Are We Worshipping?

I would like to give voice to one of the factors that most profoundly inspired my interest in "liturgical" Christianity: honestly, I do not truly feel as if I have "worshipped" when I attend the typical Adventist church service (or "low church" Protestant service, for that matter).

I do not precisely mean to be critical in this post. I am being honest. Many former Protestants I have met share these sentiments. Allen Hunt described this same feeling in his Saturday talk. A cradle Catholic with whom I shared breakfast on Sunday randomly raised the same point.

This dissatisfaction will take me several posts to discuss; eventually, it will touch upon current debates within Adventism (e.g., Adventism and the Emerging church, etc.) I'd like to begin by outlining the average Adventist service, as I have experienced it hundreds of times in dozens of churches.

Hymns
Adventist worship (immediately preceding, and including the "Divine Worship") consists primarily of several hymns:

1. A "song service" (2-3 hymns) before the beginning of worship proper
2. An opening and closing hymn 

The former hymns are selected because they are well-liked, have not been sung recently, etc. The latter are most often selected because they pair well with the sermon.

Many of these hymns are topical. They may address God; very often (most often?), they do not. Their titles include: "He Leadeth Me," "Praise to the Lord," "How Sweet Are the Tidings," "And Can It Be," "Redeemed! (How I love to Proclaim It)."

Many congregations also tend to frame their worship with a few regular hymns, usually two (at the invocation, offertory, or pastoral prayer): e.g., "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow," "Glory be to the Father," "Sweet Hour of Prayer," "Hear Our Prayer, O Lord." These are are likelier to address God.

Finally, one must factor in "special music," a piece sung/performed without congregational involvement, usually during the offertory. Often, this segment of the worship is treated as a performance. It is meant to be inspirational; it often is. When instrumental, it is less likely to be.

Prayer
Adventist worship also consists of several periods of prayer, including at least four of the following:

1. An invocation, inviting God to bless the worship about to commence (~1-2 min.)
2. An offertory prayer, asking God to bless the offering and those who presented it (~1 min.)
3. A general "pastoral" prayer time, where members share requests, and are led in a (longer) prayer (~3-5 min.)
4. (Often spontaneous) prayers opening and/or closing the sermon (~2 min.)
5. Another closing prayer, sometimes misnamed "the benediction" (Adventists do not truly "bless"). This prayer primarily asks God to be with the congregants as they depart and during their upcoming week (~1-2 min.)

It would be fair to say that roughly 8-12 minutes of Adventist worship is devoted to prayer.

The rest of the worship is consumed with the sermon (25+ min), "children's story" and children's offering (7-10 min.), scripture reading (~0-2 min.; 3-4 min. if one includes "call to worship" and offertory readings), and announcements.

To be continued.