by Rev. Bill Utke
Perhaps you’ve heard of the 75/25 principle as it relates to worship. If not, you’re not alone—I came to it unexpectedly through an anti-racism training. But once I heard it, I found it gave me language for something I had long been trying to explain: why worship isn’t meant to be entirely comfortable or familiar.
Some of the most powerful worship experiences of my life happened when I stepped into spaces where the music, prayers, and voices reflected not just one culture, or tradition, but many—each thread woven together into a beautiful, harmonious tapestry. That’s the vision behind the 75/25 principle: a conscious effort to make worship not only meaningful, but mutually sacrificial, and spiritually stretching.
The 75/25 principle suggests that no one should feel more than 75% comfortable in a worship gathering. The remaining 25%—the unfamiliar song, the lyric in another language, the liturgy from a different tradition—is intentional. Even those traditional elements that may not resonate with us personally can serve a purpose. They gently nudge each of us beyond our comfort zones and into someone else’s sacred experience.
Rather than catering to a single preference or culture, this approach cultivates a shared experience of both comfort and discomfort—a kind of holy tension where everyone is, at different moments, both host and guest. In that space, each person gives something, receives something, and encounters God in the difference.
In practice, a worship service shaped by the 75/25 principle might:
- Blend gospel rhythms with traditional hymns, and perhaps introduce a Taizé chant in another language.
- Move between call-and-response participation and contemplative silence.
- Include Scripture read by voices across generations, cultures, and accents.
- Welcome expressions like clapping, lament, shouts of joy, or stillness—not as noise or absence, but as part of the sacred conversation.
Why It Matters
Worship is not simply about finding what feels right or familiar—it is about entering a sacred story together. The 75/25 principle reminds us that true worship is not always comfortable. It is transformative. It draws us closer not only to God, but to one another.
At its best, worship becomes a meeting place—where the familiar and the unfamiliar, the personal and the communal, the earthly and the divine all come together. And in that meeting, something holy is born.
Perhaps most importantly, this kind of worship creates space. It makes room not only for different traditions, but for different people. And in doing so, it reflects more fully the expansive, welcoming love at the heart of God.
Rev. William G. Utke has been ordained in the United Church of Christ since 1993. He has served congregations as Pastor and Intentional Interim Minister in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Since September 2021 he has served as Pastor and Teacher at Desert Garden United Church of Christ in Sun City West, AZ. He lives with is spouse, the Rev. Ann Utke, in Sun City, AZ.