Recently I had an all-too rare but most welcome experience in a church I was visiting. For about 5 minutes before the service actually began, there was complete and total silence in the building, broken only by the sound of a few people entering quietly. It was such a refreshing change from the noise that often precedes worship.

I must confess, I get weary of sitting in church, trying to gather my thoughts and hearing people talking loudly about the progress of plants in their greenhouse, the success or otherwise of their favourite football team, or whatever else it might be. But those moments just before corporate worship begins should, somehow, be ring fenced to prepare our hearts to focus on God and not on ourselves and the world around us.

In my last church the way we attempted this was that about 5 minutes before the service began I, or whoever was leading, would enter and sit on the platform and the musicians would stop playing and then that sent a message to the gathered congregation that this was the time for quiet preparation.

In the Scottish Presbyterian church where I was a student they followed the old tradition of the Beadle, or Church Officer, carrying the Bible in to the church and placing it on the pulpit, before the Minister entered. Again, this was the sign that worship was about to begin, so it’s time to quieten your heart and your voice. It’s a time for quiet prayer and meditation, perhaps reading Scripture.

I remember an old saint saying something along the lines of, before worship speak to God; during worship, let God speak to you; after worship speak to others about God. Which brings me on to something that frustrates me even more than the pre-service noise – the post service conversations, but that will have to wait until next time!