I am writing this blog as my daughter is playing "American Idol" for Wii. And it is pretty loud, I might add. I must be getting old. Today I want to delve into the topic of Worship styles. I have been involved in many conversations about this topic recently. At church on Wednesday night, we were told that an 81 year old member of the church has decided to leave. The Worship leader is new and contemporary and this woman said that what he leads the church in "is not worship". OUCH! My husband and I have had the opportunity to visit many churches lately and the Worship styles have ranged from one person with an acoustic guitar, to a tradional organ and robed choir, to a full band with a team of leaders and a light show that follows the beat of the music and everything inbetween. I cannot say that I was comfortable with every Worship style we encountered, but does that mean it is wrong? Lets look at a few sides of this argument:
The robed choir: First off, the minute the organ started playing and the robed choir marched out with their hymnals, you just lost anyone under the age of 21. While I understand the need for hymns, if this is all you are doing how do you attract and keep the younger generations interest?
The solo acoustic guitar: For some, this style creates an intimacy in worship. But what about the newcomer that is unsure of themself and would benefit more from a corporate style of worship?
No hymns, just the popular songs we hear on "Christian radio": Sure, this may be a good way to go. People will at least know the words and sing along. I mean why wouldn't they, the radio station plays this song 20 times a day. But is it just singing a song they know? Is it truly worship?
Full band with light show: First off, you just lost everyone over 50, except for that hardcore rocker over there. I can see that this type of Worship is reaching a whole new demographic of people that are uncomfortable with a traditional setting. But what are you doing to include the older generation? Or those with aversions to big lights shining in their eyes during Worship?
Psalms 100: 1-2: (ESV) Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into His Presence with singing!
I left a lot of open questions with the topics above because there is no right or wrong. I don't know the answers. What I do know is that Worship is important. It is the very thing that allows us to enter His Presence. As far as Worship styles, I guess that is all subjective. What does your church do for Worship? Do you think it offends some? Are you reaching everyone, or is there a generation gap?
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Related posts:
Choosing the best Worship style for your church or ministry
Styles of Praise and Worship
I think it depends on the churches vision, who they are trying to reach. If you're going for the elderly you've gotta do what reaches them, if reaching the younger generation then they have to accept that or leave. If you're trying to reach everbody then I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion, being young, is that it's sad to see her leave but if you're reaching the younger generation and people are getting saved, why change just so that other Christians stay.
Just my thoughts.
At the Pecos County Cowboy Church where I pastor, this whole thing is null and void.
ReplyDeleteWe unashamedly minister to cowboys. In doing this, we get a lot of people that aren't cowboys but wish they were.
The point is...if it ain't cowboy...we don't play it.
I don't think there is a right or wrong (George Strait plug there) to worship musically. But switching things around and trying to please everyone just doesn't work. It usually makes everyone mad.
Be who you are and stick with it. Who cares if someone leaves. You cannot make everybody happy.
Styles of worship........first of all, let's determine what worship is. Is it simply a gathering of people lifting their voice in song? Is singing the popular songs of the day any different than singing the hymn that has been repeated over and over? Is there simply an exercise of thought to the words involved, or is there a deep rising from the ... See Moredepths of your soul that cries out to express some form of gratitude, humility, brokenness, and joy from a knowing in the heart that there has been a change, a passing from the old sinful individual to a brand new creature that somehow knows this is as it was in the beginning, before the first earthly breath. If the pressure to worship is from without, our own understanding of right and wrong or pressure from "religious" attitudes pressed forth by the organization known as Christianity, then the exercise of "worship" amounts to nothing more than entertainment and further distances us from "secret place" the psalmist loved to speak of.
ReplyDeleteRomans 12:1-2 encourages us to present our bodies, the soul realm - mind, emotions, flesh, as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to the Lord which is our reasonable act of worship. This is not meant for exclusive times of meeting with others, but every day, every moment, living a lifestyle of worship. As this becomes part of our existence, entering into a time of worship in any setting, whether comfortable or uncomfortable, becomes easy.
As for the question concerning those new to the experience, the responsibility of relationship with individuals is imperative for the answering of any questions about style.
@ Becky - Good points. It can have a lot to do with the vision of the church. We have seen many churches struggle with going contemporary or staying traditional.
ReplyDelete@ Kevin - I appreciate your candor. And yes, you are ministering to a demographic that I left out. Being from Oklahoma and there being Cowboy Churches in surrounding communities, maybe I should have added them. I am so glad that God looks at the heart of Worship and not the style. And I agree that there is not a right or wrong style to Worship.
@ Anonymous - Lots of great thoughts there! I agree that true Worship is a heart thing regardless of the style, time, place, etc. If we truly worship, it should become a lifestyle, but I think many churches have become more concerned in the style than in Worship itself.
I think that whoever is doing music and the Pastor of the church should seek God about what they should do and then do that. I like for the Pastor to speak to the church about why they do what they do and explain what praise and worship is and encourage the church to do just that. What say?
ReplyDeleteIt goes without saying that music is a major part of any culture. No matter the continent, ethnicity, or age group. Which in turn means that music can be a powerful tool for God to use to open hearts. I think the problem is that too often we just want to please everybody. Like @Kevin is saying, they have a target audience and they stick with what works.
ReplyDeleteThe difficult thing with many churches however is that they are full of older saints and there preference isn't the same as the young families, teenagers, and children that they want to attract. So the church has to decide on whether it is comfortable with keeping their very traditional music (which is okay) or will they sacrifice their preference to have a better chance at reaching the next generation.
Music isn't the only issue at play here but it is a very important part of most people's lives. Many of us would rather have our music than a meal some days.
Wendy, this is always a touchy subject and I don't think there is a formula for what is right and wrong. Only what we prefer. And from what I have observed, people tend to gather around their similarities. Which translates into their preferred style of music.
Personally I don't get why Worship is never discussed along with Praise. The two go hand in glove and you can't have one without the other.
ReplyDeleteI guess most folks that write about worship are expecting us to read into it thatthey also mean praise - but as the two are distinctly different but very necessary elements then one should never (IMO) be discussed without the other.
As for teh rest - yes it's very subjective which is why we have so many differing styles. I'm reasonably comfortable in most any setting but the robed choir I just don't get - especially when they dominate rather than support.
Is there a generation gap in P&W? No, I don't think so. There's a style difference or a 'like' difference but why can't one style cover the generations. The church I attend is considered fairly forward thinking for P&W and we've had excellent teaching on it down the years from all over the world - yet my CofE vicar BIL doesn't get it, however we have ages 10 thru 90 weekly gathering and getting it - with the band members aged from 13 to 60.
However, the ONE thing I notice that 99% of churches don't get i sthat like the robed choir, they try to drive the P&W when in fact they should only be facilitators.
Nuff said, peace out.