Date 10/22/2007, Updated 10/22/2007 (For Archives click here)
| Music and Worship for Everyone |
 A few years ago I was a guest artist during a Sunday evening worship service at a large evangelical church in Toronto,Ontario. This was a predominantly white congregation located in a multi-ethnic city with a rapidly changing demographic. The pastor had an enthusiastic personality and a booming laugh. "Do whatever the Lord leads you to do," he roared. As a frequent guest in churches, I have learned to watch the pastor to find out what his version of the 'Lord's leading' is. This man obviously meant what he said; he led the congregation in several contemporary choruses, and participated in clapping and vigorous singing. I had a song I was using a lot at that time called 'David's Dance.' It includes hand motions,clapping, and for the fourth verse, the people stand, link arms, and do a modified Jewish dance/kick. The pastor loved it, and wrung my hand at the end of the service. As he and I stood in the foyer greeting people, one man with dark skin and a turban approached the pastor. He asked for an appointment that week. "I had no idea Christianity was so joyful," he said. The very next person, a long-time member of the church was next in line. "I can't believe we're doing this in the church!" Our times Ever since the turn of our century, music historians have been watching the explosion of style. Just about every innovation has been introduced from the time that Schoenberg proposed that we try a new system of composition called the tone row. Beyond that music has undergone massive upheavals in the structure of the orchestra, the size of groups, and the limits of dissonance. At the same time, our century has seen many new nationalistic musics emerge as underdeveloped societies get in touch with their heritage, and composers express their own culture. The church continues to be confronted with the same issues that hit the concert halls in 1914. And although the response is not as chaotic as the riots in Paris at the first performance of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", we do have varying opinions on how to react to the new music. For the past 35 years, I have been pursuing a career in music. Without the technical skill of a classical pianist or vocalist, I took the inclination to create tunes, put it together with a knack for verse, and became a singer-songwriter. Concurrently, I worked with a struggling urban mission that has since become a church in the city, and while I went out on weekends for performances or to assist in worship music at conferences, back at home I was a church musician. Today, though my musical dreams have been radically qualified, my job description remains remarkably the same, even though I am now the director of music at that church, and no longer depending on itinerant performance as a primary profession. One thing I have noticed in my work. My music does not divide people into cultural camps; it unites them. Even my most daring songs, when appropriately presented, have broad appeal with various age groups. So it is with this realization that I postulate that music in the church can truly be for everyone. What music does for the body
Music is at its most basic state a part of God's creation that is included in that mandate in
Genesis to "fill the earth and subdue it." In his book Music and Ministry (Hendrickson,1984), Calvin
Johansson refers to the creatio continua: God's ongoing creation that we participate in as creatures who bear his image. And, oh what an important part that is! Music functions in human experience from the most primitive pitches in our speech to the most finely crafted baritone horn, or rehearsed choir. One of my friends, Ken Medema, has the remarkable ability to spontaneously compose songs at the piano
that powerfully capture the meaning of a message just delivered minutes before! So it should come as no surprise that music goes deeply into our spirits and resonates
with who we are. For the people of God musicians in the golden era of David's reign "ministered with music before the tabernacle(I Chron 6:32)." Over the centuries music within the history of the church represents one of the ways we celebrate our heritage as believers. John Frame of Westminster Seminary points out in a recent book on worship that music
is one of the "circumstances" of worship which can be a part of any of the elements of worship, i.e.,
teaching,prayer,confession of faith,expressions of fellowship, and even scripture.
In his book, Worship in the Early Church, Ralph Martin declares, " The Christian church was born in song," observing that such a life-changing, joyous experience would of course be accompanied by music of praise. Music tells the world who we are in unexplainable terms.
One Lord, one faith, one music?
The importance of music is not usually the focus of our discussion, or even the angry notes that sometimes appear on the pastor's office door. Rather it is the complex issue of taste and appropriateness that seems to keep music directors scrambling for that perfect Sunday service. Just as our century is one of great diversification, so the music of the church has diversified.
And some of us, without quite knowing why, are greatly blessed by some music and indifferent to or greatly disturbed by another. Without going into all the reasons why we have these differences, I would like to suggest some principles governing music in worship for those who select it. First, the music of worship should have aesthetic integrity. This means that a piece of music, whether an instrumental prelude or simple chorus, should have some artistic merit, like God created his earth to have and calls us to create. It means that by the standards of balance, of melodic content, of harmonic structure, this piece is good. Some very simple choruses are very aesthetically satisfying if placed right in the flow; some very upbeat pieces can be presented because they are inherently
less divisive. I find this true of black gospel music. Granted, the music director or worship committee makes that decision, but someone has to, and they have been designated by the church. Discernment in this area comes from the knowledge of music and its structure, and the ability to notice musical elements the rest of us miss. I love to use my son as an example of one who decided after high school to be a jazz guitar major, went to a four-year course of study, and came out with good taste! Secondly, the music of worship should be recognizable and ordinary. This is another way of saying practical or useful. As an educated musician, and one who has pursuing further education it is a constant temptation to do what I like. Actually, because my musical journey has largely paralleled my congregation's, I'm not too far from what they relate to. But Christ-likeness extends to the music program, particularly in the area of humble service. Sometimes a music director must greatly lower his or her expectations to the level of the pew(Johansson,ch. 4) Thirdly, the music of worship should be relevant. This is not to say that historical hymnody and incidental music is not to be used; it simply means that the music must communicate content to the
people, not religious snobbery. This is hard for me, because I have studied jazz, and love the way it expresses deep feelings. But I know that it does not touch my congregation like it touches me.
