NOTE: Please read the article I’m “riffing” on if you want to comment.
I’m sure other people have written about this, but The Briefing has one of the best articles you’ll find on what’s happening to congregational singing: The Slow Death of Congregational Singing. If you’ve been on Mars, it’s vanishing.
In its place we have a lot of songs that a lot of people don’t know, a lot of bad and unknown tunes, a lot of watching the worship team perform (especially if they are female of the right type and dress), a lot of forgettable, narcissistic lyrics, a lot of bad and inexperienced worship leaders, a lot of bone-headed thinking about congregational singing in relation to church growth, a lot of imitation of churches and methods that most congregations can’t imitate, a lot of lay people who simply don’t know how to sing at all, a lot of churches that don’t teach singing, a lot of turning congregations into audiences anyway and whatever else goes into the stew that does away with congregational singing.
That’s not to say some movements in evangelicalism aren’t doing a great job promoting congregational singing in many good ways, including taking the time to teach singing. But as a whole, we’re on our way to pretty much what you have on The Letterman Show. The band plays and Dave comes out with the monologue.
Congregational singing is a New Covenant command. That means that it’s commanded in the New Testament’s description of gathered worship. If we replace that with performance, it’s a major loss on several levels, not the least being the level of teaching and encouragement specifically mentioned in the epistles.
I like a lot of contemporary worship music, but as a whole the content is different than the best older music. It’s designed for expressive presentation and not as much for edification through musical teaching or mutual encouragement. So you can have a lot of “You are holy!” and “I will worship,” as opposed to four or five verses describing the incarnation or considerations of the meaning of salvation.
We all lose in this, but I always think of the losses to two groups in particular. First of all, older people (assuming you still allow them to come to your church) treasure the words that have been part of their journey. While the young turks are all about the new music, the older Christians really need to hear the soundtrack of their journey, which is hymns for the most part. And secondly, we have a lot of children who know Veggietales and don’t know “It Is Well With My Soul.” That’s an unspeakable, horrendously stupid loss and if I catch you advocating it, I will be tempted to harm you.
Of course, the irony is that the canon of music in a good hymnal represents the greatest source of diversity, history and artistic excellence present in most congregations. The songs/lyrics come from various traditions, different eras, throughout history and embody differing styles and cultures. Look at the Christmas section of a good hymnal. From ancient chants to spirituals to contemporary hymns, it’s diversity and beauty. Plus, most of them- not all- are singable in a way that builds up mind and heart.
I realize the people who want to worship with K-Love and equate a concert response with congregational worship will do what they always do when I write this kind of post: tell me how much they hate the hymns blah blah blah. For God’s sake people, THINK before you throw out the treasures. Calvin whitewashed the churches and contemporary evangelicals are making the same mistake with music.
It’s not all about you. Even with a good, practical commitment to be culturally appropriate, you can conserve the 100 best hymns. If you need help, get help. If you have to have it contemporary style, see Kevin Twit’s Indelible Grace project at RUF.
I expect that congregational singing as I grew up with it – and I grew up being taught required music class in public school through the 7th grade- is going to vanish in the lifetime of my grandchildren. To the extent that it’s going on now, it’s one of the worst things evangelicals are doing. Go to mass at a suburban parish some Sunday and listen to what happened to congregational singing after Vatican II. Then remember this: Evangelical singing MADE the Reformation and especially the Wesleyan revival and has been one of the greatest conservators of the Gospel in evangelicalism. The music matters and being able to sing it matters as well. Use contemporary instruments. Use blended styles. Be creative, but keep the good, singable treasures of our musical heritage.
And learn how to sing them.
The Internet Monk Archives 
I’m 38, with two children both under 10. I’m proud to say that my wife and I have taught them a number of hymns, from “It is Well With my Soul” to “A Mighty Fortress” and Celtic aires like “Be Thou My Vision.”
Music is a big part of who we are as a race, as a people, and as a creation. Not just in our churches but across our nation, we’ve made it into a spectator experience where we use it as a cocoon to keep everyone and everything else else at bay, rather than as a communal one where everyone joins in together.
Alas, the worship leader at the church we attend favors the contemporary approach, where anything more than two years old is jettisoned as irrelevant and outdated, including the rich history of Christian hymnody. In its place we have loud drums, pounding bass, and overwhelming guitars. If I join in this kind of worship, I get a headache before halfway through the first set.
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Well said, Jason.
I thought this, especially, was true:
“It’s about the condition of the human heart and how people need to be led to lay down their egos and offer themselves as a living sacrifice. That’s hard, vulnerable, sometimes humiliating work. It’s easier to entertain because then we all get to keep our egos.”
I’m also sick of contemporary entertainment worship, and I’ve been seriously thinking of going Lutheran or Episcopalian or something with more reverence and awe about approaching God in the sanctuary. Even a kid gets sick of Disney World at some point.
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“psalms, hymns and spiritual songs”…both/and How could it possibly be more clear?
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Just some random observations:
I’m a pastor of 14 years in a denomination that is known all over the world for innovating in the field of worship music. That is our heritage.
I am completely bored with the big show on Sunday morning; have been for 10 years. I think it’s shallow and flat, and I only see the mediation of genuine experience getting worse with the growth of video-venues.
