Analysis of the Order of Worship
The concept of telos was introduced into the context of philosophy by Aristotle to assert that actions of virtue come from people of virtue. In other words, wise people choose the good as the obvious object. In the context of the material world, Aristotle believed that human beings and other living things tend to move from imperfect to perfect condition through teleological development (Cooling and Green 97).
For instance, when a seed is planted, it grows into a plant in the same way an embryo grows into a baby who is born to grow into an adult. In this context, the main aspect of the argument is that the essence of living things and other things is determined by what they grow or develop to be at in the end (Kaplama 144). Therefore, telos is a rhetoric element that positing that every action or occurrence has an ultimate goal.
Telos encourages the organization of events or occurrence as they develop from the beginning to the end. Looking at the order of worship, the events at the church are organized in a sequential manner from the beginning to the end. Everything develops in the order of importance until the last action is done (Mahoney 142). The congregation gets to the church and remains silent for the next to take place.
There can never be a service without a congregation in the church and this is the first and the most important action. As suggested in the context of telos, something has to happen to lead to the next event and everything occurs in a consequential way until the ultimate goal is achieved (Cooling and Green 100).
In this context, the order of worship starts with the congregation’s entry. Other actions that follow are Prelude, Introit, The Processional, Call to Worship, Prayer, Silence and Assurance of Pardon. Other actions that follow are Scripture reading, Worship in Song, Benevolent Offering, and Announcements/Recognition of Visitors, Worship in Song, The Word, Invitation, Invitation Hymn and Tithes/gifts/Offerings as well as Offertory. After the above activity, the main event is the Holy Communion, which binds and strengthens the Christian Faith. To conclude the prayers, events that occur when undertaking the Holy Communion are The Great Thanksgiving, Sending, Carrying Lights Away, and Benediction. The main goal is to worship and praise the Lord during the Sunday church services (Mahoney 145).
On the other hand, the concept of telos supports the idea of the historical cycle, which is common among Christians. God uses telos to exhibit historical cycle about His Son. He wants the Christian to use the historical cycle when praying until they are transformed into behaving in the same way as Jesus Christ (Kaplama 149). In the Worship, the congregation cites the death, fructification, burial and resurrection of Jesus to maintain the historical cycle and remind them of the judgment day. In this context, telos is used to remind the Christians of transforming before the judgment day comes (Cooling and Green 101).
On the other hand, the order of worship can be seen in the context of ethos, which tends to exhibit credibility and trustworthiness. It refers to an aspect of speech that determined a specific character of an individual as they speak or take action. In the worship order, individuals are given different responsibilities based on their positions and skills. For instance, the Reverent leads the church service from the beginning up to the end where he presides over the Holy Communion. To do this, the Reverent must have the credibility of leading the congregation during the church service. On the other hand, the congregation must also trust him as the leader.
The organization of the worship order also portrays an aspect of ethos. To ascertain the credibility of the services, everything needs to be arranged in a sequential order that all people understand. In that sense, even the congregation will believe in the church services. The Bible is the holy book that all Christians believe contains the word of God and the truth (Kaplama 154). Reading the Bible during the services shows that leader and the entire congregation trust in the word of God.
Through the Biblical doctrines, they have engaged in various activities, such as giving tithes, gifts and offers. The congregation and the worship leader have repeated called the name of God and His son, Jesus Christ to ascertain their strong belief in God and the teaching of Jesus (Cooling and Green 102).
Conclusion
The worship order guides the congregation into conducting church services. It guides the activities of church members from the beginning the services to the end. In the worship order, two things are essential and they include the sequence of activities and credibility of individuals based on their activities. In this context, the two elements can be understood well in the light of telos and ethos. Through the telos concept, activities of the church are organized in a sequential order. In terms of historical cycles, the congregation reads the Bible, cite the name of God and Jesus Christ to remind them repeatedly about the need to transform themselves. On the other hand, ethos addresses the credibility of individuals in the congregation based on their activities.
Works Cited
Cooling, Trevor, and Elizabeth Hamilton Green. “Competing Imaginations for Teaching and Learning: The Findings of Research into a Christian Approach to Teaching and Learning Called What If Learning.” International Journal of Christianity & Education, vol. 19, no. 2, 2015, pp. 96-107. Web.
Kaplama, Erman. “Heraclitean Critique of Kantian and Enlightenment Ethics Through the Fijian ethos.” The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, vol. 12, no. 1, 2016, pp. 143-166. Web.
Mahoney, Daniel. “The Humanitarian Subversion of Christianity.” A Journal of Catholic Though and Culture, vol. 19, no. 4, 2016, pp. 140-150. Web.