There is a definite need to continually develop
our worship and music. Without development, our expression can become
stale and predictable, and lose some of its impact.
Every day many new expressions of worship find their way from believers personal relationship with God into the wider church community. It is good to investigate these, to draw inspiration from them, and to take up those which are appropriate to the life of the local church that we are leading.
Yet the quest for new songs can often override the basic responsibility we have to draw people into a close relationship with the living God. However good our intentions, we must question why we are bringing new songs into the community. We must be careful not to fool ourselves that the only way we can outpour our love and worship to God is by singing the latest songs.
The latest batch of church communities are perhaps the most guilty of this. Though said in a kindly way, I have heard people joking that the local Anglican church has only just started singing (for example) "Shine Jesus Shine", and how they think it's a new song. Yet the only true definition, as far as a congregation is concerned, of a new song, is that they have not heard or worshipped corporately with it before.
I am greatly saddened that many a 'modern' church, in its quest for the next newly penned song, has broken its ties with tradition, possibly because it feels this promotes a form of religiosity that it wishes not to be associated with, and abandoned both hymn and liturgy. At least, so it thinks it has, yet many a time only in the written form. Many a modern church has an unwritten liturgy and religiosity.
Many church families struggle with worship because many new songs are not suitable:
- A large number are highly sentimentalised.
- Some songs are better left as performance songs. This is often due to difficult melodies which do not progress in a way that is conducive to congregational singing.
- Though this can also be a criticism of the traditional hymn, many modern songs are verbose.
Where possible, at every meeting where corporate worship is to take place, it should be planned and worked out so as to be as inclusive as possible. I am very much in favour of specific meetings for young people, senior citizens, children, and such like; and there certainly should be less excuse at these meetings for not catering for most of the group, as it is usually easier to cater for a specialised group where interest level and preferences of style and worship are likely to be similar. Of course, this leaves the meetings which are going to be the most difficult, and they are hence the ones which require most forethought and desire for vision and direction. These are the whole church family meetings, of which most churches have one every week or month, traditionally on the Sunday morning. The finer details will depend upon what the leadership decide is the main purpose of these meetings - whether it be mainly for teaching, worship, relationship-building/pastoral care, or evangelism; though a church who are generally getting things right will have a healthy balance of all. However, this does not diminish the need to earnestly seek to be inclusive. Many churches struggle with 'what to do with the children'. They are often bored during the times that they stay in the meeting, yet if they are sent to their own activities too quickly they become a handful for those who are leading those groups. In any case, it is important for children to learn their place in the church family, and this is best done when they are together. The most common reasons that children and teenagers are bored in all-age meetings is that they do not find anything that they think is of relevance or interest to them. Yet children need to hear the Christian message, to feed from the Word, to worship and to be part of the body just as much as adults do. It is truly amazing to see what our younger generations can do when they are truly engaged, inspired and moving in the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet we must help them get there. Whilst putting on 'youth meetings' is an excellent idea, these should be additional and not an alternative to the family meeting. This demands a holistic approach to the planning of meetings, and it is not the sole responsibility of the worship leader to formulate this, not least because he or she is unlikely to have the all the necessary gifts, least of all the energy to oversee the whole event. Yet the worship leader does have a responsibility to develop ideas in worship so that it is accessible to many. Children do not understand many adult songs. Adults do not always like childrens songs. Yet a healthy mixture of both, plus songs which are simple enough for children to understand yet cause everyone to respond, is of great importance. A healthy creativity does not go amiss, either. The church may be used to a particular style or type of music. There are bound to be a section of people who respond well to it and a section of people who don't. If resources and accountability allow, a change of style can be a good way to interest people again. I personally feel myself getting a little rebellious when I am faced with yet another new song with several verses and a difficult tune. "If it doesn't fit on the overhead projector in one go then it's too long" is probably not a good method of choosing which songs to adopt and which to leave, yet it humorously makes the point that it's often a good idea to go back to basics, and to keep it simple. Think about how one remembers music. If you hear some music that you like several times, you will start to pick up on its main theme (usually the chorus). If someone asked you to sing it, you would probably be able to sing the chorus with ease, but would struggle to remember the words to all the verses. It is not a good idea to use a large number of verbose songs. Whilst I'm not suggesting that instead we sing twenty 4-line choruses, I do think that there is a case for saying in several short, memorable and familiar songs what a long, less memorable and difficult song says in several paragraphs. In particular, if you are hoping to encourage people into the gifts of the Spirit, it is better to choose songs and melodies which are familiar and easy, so that people are less concerned with trying to get words and music correct, and are thus free to focus on truly worshipping. Of course, if you are leading worship in a congregation where the majority of people are strong in faith, personally move in worship, vibrantly worship together, and are open to pretty much anything, then what I've outlined can often be relaxed. Yet it is always worth thinking about. Continually pray that you will lead whoever you are called to with sensitivity to be as inclusive as possible, and that you will know how to redirect times of worship if it is obvious that people are being excluded. Don't think that the only way to move forward, to be innovative and creative, is to grab hold of the latest batch of songs. Take time to think if more familiar songs can be reused, restyled or combined; and if the people you seek to lead will be better nourished by this. Investigate forms of worship that you are not used to. Take inspiration from musicians and worship leaders. Observe and listen to the people whom you lead. Above all, seek to glorify God in all the diversity and creativity that was created in humankind. |
