The church’s term for the step-by-step progression of worship services is “liturgy,” which means “the work of the people,” underlining the fact that worship happens through the combined efforts of the gathered faithful. The congregation functions not as an audience but as active participants in the service. Thus all of the people in the pews are the actors, with God as the audience for whom the congregation portrays unity and harmony befitting the body of Christ.
As a result, we are changed by worshiping together. Through the work of congregational praise, celebration, remembrance, and learning, humans grow and deepen in faith through regular church attendance and participation in each service’s progression of liturgy. In community, individuals find their full personhood through realizing that we are created in the image of God and are called to be co-creators during our time on earth. Worship, therefore, reminds us who God is and who we are in relationship to God and one another.