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The crowd around me is wearing jeans and tennis shoes. The audience is starting to get into the music and their hands are in the air. On the stage, a long haired electric guitar player’s Gibson wails and drums thump out a steady
10 Comments Add this link to... Bury
10 Comments Add this link to... Bury
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Good article, but I disagree with one little sentence saying that our worship services are beefing up the lights, sounds and video to stay in competition with the world. Maybe it's not that the church is competing but that it too appreciates quality. Maybe the church is winning talented people who are just now finding out why they were given these creative gifts. Maybe we're not just competing; maybe we're providing more people the opportunity to be the body.
I disagree. Worship is not about competing "with the high tech offerings of the world." Our presentation of worship in church teaches students a LOT more about it than our words do. The old "methods change but the message stays the same" saying is partially true, but don't forget that the method itself communicates a message, as well, whether we like it or not.
It's a good point that the medium is part of the message. That's an old idea (published in 1964 by Marshall McLuhan in a painfully-hard-reading book called Understanding Media), but it's never been as true as it is now with the cultural implications of staying technologically relevant. Just as classrooms are having to keep up with student's tech-ladened lifestyles to maintain their ability to teach kids in a way they can relate to, I think churches need to keep that same relevancy. Since part of being a great worship leader (or any kind of pastor) is following Jesus' example of sharing the message of the Gospel in a way that people can understand, in a way, it IS about competing with the world in the tech genre in the sense that if we as the church allow ourselves to become outdated in our medium (which, as you say correctly, is PART of the message), we will lose some of our capability to meet people where they are.
But then what about smaller churches who don't have the resources to do the whole technology/lights/sound worship service? I wouldn't say that they're ineffective at leading people into worship just because they don't have certain equipment. In fact, I know we'd agree that worship is never based on anything other than attributing worth to God (worth-ship).
I think it's important to consider what the big light/sound show communicates to teenagers about worship. I'm not saying it's wrong to use those things, but it does set a standard and a precedence in their minds as it forms their concept of worship.
Oh, and on the flip-side, "worship" in many of our churches teaches teens that it is something that's boring and slow. Using lights and big sound systems definitely doesn't communicate that, which is good! So the current/old system of "worship" isn't better or worse than a new system -- they're just different.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm arguing or something -- I don't mean to. I'm just thinking this through out loud. Thanks for listening. :-)
"I think it's important to consider what the big light/sound show communicates to teenagers about worship."
It communicates to them in a manner that is relevant and desired by them. There are others who can also worship with the same passion under a totally different look. It is all about your context.
I agree that this is a conversation that is still going on today and seems to be really picking back up in a lot of circles. The reason being, so many postmodern millennial's are starting to become youth ministers and desire the acoustic guitar with a small percussion set to their left side and a girl on the right all sitting on stools with minimal light.
The setting is changing and the conversation continues...
"But then what about smaller churches who don't have the resources to do the whole technology/lights/sound worship service? I wouldn't say that they're ineffective at leading people into worship just because they don't have certain equipment. In fact, I know we'd agree that worship is never based on anything other than attributing worth to God (worth-ship)."
This is definitely a concern for many smaller churches and something they face not only in regards to their "worship," but in every aspect of their ministry.
The example of big lights/sound for worship was meant more to cite an example of how churches are taking that extra step to modernize and not a rule of thumb for how they SHOULD modernize. I've attended many smaller churches who are making as much of an impact in their modern worship with a "smaller venue" setting of acoustic guitars and a three person P&W team. It's definitely more about tone and spirit of worship than flash, boom, bang.
I guess it's really more about our attitude towards worship that has been modernized and the technology aspect is more of that attitude's manifestation. The article's basis should have been more about how praise and worship itself is now an integral part of church services and not so much about the WAY it is part of church services. I think that's what is the true modernization...the fact that many services now feature a good 30 - 40 minutes of just all out praising God through music and worship. When that spirit happens everyone wins.
Now, you've hit the nail on the head. I think you're absolutely right that it is a modernization of spirit more than of technology. I go to a smaller church, and we couldn't possibly at this point do lighting effects, etc. However, we could do more to attract younger people with what we have, which is talented and dedicated musicians who are willing to lead the congregation in any style of music that would help them to worship. Our one and only obstacle to that is that the older folks in our church outnumber the younger ones, and we try to strike a balance so as to not alienate the majority of our people. Maybe we're too timid, but that's our dilemma.
I can't create the link but in the upcoming stories section of the Worship Arts section is this post "Festal Muchness and Cleansing Simplicity (part 1)"
Lights and such are fine and great, top notch musicians are great but it is not always necessary. Our youth band has spent the last few weeks rehearsing "unplugged". Why? because that's they way they wanted to lead the next worship service.. they were craving just that time sitting around, singing, no screens, no lights, no big sound. Just people, and songs and God. BTW Great Discussion here.
If you take this whole discussion and put it in the context of living in Nashville, it can get even more convoluted and complicated. So many of the worship team players are either pros or wannabe pros, and so many churches have producers or artists in the congregation that it can be a pretty weird dynamic. A worship leader who's a friend of mine sang a song a couple months back by a well-known (can't remember who at the moment, but it was somebody like Jennifer Knapp) only to see her in the congregation after the service!!!
That's a little off-topic maybe, but a funny dynamic still.