Guidelines for Planning Worship for Central Council Meetings over the Phone

Length
Generally, worship is around 5-8 minutes, at the beginning of the meeting. Please prepare a brief blessing or dismissal for the end of the meeting. It can be included at the conclusion of the opening worship.

Worship has taken many different forms. There is no right or wrong way to do it, but there are some things which are becoming customary, such as memorial prayers.

Props
Often worship begins with the lighting of a candle. Members of Central Council can be invited to have a candle at hand to light. If there are other items that people should have that request can be made when the documentation for the meeting is sent out, and people will respond as they are able. Because people are not all present in one space it does not work to pass around objects or distribute anything.

Content
Singing is good but it is difficult for people to sing unfamiliar music on the phone so well known melodies are best. A copy of the music will be included with the order of worship. If the music is from a source other than Common Praise or Voices United, Cathie will need a copy of it to distribute.

Responsive readings work well as it provides variety to listen to on the phone. Long readings in one voice can be difficult to stay focussed on over the phone. Parts can be assigned ahead of time or as people join the call. It is more awkward to have silences where people are invited to pray spontaneously, although this has been done.

Memorial prayers are generally included. Cathie prepares a list of those in the CCS Community who have died and it is on the agenda and is available from her ahead of time.

Preparation
The worship outline should be submitted to Cathie, either by email or on a disk, or in the case of music, in hard copy, on the same date that reports for the Council meeting are due so it can be included with the documentation sent to Council members prior to the meeting.