As we come closer to moving into our new Worship Center, we are excited to see years, decades really, of vision and desire become reality. We are determined to do “church” differently. Just as our facilities are changing as we build the church of the future, we want to look at how we worship and how it impacts your life, family and our community. There are many “styles” of worship. None of which are wrong. It’s merely a personal preference. God certainly loves it all. Many liken it to preferences in styles of music. Some like rock n’ roll, some country others jazz or classical. There is no right or wrong, just preference. In the end, God created it all and loves it all. 

Most people familiar with Palm Coast United Methodist Church know we have always been primarily a “traditional” church. Let’s look at what that means. In a traditional worship experience, you will find congregational hymns, a choir, various forms of liturgy that will include readings like the Apostle’s Creed, the Doxology, an offering where they pass the plate and of course a sermon. You will also hear “churchy” terms like ritual, narthex, benediction, communion, prelude and postlude to name a few. The pastor may wear a liturgical robe. You might even see people called acolytes lighting candles. Traditional worship is typically more observed than participatory and more reverent and quiet. You will also see people more “dressed” up. You will find traditional worship services in almost every denomination and faith.  

Another style of worship we hear a lot about today and that is certainly an element of most of the larger growing churches is “contemporary.” Let’s look at what makes this different from traditional. In a contemporary worship experience, you will typically find more music with an extended time of praise and worship in song. This will usually include a band with drums, guitars and keyboards and multiple singers. It will also include the use of multi-media using high impact video and graphics with visually appealing LED lighting. Dress code is much more casual with a more “come as you are” atmosphere. The extended time of worship tends to be highly vertical in nature focusing on the “who” of God followed by a more entertaining style of delivering the message. 

There are certainly other styles of worship too. You’ll hear terms like blended and modern, which we will look at in our next article. 

As we look to better meet the spiritual needs of Palm Coast, Flagler and Bunnell we are dissecting every aspect of how we worship. One of our lead pastor’s favorite sayings is, “We’ve never done it that way before.” This encourages our staff to think outside of the box and examine how we can “do” church differently. We don’t want to be the “same ole, same ole” church experience. 

What spiritual needs do you and your family have? We want to know! Would you take a few minutes to participate in our online survey? Your answers will help us as we seek to “re-design” our worship experience to better reach our community with the unchanging good news of the Gospel.