Finding Your Worship Voice
By Garth Bolinder
April 1, 1994
They were a thirty-something couple with a long history in the church. I knew them well--I thought. Imagine my surprise when, one morning after worship, they cornered me.
"That taped music has to go!" they snarled. "Whose idea was it anyway?"
Before I could mumble a reply, they abruptly walked away.
I didn't get to tell them the music was my idea (whew!). After all, our organist was sick, our substitute possessed questionable ability, and besides, we had wanted soft pre-service music to encourage contemplation. Why not play a gentle Windham Hill-type praise tape as people entered for worship? I thought it would set the mood for worship--background music is, after all, a way of life in our society. The actual worship service included only "live" music.
What's the big deal with taped music anyway?
As any pastor knows, musical style is perhaps the biggest deal driving people's emotional response to worship. Many churches are a maelstrom of musical tastes, personality types, and worship preferences.
In an era of cultural diversity, how can one church find and develop its own authentic voice? With so many options available and so many individual preferences, how do we decide what will be our accent?
Our church grappled with this issue. Here's what we learned as we found our worship voice changing.
CHOOSE REALITY OVER FANTASY
Our church voice cracked a few times as growth brought changes. Sidestepping the hard choices, however, was not an option. The only way out was through. It was fantasy to deny or avoid the issue of diverse worship styles. So we faced the issues--and we faced the music.
Our traditionalists tend to believe that real music is at least 100 years old or composed by a musical Ph.D. They are good people, often the backbone ...
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