Todd C. wrote what I feel is a very interesting comment to a blog post about the slow death of congregational singing. It is a problem that needs to be addressed.
I had commented that I have found over and over again that if you sing two songs in a service that the congregation is unfamiliar with you will lose most congregations. They will tend to switch off and not participate in the rest of the service. I also noted that you have to be very careful and intentional as to how you introduce songs. I think that many of us worship leaders need to take our big worship binders with the hundreds of songs we know, and say, OK, here are the songs that we are no longer going to sing, and reduce our existing repertoire to maybe 75 songs.
Todd’s response took a slightly different tack but one that is worth reading.
Musical language and expression in worship is undoubtedly changing stylistically from one generation to the next, but this isn’t a large problem. True, the rhythms and arrangements of contemporary music are very different from traditional hymns. True, newer songs are more relationship based and less theological, and tend to be more about experiencing God than about knowing facts about Him. It is certainly true that there are next to none which have stood the test of time of so many of the greatest hymns.
It is true that few of the younger generation entering the church doors are familiar with traditional hymn arrangement, and the ability to sing four part harmony is becoming increasingly rare. Unfortunately, use of “contemporary” music can sometimes appear to signal a willingness to abandon the old faithful in order to appeal to the younger crowd. But this needn’t be the case.
The larger picture is that church is perhaps the last place on earth where all generations come together and participate in something in common. The larger problem is that unity can sometimes be threatened when we become too concerned with whether we should be more contemporary versus more traditional. Those are only style preferences, and if one must have one’s own style preferences in order to “worship”, then perhaps one misunderstands the sacrificial nature of worshipping.
We each have our preferences, but we also have an opportunity to worship together as family, and with songs that stir the entire family, in its present composition, with an eye to equipping its present outward-focused mission, and across all the generations.
How do we equip all the generations to be outward focused together? Singing together as a congregation appears to work well. Is it edifying for older members to sing newer songs which thrill the hearts of their grandchildren? Is it edifying for younger members to sing songs which stir the hearts of their grandparents?
Is it edifying to sing songs that equip the new visitors, who may have heard something on the radio, to join in singing? Is it edifying for the singing to be so good that church members feel like inviting others to come experience it?
Incidentally, few people dislike new songs, and a strong and very well-done presentation of new music, in conjunction with continued use of the best of traditional hymns (they often go together very well thematically) often results in increased enthusiasm. Naysayers can easily criticize things which are not done with excellence, but are rather reluctant to criticize things which work very, very well. Teaching can be done in such a way that songs presented for the first time on a given Sunday are already well known by the church, and sung with full participation.
When the music ministry focuses on the church family itself, and makes song selections for worship which the local church readily knows (or has been readily taught), the entire family can become equipped to sing with full participation and strength.
This can become a powerful outward sign and expression of unity, and it is much easier to lend one’s assent or “Amen” to something which is excellent. Whether the excellent songs are old or new or in-between, if the excellent song service reaches across all generations and allows for maximum participation by the entire family, then one finds far fewer critics and far more worshippers.
Michael Bell
Joshua Hearne
Tim Melton
Joel Black
This is one of the more reasoned responses I’ve read concerning the whole church music thing.
When I was talking with churches and discerning where I would be going, I was always amazed at how fresh this question was for so many. It really reopened my eyes to the question.
I usually said something to the effect of: Often, I’m not sure the problem is that we don’t sing contemporary songs enough or don’t sing traditional songs enough but, rather, that we don’t sing enough.
Good post.
Good point about singing more Josh. If we have a longer worship time, it allows us to be more inclusive in the songs that we do.
I once heard Evangelist T.V. Thomas say that it takes 20 minutes on Sunday to prepare our hearts to worship. With kids, etc., this is often hard to do until you are actually seated in the church service. Yet we end our singing well before people have had a chance to relax, get their mind off the worries of the world, and onto God.
[...] Todd G.’s proposal for an intergenerational based worship is common ground where we can stop worrying about the style [...]