I don't know who runs the website "Church Leaders." My first impression is "I don't want to know, I don't want to know." I see names among their contributors I either (1) have never heard of or (2) I have heard of, and do not trust. The titles of many articles seem to be pretty clear that they aren't talking to me. We don't have a praise band, and aren't a likely candidate for one. That alone seems a good indication that the article isn't for me.
But one particular article from said site got shared, by somebody who runs the social media for my seminary alma mater, no less, and I don't have the wit to walk away. A wiser blog would simply walk away repeating to itself "not my circus, not my monkeys" over and over again, but this is not a wiser blog.
So, here this blog goes, foolishly raising up to interrogate an article with the clickbait-ish title "Nine Reasons People Aren't Singing in Worship."
Naturally, I can't even get beyond the title before starting to quibble. Who or what is this random undifferentiated "people" you speak of? You are charged with leading a congregation. The children of God. The body of Christ, or at least one community thereof. Call me pedantic if you want; clearly I'll disagree. How you see the people you are charged with leading and encouraging in worship matters, and matters intensely. There's nothing random about the gathering before you on a given Sunday (or whatever day your congregation ends up gathering). Some are long-time "belongers," and some may be absolutely new, but this isn't a random assemblage, it's not a group of patrons, and it sure as Hell isn't an audience. It's not a sporting crowd trying to encourage its team to score. It's a worshiping community.
Another question: is singing the only outlet for participation in your service of worship? Clearly I consider singing a huge, major, distinctive, unique means of participation in worship, but it's not the only one. Or is it? If your congregation members have no other means of participating in worship -- prayers, responses, liturgy of any kind -- maybe it makes sense that they aren't inclined to sing either. I don't know, I'm no expert in musical psychology, but it's maybe not a good thing if that's the only option.
OK, let's see if we can actually get to the article...so the author starts with a deeply superficial sketch of church music history that would get maybe an F- from any professor worth hiring. No, the sketch isn't the main point of the article, but if you can't take the time to flesh out that history more effectively and accurately, maybe don't include it in your article? (And the thing is, the author isn't necessarily incorrect; it's just so sloppily and glibly stated as to be unbearable.) So my trust level is already low and I've not even gotten to one of the author's nine points.
(Oh, and let's get one thing clear: the "pre-Reformation mess" cited by the author did produce some of the most passionate, amazing, beautiful, profound sacred music ever. It wasn't meant for congregations to sing. That doesn't make it a "mess." Sheesh.)
(I'm going to trust that if you really want to follow this, you'll actually pull up the article above and follow along with those points I address.)
1. Unless the author is omniscient, I'm not sure he should be making this claim. It is true that the praise & worship industry grinds out new songs at a steady pace, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the churches that subscribe to this kind of worship are necessarily using those songs. I am told that the "best sellers" in that genre tend to be "old favorites" (by pastors who actually work with that stuff and consult those charts), so to speak (yes, the phrase is used just slightly ironically). Now such a phenomenon would be, it seems, a reaction to that very issue -- too many new songs are coming out of the fire hose too fast, so churches stick to singing what they know. That this may present a problem or challenge to the p&w industry isn't really my problem to address.
2. The list gets a little sloppy here, as (3) is really a subset of (2). A song too high for the average singer is, more or less by definition, a song not suitable for congregational singing. However, does the whole song have to be trashed? Is it not possible to rework the song so that the leaders take on the higher or more difficult parts and the congregation responds with the more accessible parts? You see, hymnals actually allow for that possibility, and even provide instruction for a leader, or maybe a choir, to sing a part of the song and for the congregation to respond. Certainly "worship teams" can figure out something like this?
4. A fairly generic point, to be honest. Churches with organs face the same questions of providing enough support for the congregation without overwhelming the sound of the congregation (and choir, when applicable). The difference is that the organ is the most naturally supporting instrument for the human voice, where guitar or even piano are not. Simple instrumental mechanics are the reason; the organ sustains the same level of sound as long as a key is held down, providing the congregation with a consistent source of supporting sound without having to be jacked up so much. With guitars or pianos or other such instruments, the sound begins to decay as soon as the key is pressed or the string is plucked. The temptation then becomes to jack up the volume so that the decay takes longer, which can lead to overwhelming volume. (Again, I'm no expert, but I do think I've experienced this as a congregation member.)
5. Now here is where I'm guessing the author is getting crosswise with his intended audience (as opposed to someone like me). Rightly or wrongly, I'm going to guess that many of the worship leaders (and a big chunk of congregation members too) are at that church precisely because of (5), and probably (6), (8), and (9), which (like 2 & 3 above) are all part of the same point. There's a pretty good chance that a not-small number of folks attend such churches precisely for professional-style performances that ask nothing of them but to be good audence members, or maybe even more good consumers. If you're going to take churches to task for these things, you're going to need to address a lot of underlying questions that aren't going to be solved by tweaks to the praise band.
7. Again, I'm not certain that congregations are not selecting their own "common body of hymnody" quite on their own, no matter how much the p&w industry turns up the spigot of new stuff. And also again, I'm not sure that praise bands or congregations are all that bothered by this when it is the case.
To wrap up, I am forced to wonder if the author is at the last addressing the wrong audience. Is this the kind of things that praise bands or worship teams should be expected to address or grasp? Or is this a situation where the pastor should be addressing in and with the congregation?
Maybe this was a "Dear Pastor" blog entry after all.
Now is where I admit my bias; I'm not convinced that a full-fledged p&w approach to worship is really compatible with a mainline theology of worship. I'm not even certain what theology of worship is in play in p&w, or even if there is one at work. Someone else is going to have to convince me on this subject, and they won't have an easy time of it.
At the same time, I am pretty certain that many, if not most, mainline churches have no clue about a theology of worship that isn't some pale copy of evangelical practice. What is Lutheran worship, or Presbyterian (my particular bailiwick) worship? What is particular to it? Where does our identity show in that worship? Are churches in mainine denominations so paralyzed by fear of shrinkage that they do their dammedest to bury their identity, either treading water in a traditional worship style in which nobody understands what "tradition" means or why we did it so long that it became traditional or running after the hot new evangelical thing (even if it's not that new) to try not to be offensively Presbyterian, or offensively of any identity at all?
And if the pastors of these congregations can't even begin to address these questions, what hope is there for any kind of thoughtful progress on the subject of worship?
And how are pastors going to learn how to address these questions?
It's just not as simple as that...
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