The worship committee will be a blessing to every member. 
Planning meaningful worship is an important yet time-consuming task. • Who does it in your parish? Is it just your pastor? • As the worship leader, your pastor certainly is responsible for planning meaningful worship. And yet, are there appropriate ways for other members of the parish to be involved? Most definitely! A practical way to do this is to form a worship committee. • Here are some ideas about whom to include on a worship committee, what responsibilities might be assigned to a worship committee, and how to get a worship committee started.
Worship Committee Benefits
by Peter Sordahl
A worship committee may prove to be a welcome and beneficial addition to your parish. Several members of the parish work together with the pastor and church musician(s) to plan worship more effectively. A functioning worship committee can also serve as a starting point for dealing with other issues related to your parish's worship life.
Membership
Committee membership will vary depending on the situation. More important than the number of members you select is the quality of the members — people who have a genuine interest in the quality of worship and are eager to explore both practical and theological dimensions of worship. The list below suggests people who would be valuable members of a worship committee. Don't feel that your committee needs to have ALL of these positions represented. This list is intended to show the variety of talents that can combine to form an effective group. Notice that the committee is not just "music people." While music plays a vital role in Lutheran worship, music is planned and carried out in conjunction with other arts and worship details, all within the framework of Lutheran worship principles.
The list that follows reflects the worship committee of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Tucson, Arizona.
Suggested members for your worship committee:
•	Pastor — the spiritual leader of the congregation
•	Church council or elder member — may be designated as the representative who brings worship committee concerns and proposals to and from the council or elders
•	Church musician(s): organist(s), choir director
•	Choir member — someone with an interest in worship planning 
•	Altar guild member — for input
•	and coordination of worship details related to the sanctuary
•	• Usher representative — for input and coordination of worship details related to the orderly handling of people at each worship service 
•	Member — for general congregational input

Responsibilities
The responsibilities delegated to the worship committee will vary depending on the parish's needs. Some committees give general input to the pastor and musicians but leave actual worship planning with them. Some committees help plan special services. The worship committee can effectively handle many worship-related issues. Examples include:
•	arranging for the making of banners 
•	increasing involvement in worship (adding a handbell choir, instrumental groups, soloists, or small groups of singers)
•	evaluating service times or wedding policies
•	writing an usher's handbook 
•	encouraging young musicians in the parish to use their talents in worship (maybe assist with the cost of a young musician's music lessons)
•	conducting occasional parish surveys on worship topics (presented as tools for feedback and input, not as a vote to decide matters best handled in other ways)
•	proposing the worship portion of the congregation's budget
•	suggesting Bible class topics to help deepen people's appreciation for the principles and implications of Lutheran worship
•	even planning for a new pipe organ or grand piano
Establishing a Worship Committee
Steps to get a worship committee started:
1.	Propose the worship committee concept to the church council for approval.
2.	Decide on the membership of the committee, and select members. 
3.	Decide on a regular meeting date (monthly, bimonthly).
4.	Designate a recording secretary at the first meeting so that accurate minutes can be kept and distributed. 
5.	Make a list of the committee's goals, both short-term and long-term.
For further assistance, see the chapter "Planning for Worship" in Christian Worship: Manual (Northwestern Publishing House, 1993).
God willing, the worship committee will be a blessing to every member of the parish each time you gather for worship. What a privilege it is to encourage God's people to rejoice in his gifts and to praise him in meaningful and uplifting worship!
Peter Sordahl is a member of Paradise Valley Ev. Lutheran Church in Phoenix, Arizona, where he serves as organist and choir accompanist.
The article is reprinted from the Summer 2001 Lutheran Leader which aims to help leaders in Lutheran congregations with a Bible-based approach to ministry. 
Lutheran Leader was published four times a year by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Board for Parish Services in cooperation with Northwestern Publishing House. It ceased publication in 2005.