Baptists, like all Christian traditions, are a funny lot, with some weird and wonderful views on worship.  We are good at saying what we don't do or what we aren't, part of which can be a foot-stamping 'we don't do liturgy' by which what we mean is 'we don't do (like) using pre-printed responsive prayers.'  I'm not a great fan of pre-printed responsive prayers but over the years have learned to value their contribution to worship as liturgy, the work of the people.  What I am a fan of, and find very valauble, is what is sometimes called 'prepared extempore' prayer.

Prepared extempore prayer means prayers that are created fresh for each act of worship, but are prepared in advance, written down and read in the context of public worship.  These prayers will explicitly relate to and reflect the themes of the service, perhaps drawing people into deeper engagement with them.  The language will be carefully thought through, a recognition of the pastoral responsibility that is part of leading worship.  It is possible - and I regularly do - that the worship leader will alter a word or phrase here and there, inserting or omitting lines as best reflects the mood, the moving of the Spirit without the risk of it degenerating in the cringing 'really just' spluttering that leaves people feeling adrift.

Often as preachers we think it is the sermon that will speak to people - after all, as Baptists we are people of the word - but yesterday two people came and spoke to me about lines in my prayers, one from the opening prayers, another from the intercessions, that for them had been epseically meaningful.  This is part of the privilege of leading God's people in prayer, that in our words, hopefully inspired by God and relating to real life, people will find connection points, words of comfort or hope, encouragement or challenge.

There are growing numbers of Baptist ministers, lay-pastors and lay-preachers who are recognising the need to be 'real' for worship to be authentic to its context.  Over at Dancing Scarecrow Clare and Tim are collecting and sharing 'prepared extempore' worship resources (aka liturgies), mostly their own that emerge for an urban context, but some written by their friends, and which are well worth a look.  Should you want to listen to our service from Sunday (or other weeks) then go here.