I am of the mind that the weekend service is the organizing point around which the entire church life should revolve. At the core of its community presence the church offers one consistent, excellent, unchanging, heart-winning and church-building program every week: the weekend service.

Father makes this point even more strongly when he discussed the type of worship services we should do in America. "If someone says, `I have always wondered about the Unification Church, I think I'll go and see,' and goes to the Washington Church, if that person leaves saying, `What was that all about?' then it is the same as if you cut off their head." (WSL 1, p. 122) Father could not be clearer about this, and we can only benefit by putting his words into practice in building our church.

Bill Hybels, leader of the Willow Creek Church, picked up this same insight when he was a teenager.

Could this story have any relevance to the lack of guests at our Sunday services?

I hope it is clear that Father's approach to worship service, in the context of the local church, is exactly what succeeds in America. Many churches other than our own are putting Father's words into practice without knowing it. As a result, they are growing much more than we are.

Consider another statement from Father: "You need to give lectures appropriate to the particular atmosphere.^" (WSL 1, pp. 123) Father is saying that we have to be sensitive to the atmosphere. He does not mean the weather; he means the spiritual situation of the guests! We cannot talk over their heads, or we will, as Father put it, cut off their heads, spiritually. He means that they won't come back, and they will lose their chance for spiritual life. And it is very easy to talk over their heads, because they are ducking.

We have to compete with a vast array of powerful external attractions. Our service has to have life and content, which comes through investment and creativity in getting across the message of True Parents and the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. What I am going to do here is review the components of the weekend workshop I listed in the last chapter. I believe that they each have an important place in the weekend worship service.

• The sermon should model on the simple but essential lectures on creation, fall, Jesus and history, that address fundamental questions about the existence of God, purpose of life, good and evil and that the messiah is on the earth.
• A lot of music, joyful and easy to learn.
• Skits that are entertaining and teach a lesson that is consistent with the sermon topic.
• A testimony prepared well by an older member who tells their story of how they joined the movement. Some churches call this a "faith story," because young people don't know the meaning of "testimony" in our context. (Churches actually spend time training their members to give their testimony.)
• Prayer.
• Care and concern about each guest. For this to happen, it is vital that the new guest's spiritual parent attends the workshop with the guest. This is the personal bond; the spiritual parent is most concerned about the guest's welfare; and it is a reward to the spiritual parent for bringing a guest.
• Often, members who are getting dry spiritually can replenish their hearts at the weekend workshop. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Many who oppose seeker-friendly services argue that they do not nourish older members. I reject this argument. Older members need to hear "Principle 101" early and often. Truth is truth. Also, the BEST nourishment for any member, old or young, is to have a guest -- their own or someone else^'s -- get inspired by the truth. A member will be more nourished by raising up a spiritual child than by attending a hundred "members-only" services.
• Small group discussions that focus on each individual's response to the lectures and questions are not appropriate in the service, but can and should take place in Sunday School settings or small group meetings during the week.
• Small group activities such as preparing skits and song-writing and performing for the evening entertainment. This is the ministry of the "worship team." A church, by the way, can have more than one worship team.

• Daily exercise, no smoking, alcohol or drugs. I was liberated, as many of us were, to be in an environment free of smoking, alcohol and drugs. And our generation is health-conscious and so encouragement to exercise is a plus.
• Strict separation of men and women. This translates into our overall ethic of true family values. But why not consider separation of boys and girls in Sunday School once they hit puberty? I think that is a great idea.
• Team sports. Recreation is an important part of church life, for families and people of all ages.

What an effective "workshop-in-worship" does NOT have:

• Recitation of the Family Pledge
• Bowing
• Mansei's
• Announcements that are irrelevant to the experience of the guest. Father once said, "In the future, directions should be given through a system rather than through public announcement." (WSL 1, p. 163) This means that internal directions and news can be conveyed in many ways. It can go out through e-mail, phone trees, tables in the lobby or small groups. According to Father's words, we should not announce them publicly. I note that Father always leaves any service at which he speaks well before announcements take place. If it's a courtesy to him to spare him the announcements, it's a courtesy to everyone!

