The Climax of a Church Service

The climax or high point of a church service is the moment which everything else within the structure of the service points to.

Different structures and styles of church have different moments or climaxes. An analogy could be a mountain. When we start the service, we are at the base of the mountain. But as we go through the service, we begin to ascend to the peak, the climax of the meeting. There might be elements of the service after the climax, but this represents the descent.

The traditional churches, like the Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican look towards the Eucharist. The service is laid out so as to prepare the congregant to partake in the Body and Blood of Christ. This is the high point of the service.

The Baptists, and the majority of Protestant churches, are focussed on the ‘preaching of the Word’. The songs and prayers bring the people to a place where they are to ready to receive the preacher’s message. This is the climax of this style of service.

The Evangelical churches seek to make new converts and their services are geared towards this. Every preach brings the ‘not-yet Christian’ to a point of decision. After the preach, they are encouraged to raise their hand or come down the front to receive Christ. I recall an interesting story where a friend moved from a Baptist church to an Evangelical church. She commented that this was the first church where she had seen people became Christians in the church service.

With the Charismatic church, the climax is the ‘prayer for breakthrough’ at the end of the service. All the worship songs, the preach and the atmosphere is aimed at helping people into a position where they can receive prayer.

These are generalisations, as I know of charismatic churches which focus on the Communion and some Pentecostal churches which gear the services towards the ‘altar call’.

So which is best? I think it depends on your point of view and what you think the purpose of the church service actually is.

The traditional churches see they are fulfilling Christ’s commandment to remember Him. And by extension, worship Him through the Eucharist. They commune with Him through the sharing of the Bread and the Wine.

Luke 22 v 19

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

For the Baptist churches, it’s about learning what the Bible says, so we can have a deeper understanding and greater knowledge of God. Through this we build a relationship with Christ. A key verse could be:

Romans 10 v 17

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

For Evangelicals, it’s about getting people into the Kingdom of God. They want to see people saved from Hell. Their key verse would be the Great Commission.

Matthew 28 v 19-20

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you

And for the Charismatics, it’s the desire to see people get their breakthrough, whether it be a physical or spiritual issue.

Isaiah 61 v 1

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners

I’ll let the reader draw their own conclusion about which one they prefer or which they think is the correct format of the church service. But I found this line of thinking helped me to better understand what a church service should be about.