I had an interesting exchange last night during choir practice. A gentleman who is a terrific singer and someone I admire commented on the decline of church music in general. This, of course, had to do with the overwhelming changes that have occurred in pretty much every denomination with regard to the addition of a contemporary service or a "blended" service. He was concerned that the closest Christian university, which just so happens to be a Baptist college, no longer had any organ students and that Florida State University, one of the largest and most successful state music programs in the country only had ten organ majors in their entire program (up through the doctoral level).
Another choir member mentioned that several of her Baptist friends would go to their service and then go home and watch our church on television because we actually sing hymns. She also mentioned that they were not allowed to carry music with them into the choir loft because then they would not be able to clap along with the music. She said they hated this. My only comment to them was that I was aware of these issues, and how "real" music has been stripped from our culture to such a degree that most younger folks are not aware of even the most well-known classical themes. I have noticed this more and more over my years of teaching college music students and non-music majors in music appreciation courses. They are just completely unaware of any music other than their favorite. I tell them there was a time when classical music was more a part of our culture. I remember hearing so many themes taken straight out of Wagner, Rossini, and Johann Strauss in Bugs Bunny cartoons. And what about all the music in Disney's Fantasia and just the way they sang the songs in Sleeping Beauty and the like. They were some great singers. But I digress.
I did not remind my choir members that I also lead a contemporary service at our church. Most of them are only slightly aware that I do this, and this is mainly from my participation with the youth worship team during our Wednesday evening fellowship supper. Nobody pays a bit of attention to us and, though this makes me angry on a certain level, is perfectly fine with me on a more base level--I really do not want my traditional folks to know I do "contemporary" music. And why might you ask? Because we still have several folks who think that contemporary is evil, that it is the end of the church, not just church music. I primarily want to leave the boat unrocked. Again, I consider this a political-type issue and try to remain neutral as much as possible in public.
I have had some time to consider these issues, and as I have said often, I chose to go into the Methodist church for several reasons. One, because they do still have a great appreciation for classical and traditional style church music. A quick aside: It is funny to me how my definition of "traditional" has changed in such a short time. Not too long ago, my idea of traditional would have been gospel songs and old "choruses" that were the mainstay of my traditional, Assemblies of God growing up. Of course, traditional means different things to different people. And, second, because I do not think of myself as the hippest cat on the block, and I wanted to enter a world where I could dabble in areas that I do well, but not have the pressure to be the most cutting edge rocker type. In other words, I would rather be the coolest thing in a not so cool place instead of being the nerdiest thing in an all too cool place. Not very spiritual, but practical from my point of view when I was at a low and looking for something to rebuild "me."
But I am wondering if the death of one style of worship is all that bad of a thing? This has been the case throughout the history of the church. There was a time when the organ was considered evil and its introduction into the church a sacrilege. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a traditional service better than most folks. I absolutely love a good liturgy, the higher the church the better. But, when it comes right down to it, the thing that connects me to God in an intimate, rather than transcendent way more easily is going to be on the side of contemporary. Whereas, I like the organ and love to hear it played well and I like how it accompanies and makes the congregation sing out all the louder, it is not the organ that I think of when I think about "worship." And herein lies the rub: Do we so equate our music with our worship that the two cannot be removed from each other? Are we so afraid of losing what makes us comfortable that we will sacrifice being relevant to younger people?
Now, I know there are those who would say that Traditional worship is just as relevant as contemporary worship and that any age person can find God in it. And I agree with this statement. However, I wonder how well someone who did not grow up with some acquaintance with church traditions would be able to understand what we do? It doesn't mean that they cannot, it just means there are a lot of cultural barriers to their coming closer to God. Even in contemporary services there are still a lot of churchy barriers, but at least the music (for the most part) and the more casual dress of the people and the less structured feeling of the service make the harder to swallow parts easier for the average unchurched person. I think in American churches we have a hard time believing there are actually people who have no idea what we do in church on a weekly basis. Just ask someone who does not go to church at all to tell you the Biblical Christmas story or how the Easter bunny came out of the tomb on Easter Sunday and saw his shadow and went back in for another six weeks. Well, maybe that last one is a stretch.
I am just thinking a lot about this idea of bringing people to Jesus, rather than bringing them to "church." I am thinking about connecting people to Christ, rather than just counting church attendees/members. I am wondering how long I can pretend this is not my job.
6 comments:
The “contemporary music is the death of the church” argument is so void of theological substance that it makes me cringe when I think about how many of our church leaders actually agree with it. The truth is, that argument is the death of the church because it suggests that people no longer know what the church is.