In Martin and Mclntosh^'s analysis of effective worship services, they deal with how difficult it is to integrate announcements into worship services. While offering several options, they never come to Father's conclusion that we simply not make public announcements. But consider: in the middle of My Fair Lady, or Les Miserables, or a Beethoven concerto or Backstreet Boys concert, does someone come out to make announcements about the cast rehearsal time, or next week's program schedule, or that people should pray for the lead singer? Of course they don't. To do so would destroy the spiritual atmosphere. It is a work of art that is going on. Now, shouldn't the worship of God be the greatest work of art? Shouldn't it have the deepest and most profound atmosphere? Why should the devil create all the spiritual atmosphere?

• A children's sermon. This may just be my opinion, but I am always put off by the discontinuity and break in the atmosphere the children's sermon creates. We want to build momentum in the service. For me, having thirty kids clamber up to the front, sit on the floor and listen to their own message, no matter how wonderful it is (and, sorry to say, some of the children's messages I've heard surpass the adult message that followed!), it always is a distraction. I say, drop it. If the service is exciting -- and brief -- enough, you can keep the kids there, as I often did at Manhattan Family Church. Otherwise, make their own program in another room.
• Formalistic separation of worship team and congregation. Remember: your guests are ducking. Lower your-self, as Father does, as Jesus did. Of course, people may want to look up to their leaders, but, on the other hand, you could be creating a congregation with a lot of stiff-necks. And you know what Stephen said about stiff-necked people.

• Simplify the sermon so as to leave one message clear in the mind of the audience. The sermon, songs, announcements, and drama if you have it should rein-force the one message.
• Project song lyrics, announcements and even sermon points onto a wall or screen that is easy to see. Use PowerPoint software.
• Utilize the "more music, less talk" principle. Everyone is happy to attend such a service. I feel that, in most cases, a short sermon is a good sermon. Leave people asking for more. As Rev. Levy Daugherty puts it, ^"Don^'t leave them glad two times. Glad when you stand up. And glad when you sit down." As usual, True Father put it best: "...[as] you give a lecture, you should not say too much. It should be a five-minute lecture. At the most 15 minutes; you should not exceed 15 minutes. Then, you should visit every day and through these efforts strengthen the bond." (WSL 2, p. 99)
• Now, as far as the "more music" part, people love music. 'When three teenagers in our Westchester church banged out a punk-rock remix of "Principle Youth March," everyone loved it. Why? Music brings the Holy Spirit.

Let me pause here for a moment. Consider Father's words: "In a course that is mandatory, the phenomenon of revival does not occur. It has to be exciting.^" (WSL Part 1, p. 114) He is saying that our music and our preaching has to be exciting. It can-not be mandatory, just an obligation. When I attended a Johnny Lang concert at the Manhattan Center last year, I saw not much talent but overwhelming emotion. The place was packed. Why? Because people thirst for emotional experience. The church in worship CAN and SHOULD offer emotional experience, centered on God. That's what revivalism is all about.

Continuing with Father's words: "Without any direct experiences, a spiritual leader can do no work.... The most valuable thing is a direct experience-based faith." (WSL 1, p. 114) The minister, you and me, CAN DO NO WORK unless we give the people DIRECT experiences. In our worship service, we give direct experiences. But to give them, we ourselves must have them and share them. The only time I've given direct experiences of the Holy Spirit to others is exactly when I'm having the same experience.

Then we can appreciate another thing Father said about how to bring people to God: "Witnessing should not be done centered on words. People follow because of their own self-realization." (WSL 2, p. 84) He is telling us that we do not convert people; the minister does not convert people; God converts people. What we do is create the environment in which God can do His work.

• Should you use drama? All I can say is that we used skits in the effective workshops. Skits tell a story that sermons sometimes cannot. They are a good balance and supplement to the more conceptual medium of the sermon. Even our incredibly corny skits at Manhattan Church were a big favorite. They are also a way to get the youth involved as performers.
• Concerning creative development of worship, let me ask you: who is more disobedient to formal service rules than True Father? He has no regard for time schedules. He has no bulletin, no music, sometimes no opening prayer, and he departs before announcements. That is not to say that you or I should copy his style. But it is to say that you and I should find our own style. What is your style? 1950s Presbyterian?
• Here is a possible fifty-minute service schedule: 10 min Song service and call to worship

Obviously, to keep your service this tight, you need to do what? Rehearse! Yes, rehearse. Your service is your public face; it is your self-presentation to the world. More than that, it is the doorway through which God can enter someone's life. It's worth the effort!

The WestRock Church (Westchester and Rockland counties, New York) has been doing a 40-minute service, because of pressure from the Sunday School for their worship space. The members love it. When most of our services are just getting started, theirs is already done. I hear testimonies of God's spirit entering into the service strongly.

