Over the last several weeks we have looked at the various parts that make up the Sunday worship service. The last part of the service is often called Sending Forth.
The Sending Forth is a series of actions in which the congregation stands and is sent forth to active ministry in the world. This typically involves a hymn. Then the worship leader stands and faces the people to offer a Dismissal with Blessing or Benediction. This is not a prayer, but rather a word that is addressed to the people. For this reason, it is proper to have the pastor at the front of the worship space so that the pastor and the people can look at each other as the words are spoken.
Sometimes the words of the dismissal are drawn from the Bible, such as Numbers 6:24-26, 2 Corinthians 13:14 and Jude 24-25. Sometimes the words are words that come from written resources such as the United Methodist Hymnal or The Book of Worship. Still other times they are words prepared by the pastor to fit the theme of that day.
What follows the Dismissal with Blessing is often called the “Going Forth.” This is the moment when our worship service in that time and place comes to an end and our service in the larger world is taken up. This is when we make the translation between what we say with our mouths and believe in our hearts into what we do with our hands and feet. Here is where we take the good news of Jesus Christ out into a world that is hungry for hope and for meaning and for the words of life. The organ or piano plays. People are free to leave or to remain quietly where they are to listen. We extinguish the candles, and we carry the light out of the room to symbolize how the light of Christ leads us out into the world.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you maya abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen (Romans 15:13)
Pastor Steve