rituals. As a pretty religious person, I find myself constantly performing unrealized rituals to God with the most apparent ritual being Sunday morning church service. 

    Every Sunday morning service starts at 10:30 (roughly). We open up with prayer, scripture reading, statement of faith, the church mission statement (both of which are painfully engraved in my brain forever), the morning hymn, the call to consecration, praise and worship, offering, and then the word of God. While this may sound like a boring routine, the order of service is set in a specific way to so that we can properly acknowledge the spirit and presence of God. The ritual is the order in which we do things, but the ritual leads us into true worship which is the least boring or orderly thing about Sunday service. During worship we take as much time as we need to cry, dance, run, jump, and shout as we need. Although praise and worship is incredibly intimate and extremely freeing, worship is also done in ritual form. 

Here's how: 

So praise and worship usually opens up with worship music. Worship music is usually slower tempo songs that definitely put you in your feelings. Two of the most popular forms of worship music is prayer, and praise. A prayer-worship song has words that are usually asking God to do something. In this song the words first acknowledge the presence of God and then *asks* God to "Have your way" and "Take control", this is a prayer worship song. 

After the first prayer-worship song, you'd follow it with a praise-worship song. A praise-worship song simply acknowledges the presence and/or power of God. There's usually not any words asking God to do anything but instead just *praising* him. The words in this song repeat, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run in, and they are saved", this is praise. Praise-worship songs often lead to spontaneous worship. Spontaneous worship is just what it says-- spontaneous. Whatever you're thinking or feeling in he moment, you sing it or say it. The music behind you during this time is usually pretty simple allowing the lead to have as much creative freedom as possible. 

Spontaneous worship usually leads to true praise. This is usually going to be an extremely fast tempo song that encourages dancing, hand clapping, and foot stomping. The lead of these songs are usually extremely interactive with the audience. There's also a lot less words so that the audience can easily join in and the lead singer can adlib and have as much fun and created freedom as they want. 

To complete the praise and worship ritual, there's a praise break. The music during the part is extremely fast and energetic. This is usually the part of the ritual that people dance, run, jump, and shout the most. The music is almost always instrumental. Sometimes someone with encourage engagement throughout the congregation/audience but its usually spoken instead of sung. Although every church is different and has their own rituals and order of service, this is usually the way my church and many other church perform the ritual of worship.