Once we create a true love atmosphere, we do not need to TELL people that we are creating a true love atmosphere. We just go ahead and create it. If it's real, they will feel it and join us. As Father said, "If you make a fire in a stove during the wintertime, even if you do not explain to the people which one is the cold stove and which one is the hot stove, because people can already feel the heart, they will naturally gather around the hot stove." (WSL 2, p. 152)

We have to realize that people want to avoid being converted. Call it Satan or just coping with the pressures of modern life, most people are resistant to something very different from what they are accustomed to. The more common and natural and recognizable we are in the worship service, the better. We want to be recognizable as the friends, family and community that they have been looking for. The guest should be able to relax. When the guest is relaxed, then he or she will start to absorb things.

To accomplish this, our service should reflect the culture of the guest. Father has gone so far as to tell us that he creates his sermon on the spot, based upon his feeling for a guest who is there. "There are many times when I haven't prepared that I pray after reading the Bible and the topic comes to me," he said in WSL 1, p. 111, "After seeing what? After seeing the people. As soon as you see a person, you say, `ah, that one is this type' and you compare that person to yourself. `Oh, when I was like that, I was in such and such a circumstance, and my heart was like such and such.'... It is like giving a sermon to yourself." What a beautiful sentiment! Father tells us to derive our message from our own life experience, based upon how our life connects with the life of the listener.

This means that we have to know the culture of the listener. We have to speak his language, to his heart. Consider this comment from two Baptist leaders who have had great success in planting churches in various cultural settings: "Culture forms the matrix in which people's lives are shaped. Things like values, codes of conduct, dress, language, family, attitudes, and many other human characteristics are imparted by culture. ..." Therefore, the presenter has to fit with the cultural expectations of the listener.

"The further a person is removed from his or her culture the more difficulty he or she experiences in coping, adapting, and feeling comfortable.^" (Ahern and Thompson, p. 33) A church that is in harmony with the local culture is what Rev. Michael Jenkins calls a "public church." In a public church in America, we need Jesus and the Holy Spirit. That's why, I think, when Father first came to America and spoke publicly, he gave classic messages about Jesus and Christianity. After all, Jesus is working primarily in America. We can let him work in our worship time.

Let me continue on this point. Father preaches from the Bible. Have you ever heard him quote the Qur'an? How about the Bhagivad Gita? How about the Bible? Yes, he teaches and preaches from the Bible. He once explained how he uses the Bible when he preaches: "If you say, `sermons are only for Sunday,' when it becomes Sunday you say, `Where in the Bible shall we read? Come out you holy song, come out.' This is not what you should do. Do not do this. Center on your knowledge of people, center on the living resources, extract relevant miracles from the Bible, and give a fun sermon comparing that person's experiences with the content of the Bible. Then the listener will be completely blown away. When he hears his own experiences, he will like it. You must go do it like this." (WSL 1, pp. 114-5)

Did you note everything in that statement? Father said, "give a fun sermon." Have you heard any preacher make people laugh more than Father does? He told us to compare people's experiences with the content of the Bible. That is, make your sermons practical, useful. Allow people to IDENTIFY with it: "When he hears his own experiences, he will like it." That means that guests are not going to be very moved by a sermon on the next blessing campaign, or on the ten points of being a Tribal Messiah, or on why we should go fishing in the Pantanal. We should give sermons about what people are going through, based on our own insights and the scriptures, biblical and Hoon Dok Hae.

The seeker service is designed to be an easy first step into the life of the family church. (Another first step is the small group, to be discussed in a later chapter.) You should design your service with your guests in mind. Many new paradigm churches offer catchy rock-style music played by their young members. Sope worship-team members dress in jeans and tee shirts, even the pastor. Others are more formal, in suits, ties and choir robes. Some don't announce the offering; instead they just pass around an oversized movie theatre-style popcorn bucket. Kids sit on the floor in the aisles. We needn't copy any-one in particular. The point is that these people found a way to reach others. They help them feel at home so that the word of God can reach them. We have not yet, in America. We need to reach and move people.

In the early days, we are told, Father would dress very casually for worship services and sit in the back until it was time to speak. New guests thought that President Hyo Won Eu, the worship leader, was the famous Reverend Moon. President Eu wore a suit. They did not even pay attention to the man in the back who wore laborers clothes. In later years, Father would dress up. But he always speaks appropriately to the audience. He often asks people who haven't seen him before to raise their hands. The point is that Father reached the people where they were at and brought them to have an experience with God. We must find the way to do the same.