(I need to pause here and mention that when I think of “contemporary” music, in relation to church, I think of artists like Sandy Patti. I would suggest that a more widely accepted term to describe some of the current worship trends would be “modern” rather than “contemporary”.)
That said, I would admit that most modern worship doesn’t stack up technically with some of the older church classics, but I’d also suggest that hymns have just as much of a basic template as modern worship songs. I’d further argue that, back in the day, only those at the top of their game were heard and published. Today that isn’t the case which gives us a much more watered down selection to choose from. Still, there are plenty of technically great modern worship artists out there. Steer clear of Charlie Hall’s or David Crowder’s more popular selections, and you’ll find two artists that definitely push the boundaries of modern day worship. Finally, to suggest that the mark of a good generation of artists is how many organ students it has at University is about as bright of an argument as suggesting that there are no good artists left because nobody plays dulcimer anymore. Being an accomplished guitarist is just as technically impressive as being an accomplished organist. (not that I would know)
I agree. And I continue to use "contemporary" as a term since it has such a way of driving people crazy. Whereas "modern" is something that a lot of people not in the worship biz are not familiar with.
You know, I used to think I had all the answers. I received a fairly classical music education and was taught how bad those little choruses were. So, I did as I was taught. I did all the standard anthem material, put amens on the hymns and, hopefully, I helped a few people reach the throne of the Almighty.
But something happened. My training was Southern Baptist and all of a sudden what did Southern Baptist do but publish a folk musical named "Good News." One of my Baptist buddies told me he would leave the ministry before he did that work.
Well, I did "Good News" (never heard from my Baptist buddy again) and I did "Tell it Like it Is" and "Natural High" and I changed.
So did my youth choir. We went from 30 uninterested kids to cutting off enrollment at 130 because the choir room was not big enough.
Well, many moons have come and gone since those days and I have been around the barn more times than I care to admit. And, I can tell you that some of the most dedicated Christians have been those who were called contemporary musicians and things will never be the same after Maranatha! and Integrity and all those who followed.
Oh, I still long for the hymns and I still get that thrill from "Hallelujah form Mt. of Olives" but I have come to learn that there is no real right or wrong in church music.
The right is if we are reaching people for Christ and the wrong is if our tastes in music get in the way of the right.
=Bill Rayborn=
The Church Music Report
Jubal Church Music Magazine
Bill, you are absolutely right. We have to keep focused on bringing people to Christ, rather than fighting over music. Thank you for your astute comments and welcome to my blog.
And, BTW, when I was teaching full time in a Christian college, I used to use "Natural High" and "Good News" as historical examples of the evolution of contemporary Christian music. It was fun to see the students' expressions.
TOP TEN REASONS FOR OPPOSING THE NEW MUSIC TREND
1. It’s too new, like an unknown language.
2. It’s not as melodious as the more established style.
3. There are so many songs that it is impossible to learn them all.
4. It creates disturbances and causes people to act in an indecent and disorderly manner.
5. It places too much emphasis on instrumental music rather than on godly lyrics.
6. The lyrics are often worldly, even blasphemous.
7. It is not needed, since preceding generations have gone to heaven without it.
8. It is a contrivance to get money.
9. It monopolizes the Christian’s time and encourages them to stay out late.
10. These new musicians are young upstarts, and some of them are lewd and loose persons.
These 10 reasons are from a prominent American clergyman from the18th Century. His written statement is from 1723 and is directed against the use of hymns in the church! This list was taken from 'Exploring Worship: A Practical Guide to Praise and Worship.' ©1987 Bob Sorge.
Dr K,
Just recently, our choir sang 4 items in the service - 2 hymns, 2 choruses. At lunch that Sunday, one of my fellow diners mentioned that the choir needs to do hymns from time to time. I was amused. I took out the morning's program - named off "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and "A Mighty Fortress" along with the 2 more 'contemporary' (bad word-sorry) songs. The diner was surprized that we had actually just done the songs the previous hour in the very service he attended.
In this case (and in many, no doubt) the issue is not what is contemporary or not - the issue is just plain having the heart to worship beyond the music. He was so set on the fact that we do too many contemporary tunes, that he failed to hear the hymns.
Don
(I was a worship director for 12 years. Changed churches - due to a move - of the Spirit, that is - and now my wife and I sing in the choir and watch our new music director go bald. He's a great guy and I admire anyone who does the job and brings worshippers to the feet of God. Bless you in your work, Doc.)
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