A typical Sunday order of service, with a worked example
Sunday services vary a lot. A liturgical church follows a printed order almost word for word. A free-form church may have a rough outline and change it on the day. Most sit somewhere between. What follows is a common shape for a Sunday morning service, with notes on what a bulletin needs to say.
A worked example
Gathering
Welcome and announcements
Call to worship, led by a member of the team
Opening hymn: hymn 73
Opening prayer
The Word
Scripture reading, with the reference
Children's time, then the children leave for Sunday school
Sermon, with the title and the speaker
Response hymn or time of prayer
Offering and sending
Offering, and the doxology
Closing hymn
Benediction
Plenty of churches add a communion service on the first Sunday of the month, a baptism, a reading of the church's creed, or a time for people to share news. If it changes from week to week, give it a line. If it is always the same, one line near the top is enough.
What a bulletin needs to say
The hymns. Print the number and the title together. If your church sings from several books, say which one. Hymn numbers are the most common slip in a bulletin, so check them against the book rather than against last week's page.
The names. The speaker, the person leading, the musicians and whoever is telling the children's story. People like seeing their name, and visitors learn who is who.
The readings. A reference is enough: the book, chapter and verses. If you follow a lectionary, name the Sunday of the church year at the top.
The times. The start of the service, the start of Sunday school if you run one, and when coffee or lunch is. A Sunday school block that runs before the service can have its own heading and time on the inside page.
Sunday school or Bible study
If your church studies together before the service, give it a short block of its own, with the time and the topic for the day. Some churches follow a published curriculum and some write their own. Either way, the topic changes each week, so it is worth putting where the person building the bulletin will see it, not buried in a note.
Giving and announcements
Put how to give in the same place every week, usually the back page. Online giving works best as a short web address or a QR code, because people are holding a phone anyway. Keep announcements short: what, when, where, and who to ask. We have a guide on writing announcements people actually read.
Keep the order steady
A bulletin is easier to build, and easier to read, when the order is the same every week. Decide it once, write down the parts that change, and fill those in. In Bulletin Generator you choose Sunday when you set up your church, set the order of the service once, switch off the parts you do not use, and fill in the rest from your schedule. The bulletin, the PDF and the web link come out of that. You can ask to try it.
Common questions
Is there a standard Sunday order of service?
No. Traditions differ, and so do churches within a tradition. The pattern below is a common shape for a Protestant Sunday service. Change it freely.
Should the bulletin list every part of the service?
Only the parts people need to follow along: the hymns, the readings, the sermon and anything that changes each week. Leave out what never changes.