There is a great deal of competition to our message out there in the world. People hunger for the experience of the holy. There may be many ways in which it can come. All you need to do is find one. But if you don't find even one way, then you have failed and you are not worshipping God but paying obeisance to your own way of doing things.

As Father says, we must speak to where the people can understand us. New guests have no idea what is indemnity or a John the Baptist. New guests cannot be expected to under-stand broken English. This means that Koreans preach for KEA, Japanese for JEA and Hispanics for Hispanic Church. For the same important reasons, we must have Americans preach for the American church. In other words, we must speak the language that people understand. A language is more than just words. It is idioms, phrasing, cultural signs and signals, a sense of what will move people and what won't, style of music and so forth. We all know how difficult it is to convey what is funny about American jokes to non-Americans. Non-Americans have no idea of the significance of the phrase, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." But all Americans of my generation do. It^'s not saying Americans are better for that. It^'s just to say that part of living for the sake of others includes being able to communicate to them.

There are equally problematic gaps in Americans' understanding of the significance of Korean or Japanese communications. We need to bridge these gaps. That is why we have international marriages, missionary teams and church communities. But the worship service is not the place to bridge the gap. There are too many other gaps to bridge on that occasion. The KEA principle is exactly right. According to Ahern and Thompson, ^"The indigenous missions principle states that congregations are healthier and more productive, and require little or no outside support, when started and developed in the context of the socioeconomic conditions and culture of the people who are to be evangelized or congregationalized." (p. 32) Dan Fefferman shared a lesson learned by the Latter Day Saints, one that enabled them to break through in foreign missions. "They opened up to the local culture. Churches outside the U.S. are no longer required to have basketball courts; now they can have soccer fields or whatever the local people like. They are not required to celebrate American Thanksgiving, but can honor local cultural traditions."

Most likely, the guest will know that what they are attending has something to do with Reverend Moon. They probably will be on the lookout for signs that everything is under the control of Rev. Moon or that these people all worship Rev. Moon, which is the last thing they want to become part of. Therefore, it is better at first to make an effort NOT to feature the glory of Reverend Moon.

We should speak the truth and let it stand on its own merit, not on the merit of Father's authority (i.e., "Father said..."), which may (or may not) work for members but will surely fail to influence guests in anything but a negative way.

On the wall I think we should not have the church symbol but we can have a nice picture of True Parents and of Jesus. Many churches have a picture of their founder on the wall. But in general we want to remove ^"sectarian signals,^" i.e., signs that we are foreign to the guest and hence not something that say they are interested in involving themselves with. Sectarian signals would include holy songs only the congregation knows but does not enjoy, a boring message with unfamiliar terminology, a long list of announcements, pledges that the guest does not comprehend, and so forth.

By looking at a successful business, we can clearly see how the principle of service brings life. A good shop puts the customer in the position of subject. Everyone wants to be served, and God's nature is that of a parent, wanting to serve. The store that can do this for us will succeed. This is the store that places the object in the position of subject. But we can see how the store truly is subject in the largest sense. Why? Because the store is more "other-centered." This means that the store is practicing a greater degree of love than the customer is.

Now, why do not we have lines of people going into our video center the way people line up going into our restaurants? St. Paul explains it well: "There is none who seeks after God." (Romans 3:11) In other words, there is a distance between what people should desire and what they actually desire. The word of God is like aloe juice. People should want it, but they don't. We have to deal with the fact that people's felt needs differ from their true needs.

So, to get people to go beyond to a godly level of existence, we must reach them at the point of their highest felt needs and transmute these felt needs into original needs. What are the universal needs? They revolve around the need for true love in the family. For example, parents want their children to grow well and be happy. Therefore, the church should offer good children's education and childcare. Husbands and wives want a deep and eternal love relationship. Therefore, the church should offer marriage guidance, inspiration and counseling. Youth want to find purpose and meaning in life, centering on true love -- the search for their eternal mate. They are idealistic. Therefore, the church should offer youth service activities. It should offer means of self-development. And all of these should be centered on God. And each step should be easy to take.

There is a criticism of adopting a seeker-service format that we will lose our distinctiveness. I do not think that this is the case, any more than that we lose our distinctiveness by maintaining our present mainstream, doctrine-based, announcement-driven Protestant style. What I am saying is simply that we should remove the signals that make people defensive and resistant to God's love.

