A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. Rev. Statham is pastor of St. Andrew’s Church, Duncan, B.C.

“Your church is so friendly,” she said to the Pastor as his hand was being pumped. A few minutes later it was again being squeezed but by a concerned-looking gentleman who quietly confided, “I’m visiting today, Pastor, but you know, for a while I wasn’t even sure I was in a church!”

Believe it or not, these two visitors were describing the same morning worship service. It is a weekly occurrence that some might think is a sign of life but that I think is an impediment to worship. When a visitor walks into the sanctuary on a Sunday morning, what greets them? Are they confronted with the irreverent din of chatter (Is this the “noisesome pestilence” the Psalmist writes of?) or can they get caught up in a sense of expectation that something significant is about to happen as God’s people quietly, prayerfully, prepare themselves for worship? We know all great things are to be undergirded with prayer – no less the regular public worship of God! A quiet pre-service time of preparatory prayer is essential.

But what of the lady who sees the pre-worship chatter as a sign of friendliness? Have you noticed that people tend to sit in the same place each Sunday? It is quite likely therefore they talk to the same people each Sunday. The friendly church (in a Biblical understanding) is the one that welcomes the stranger (Matt. 25:35) and in which people talk to the one poorly dressed (Jas. 2:If). It is a beautiful fruit that comes when a people are sacrificial in their love and caring toward one another.

It is the Session’s responsibility to teach the congregation not just the importance of worship but also that it is something so significant we must be properly prepared for it (Matt. 5:24). Most of us come rushing into church with all the baggage of the day and the week on our shoulders: worries, excitements, angers, rush and bustle. These must be set aside in deliberate prayer and the things of the Lord picked up. We need to be taught to do it because by nature we are more prone to talk than to listen, to worry than to trust. “The Lord is in His Holy temple; let everyone on earth be silent in His presence” (Hab. 2:20). How can we hear the Lord to worship Him if we allow the cares of the world to intrude? Preparatory prayer helps clear the air that we might focus ourselves especially for the worship hour. We may not sleep as the disciples did in Gethsemane but by preoccupation we are just as guilty (Matt. 26:40f).

There will be people in your church who would like to be able to come to church twenty minutes early to have that quiet time of prayer in the house of the Lord. Even if there is only one person who would seek to pray, dare the others be encouraged (by the inaction of the Session) to intrude with their chatter? In today’s world, silence is not just golden, it is a precious and rare commodity. In worship, quiet prayerful expectation is a treasure to be cultivated and protected. The Lord spoke to Elijah from out of the stillness – not the earthquake and fire. Your people will be coming to church each Sunday with many hurts and hungers, but will they be able to properly prepare themselves to hear the voice of the Lord? The Psalmist says: “Be still and know that I am God.”

How can the Session promote this prayerful, expectant stillness before worship? Here are some practical suggestions that will help your people approach the Lord with purity and singleness of mind:

  1. Print on the order of service prior to the ‘Organ Prelude’ the words ‘Preparatory Prayer’, or ‘Silent Prayer’, etc. Have the minister explain its importance from the pulpit.
  2. Preach a sermon on the theme or an article in the church newsletter.
  3. Instruct the ushers (“hushers!”) to control access to the sanctuary from the narthex by opening and closing doors for each person as they enter. This will cut down on the transmitted noise from those arriving at the outside doors. It will convey the impression that quiet reverence is now expected from those about to enter the sanctuary.