A word to trainers

Those who lead services need guidance and training and so one of the aims of this site is to provide a tool to do this. However while this site is a helpful resource there are many aspects of developing service leaders that cannot be addressed online! If you are training service leaders this website should be used in conjunction with your own ongoing guidance so that they continue to develop prayerfully and thoughtfully for their important role.

You are in the best position to train those preparing and leading services in your local context and so you will need to provide continuing feedback at various stages of the process. Before the service you can assist with the ordering and selection of various components to ensure that the service is theologically and culturally appropriate. After the service you can review practical aspects such as presentation, delivery and mood of the service.

We are currently working on a downloadable template for providing helpful feedback for service leaders.

Using material on this site for training service leaders

This website contains a lot of material which may be overwhelming for those beginning to lead services. Over time it would be helpful to work through all the resources, however, in the short term we have provided some 'ways in' to help you find what you are looking for.

Depending on your needs and preferences, you may like to begin with practical aspects of service leading or begin with a Biblical and historic perspective. Below are some suggested reading orders to help steer you around the site.


BEGINNING WITH THE PRACTICAL:

for contemporary services...

  1. 1) Practical guidelines (for planning contemporary and Prayer Book services)
  2. 2) Contemporary Church (with guidelines for different roles in the service: praying, Bible reading and music)
  3. 3) If you only read one thing...(a one page overview of key principles)
  4. 4) Using Service Building (this is a programme which enables you to easily create orders of service for contemporary AND Prayer Book services)
  5. 5) Building Blocks (for a list of service components: greetings, creeds, prayers, absolutions, etc grouped by type of service)
  6. 6) Then continue with the sections on Biblical principles and lessons from the Prayer Book


for formal, occasional and seasonal services...

  1. 1) Practical guidelines (for planning contemporary and Prayer Book services)
  2. 2) Liturgy online (contains full text of BCP, AAPB and Sunday Services and a wealth of other liturgical resources to integrate into existing services, see also the liturgical calendar and prayer templates)
  3. 3) Using Service Building (this is a programme which enables you to easily create orders of service for contemporary AND Prayer Book services)
  4. 4) Building Blocks (for a list of service components: greetings, creeds, prayers, absolutions, etc grouped by type of service)
  5. 5) Then continue with the sections on Biblical principles and lessons from the Prayer Book

BEGINNING WITH THE THEOLOGICAL:
  1. 1) Biblical teaching (Encountering God Together)
  2. 2) Lessons from history (Learning from the Prayer Book)
  3. 3) Then continue with the appropriate practical sections listed above