Worship as Spiritual Formation

Summary

When our children were little, my work as a chaplain did not involve Sunday morning responsibilities, so I was able to attend worship in the congregations where Allan was pastor. During those years, there were many times when I wondered why I bothered coming to church, as I spent the majority of the morning in the nursery with our children. My goal was always to stay in the sanctuary long enough to sing the first 2 hymns that followed the Call to Worship and opening prayer. It was a good morning if I could stay a little longer than that! Even after we made the move from the nursery to the sanctuary, my time during the service was spent keeping the children busy with activities to keep them quiet. Again, my goal was always to sing the hymns.

So why did I bother going to church in those years? I remember consciously making the decision to go to church so that I wouldn’t get out of the habit of going, and so that our children would get into the habit of going. Being present for worship was a habit, a discipline, a practice that I wanted to engage in, even if there was no immediate “benefit”. In fact, the most obvious benefit would have been to stay at home and avoid the hassle of getting myself and everyone ready for church.

---