I may seek to educate them, but the content of the text and music must be uppermost. The pastor may have a great love for the revivalistic hymns of Fanny Crosby because he came to Christ in that era,but they may actually lack relevance to his congregation. Relevance need not be enslavement to the familiar. It is possible in a musical universe dominated by television, that the church music staff could be manipulated by entertainment or
triviality. Fourthly, the music of worship should be spiritually dynamic. Many times I have looked through the hymnbooks we use for resources, looking for the song that will fit. One of the criteria for selection is what the piece will accomplish in the heart. In the economy of the service that may not be evident until you are in the middle of it, but always consider the text and mood of the piece for where you have planned it. Fifthly, the music of worship should have historical perspective. No church in the 21st century just came into being. We are all part of the generations of the family of God, and that history should
play a part in the worship. In our church at New City Fellowship we have the added historical element of the African-American experience, and we draw many fine old gospel songs and spirituals from that.
It is amazing what the acknowledgement of history will do for unity. Sixthly, the music of worship should unify the congregation. If you find the congregation is
constantly polarized by the selection of music, then the music leadership is moving on their agenda too fast. This means that trust and servanthood be emphasized first, not artistic superiority, new programs, or flashy hipness. There will be plenty of time to accomplish innovative things; trust must be earned. True blue worshippers
Did you ever think what a liberating thing it is to worship "in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks(John 4:23)"? In this passage Christ is speaking with a seeker-- the Samaritan woman-- and sets aside all kinds of traditions to identify with an honest heart. In his book, Worship his Majesty, Jack Hayford makes a thought-provoking interpretation of the Catechism answer, 'to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.' "My orientation and approach had been primarily toward a single purpose in church services: we gather to worship God. But now, without supplanting the worship of God, we were adding a second focus: man's need and God's ability to supply it. We deduced that worship is to be to God and for man....First, God is to be the focus of our praise; second, He had always planned that in worship we would find joy, blessing, fulfillment and purpose. Musically this gives me a lot of hope. While we so often invoke the sentiment that we are to focus on God and not the person, that we are to eschew performance and find some other mystical way to achieve excellence in worship, we are sidestepping a very real part of the musical experience.
Music is a performance art, and must be delivered with every fiber and every ounce of commitment we can muster in order to be good stewards of God's good gifts. Worship to God, but for Us
So now, after all the playing, recording, and performing, I am even more convinced that we should enjoy the great variety of ways we worship throughout the world, and make them part of our own stretching experience in worship music.
I have heard Latin American evangelical services described as deeply passionate expressions of longing and celebration and I have seen the African-American traditions with a cathartic high built right into the flow of the service.
And in reference to our youth, the next generation-- how are we including them in our weekly morning worship? What better way to send an inclusive message than to acknowledge them in our music. This does not mean to single them out, but to quietly pay attention to where the youth are culturally and to address that as one of the circumstances of morning worship. Just as Hayford points out, worship is to God but for us. When we worship him in spirit and truth we are not asked to become a mystical platonic otherworldly "spirit in a material world." Our whole
capacity to create, to hear and respond, to laugh and to clap and to dance should be engaged.
Creatio continua
The greater mandate for today's music is that it be in the image of the Creator, and that we be energetically doing it.
In the church we should have an open and responsive attitude toward this creative function as we seek to make Christ Lord and see those who are so gifted fulfill their prophetic role as artists and musicians(Johansson,p.13).
The leadership in the church music program should be encouraged and supported once they are asked to perform that service. And the music leaders should pursue godly lives, fully participating in the discipleship programs of the church. The music leadership is a pastoral role, not just one of professional capabilities.
If the intentions of the church are made clear from the beginning, then course corrections
and faux pas [some Sundays, everything goes wrong!] should be taken in stride.
Our heritage is great in church music, and it should go on! Much of what the publishers are cranking out is not substantive, and sometimes it is discouraging combing through all those song books of mediocre songs looking for gems. So encourage creativity within your body, regardless of the style. |
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| Date 10/22/2007, Updated 10/22/2007 (For Archives click here) |
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