Preparing Our Hearts and Minds to Worship

Picture it. The Cruz family household circa 1976. The oldest child (me) has recently become a teenager and the youngest-there are six in total- is maybe two years old. It’s Sunday morning and it’s time to get ready for church. In a family with six kids everything has to be meticulously planned, laid out on a timetable, and carefully choreographed if we are to enjoy the blissful ride down Everson Hill to Bad Axe Lutheran Church in rural Wisconsin.

That wasn’t how it went at all.

I’m not sure how Mom managed to get all of us ready for church on Sunday morning. (By my memory, it was mostly Mom who took charge of this.) There was always a shoe to be hunted down, Sunday school books to be gathered, clothes to be ironed - anyone with kids knows the drill. By the time we got to the church parking lot Mom would have pronounced her famous phrase – “You kids are enough to make a preacher cuss!”

But this article isn’t about getting ready to leave for worship on Sunday morning; it’s about how to prepare once you get there.

Preparing for worship may include a stop at the font.

Lutherans (and others from a liturgical tradition) tend to be quiet once they are in the nave. Any conversation is hushed and necessary. Once you sit down, what do you do? This blog post offers a few suggestions.

First, pray. The kneelers are there if you want to use one, but it’s just as good to sit quietly. Thank the Holy Spirit for gathering the people around you today. Pray for the Pastor, lay leaders, and musicians as they prepare to lead worship. Pray for the people around you. Matthew Deames, Interim Pastor of Mamrelund Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kent City Michigan, used to arrive especially early so he could walk around the perimeter of his church with the directory in hand, specifically praying for each family.

Still have time to kill? Open your bulletin and read the gospel lesson. Think about where the Pastor might go if this is the basis for the sermon. Next, read the Prayer of the Day. It contains the themes you are likely to encounter in the service. When you have the theme in your head, you will be more aware of all the places in worship that relate to it. Listen for similar words in the hymns, the readings, and the sermon.

I usually skip these two steps and go right for the hymns. I’m always a little disappointed if I know all of them. (I know. I’m weird that way.) Is there a hymn you don’t know? Look it up and read through the text - read it like poetry. When the hymn comes up later in the service, pay special attention to the introduction to hear the melody and rhythm of the text.

Look at the voluntaries – the prelude, postlude, the choir’s anthem, and see how they relate. Most of the preludes I play are hymn-based and they are chosen because they relate to the texts. Feel free to look the hymn up and use its words to prepare your heart and mind for worship.





You probably won’t be able to able to complete these steps every Sunday, but try for one or two.

The Pastor, choir, altar guild, and lay leaders are all examples of people who could use your prayers before worship!

If you are bringing children to church, your morning might be especially frantic. Don’t fret. God, and the rest of us, are just happy that you made it. I’d love to read your comments on this post. Are any of these ideas helpful? Have you found other ways to prepare for worship?