We’ve been having Zoom church for four months now: enough time that I imagine most of us have settled into some rhythms for this new form of worship even as we eagerly anticipate worshiping together in person. I find, though, that the ease and familiarity of worshiping in my own home has also made it a little more difficult to prepare for worship, to pull myself away from one last household chore or transition my girls from games and books to silence and coloring sheets.
So I reached out to some of the friends of the Savior to ask how they are preparing their hearts and minds for worship on Saturday nights. Their practices are simple, but I hope one or more of them may prove helpful as you and your family take the time to enter into worship in this new, strange form.
Make a sacred space: perhaps you have a special room where you can watch the service, or you can rearrange some chairs to mark a change from other activities. Many people light a candle (I’m a fan of flameless LED candles) and place their reserved sacrament in a special spot. Even small changes signal that we’re entering into a time of worship.
Prepare physically: many people mentioned beginning to prepare for the service about 15 minutes in advance by doing things like letting the dogs out, setting up dinner and coloring for younger children, making sure that technology is functioning properly. If you often find yourself rushing, as I do, to log into Zoom and print coloring pages at 4:58, beginning to set up earlier will allow more time to transition into worship.
Listen to the prelude: each week, one of Savior’s talented musicians begins playing a prelude a few minutes before 5 pm. This provides a great opportunity to sit quietly, take a few deep breaths, and still your heart.
Creating space before the service begins — physical space and mental space — is the common thread through these practices. As we all have experienced, some weeks this is far easier than others. But as we continue worshiping online, the practice of creating space can help us fully enter into worship even from our living rooms.
Pastor Sarah Lindsay
Coordinator of Family Ministries