What Is Still Unique about a Unification Service If We Take Out Sectarian Signals

• The spiritual atmosphere
• The clear and inspiring communication of truth, communicating the salvation of the world, not just the individual.
• The content of the music.
• The exciting next step for you to take. We have the goal that is superior to democracy and communism; traditional churches don't have a clear goal so, in Father's words they "... do not go in a certain direction, and lie in the uncertain and vague situation for the future."
• The happy marriages and families
• The racial mix
• The community life
• The confidence in God's kingdom coming, which intrigues the visitor and prompts them to search for its origin. After all, "They believe that at the time of the Lord of the Second Advent, the world will be destroyed." Ultimately traditional Christians "... try to escape from the world," whereas our view is completely world affirming and confident of building God's kingdom on earth as in heaven.
• Father observes that many Christians "are arguing that their own denomination is the best." The growing churches are not, and we should not either.
• Old-style denominational churches are, in Father's words, "like fingers that do not move together, but move separately and individually." We too must become one if we are to succeed.

(The passages about the differences between us and traditional Christianity are from a speech given June 1, 1983, found in Way of Unification, Part 1, pp. 316-7)

It is very important that you truly enjoy the service. If you enjoy it, the joy will spread to others. Do what you enjoy. This is the meaning of hobby life. Then even if people don't come, at least YOU had a good time! But they will come. You can teach about sacrifice later, in due course. A witnessing Sunday Service is a kind of performance, entertaining but also illuminating.

Pastor Dan Southerland tells a good illustrative story. A family is driving home from a Sunday worship service. The dad says, "That service was awful. The sermon was too long." The mom chimes in, "Yes, and the music was boring." The teenager adds, "Yeah, it was long and boring." Then the five-year old speaks up: "I thought it was a pretty good show for a buck." To improve our "show, "Father advised us to "develop music and songs; make a CD. In public, sing a song, pray and give your testimony.... Make powerful songs and spread them in your neighborhood.... Make it interesting for youth." (True Father, Bridgeport, CT, 1998.11.21)

Finally, whatever the style of service, it is absolutely necessary that it be consistent so the members know what to expect.

Worship As a Lead-In to Education

• A witnessing service should have one primary goal: to get the guest to attend a presentation on the Principle, or some way or other take the next step of involvement. At least it leaves them wanting to come back next week.
• This means we need to HAVE a next step.
• Next, we need to make it very SIMPLE to take that next step -- or there could be several options for a next step. Probably the more, the better. Have sign up sheets outside the door, a sandwich waiting and transportation or the speaker ready.
• Some individual or team needs to focus most of their time each week to the preparation of that one event, together with what leads into it and what emerges from it.

• Study about seeker services. Familiarize yourself with the idea of a service that attracts people, that is designed around what the guest is familiar with. A seeker service tries to make the guest feel comfortable. It tries to uplift the guest's spirit and affirm the guest's participation. It is designed to be understandable, to reach the heart and mind of the guest. It offers practical guidance, meaning points that the listener can put into practice. It is seeker-centered, not member-centered.
• If you don't think it's a good idea, then don't do it! Stop right here. But if you think it's a good idea, proceed!
• Discuss this with your members. Get as many people on board as possible. Create consensus. As Father once said, "You must pray and consult with members all night. It is development when you continuously stay up nights debating the truth." (WSL 1, p. 115)
• A seeker service should be inclusive, but cannot please all the people all the time. Make a choice and stick with it. Have more than one service, or even more than one congregation.
• If the congregation is not ready to create skits for Sunday morning, then have everything else seeker-friendly in the conventional way, but instead of a sermon have a 15-minute Hoon Dok Hae. Prepare it well so that it flows well and is relevant to the audience.
• Start a band. Buy equipment, including a great sound system. Use the second generation to play the music. Be sure to have a bass and drums. (Famous quote: "Pastor, I want to feel God this morning. Turn up the bass!" -- courtesy Glen Martin)
• Rent a general-purpose space with a parking lot. Churches use warehouses, school auditoriums.
• Think through your service from the moment the guest sees your building (can they find it?) to the moment they depart, including restrooms, signs, ushers, childcare, etc.
• "Do you think you can be successful in witnessing by telling them to simply come and listen to the lectures, to the principles of creation, for example? Rather, it is better to grab on to one's nose and tell jokes, becoming friends by being informal and casual." (WSL 2, p. 111)

Practice, practice, practice.

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