Having said that, it seems lots of folks here want to blame the loss of congregational singing on shallow pop-sings and amplified music, but let’s be honest: that loss occurred long before amplifiers-in-church and CCM. Archaic hymns simply weren’t connecting with emerging generations in the 60’s. The truth is hymns connect even less with emerging unchurched generations now. They may learn to appreciate them (as I have), but it takes time to integrate meaningfully into a new context.
It also seems lots of folks here think the solution involves raising the bar for “good songs” or “good worship leaders,” but that sort of subjective elitism will only lead to more of the professional vs. amateur class divisions that already characterize much of Western Christianity. It can’t be more grass-roots AND more “excellent” at the same time – unless we effectively redefine one of those terms.
There’s nothing inherently virtuous about being able to sing across a broad vocal range. There’s nothing inherently virtuous about songs written in the 18th century.
To one of the post-ers here: “worship evangelism” refers to the idea that unbelievers might walk into an enthusiastic worship environment and be moved to belief by the presence and power of God embodied in the congregational praise. I’ve seen it happen many, many times and always, incidentally, in a contemporary-song setting.
In fact, I’ve worshipped in many different denominational settings, big and small, and by far the most participatory, passionate, powerful congregational singing was in settings that utilized contemporary, first-person songs sung to God.
I agree that many old hymns are theologically rich compared to many new worship songs, but we tend to compare the best of the former with the worst of the latter and pat ourselves on the back for being theologically astute.
Moreover, in my observation many regular folks in church simply feel that hymns are theologically richer for strictly aesthetic reasons. Archaic language tends to seem smarter because it’s less accessible – when in fact it’s just archaic. Lots of people think the King James Bible is theologically richer for the exact same reason.
There are contemporary songwriters who are making an intentional effort to write theologically rich songs. Newer Matt Redman songs practically reek of N.T. Wright terminology (which may or may not be a pleasant smell to you). It’s too easy to paint with a broad brush, and we should all be more careful about our generalized finger-pointing.
From a leadership perspective, there’s a very real temptation to abdicate participatory worship in favor of entertainment. We would never call it that, and we will always rationalize it, but let’s be honest: the fastest and most reliable way to grow a church is to put on a good show on Sunday. Moreover, one can entertain with hymns, and one can worship with CCM songs.
On a practical level, I think the problem of congregational participation boils down to the unwillingness of leaders to tell people what to do (ahem, “provide instruction”). In this respect Michael makes a good point IMHO about “teaching the congregation to sing,” and the person who posted John Wesley’s instructions provides us with a stellar example (thank you, BTW!).
For example, I was recently at our denomination’s regional pastor’s conference. For 2 straight days I watched as different bands took the stage morning, noon, and night…and very few people sang. We watched, we tapped our feet, and we clapped politely after every song. And these were the PASTORS. Then, on the last night, a well-known worship leader took the stage and did something radically different: he LED us. He told us what to do, coached us between choruses, and exhorted us when we seemed apathetic until the place came alive. There is a general squeamishness today among leaders about being too directive. “Good morning! Here at church XYZ we believe you’re free to worship any way you like. Just do whatever feels comfortable.” Well, that’s a cop-out. It’s bad leadership and it isn’t even remotely theologically true.
It’s not about the songs, the style, the instruments, the amplification, or even the loss of connectedness to our past (although I think traditional continuity can be a very good thing). It’s about the condition of the human heart and how people need to be led to lay down their egos and offer themselves as a living sacrifice. That’s hard, vulnerable, sometimes humiliating work. It’s easier to entertain because then we all get to keep our egos.
Personally, I like the idea of a-cappella singing. But recently I was whining to a Church of Christ friend about being bored with shallow, contemporary, soft-rock worship, and she said, “Wow, “soft-rock worship.” That sounds awesome!” She’s bored with her tradition, I’m bored with mine; for each of us real the problem isn’t the music or the lyrics – it’s us.
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Oh there’s plenty I don’t agree with Friends on, but here’s the beauty of being a Friend – that’s perfectly ok. I am not labeled a heretic, trouble maker, or any other derragatory term. With Friends, I don’t have to “camp out in the church yard.” I am welcomed inside with open arms. I am a read that has been severely bruised in traditional churches. Eventhough, I find the total absence of sacraments or even any particular creed/doctrine (my meeting is explicitly Christian, unlike some other meetings) to be a little odd, they will not break me or bruise me further. They will allow me to work out my salvation with fear and trembling surrounded and supported by my Friends.
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Ephesians 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
As well as many other examples of singing in Acts, other epistles (I Cor) and Revelation.
I am NOT saying that churches that don’t sing aren’t Christians. I am saying that the language in Ephesians and Colossians is imperative, not descriptive.
“In your heart” is not restrictive, but descriptive of how to sing, not where.
I also realize that Quakers are the perfect Protestants and have removed ALL externals of this sort, and I respect that understanding, though most of Christianity obviously disagrees.
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Can somebody PLEASE post the scripture references where congregational singing is a commandment?
I’m part of a Friends (Quaker) Meeting. We don’t sing. I’ve heard there is some singing at the various yearly gatherings, but I haven’t gone to any of them yet. I also freely admit that music/singing is probably the thing I miss most about going to a more traditional church.
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In the mega-church local franchise of JesusWorld that I formerly attended they now have several services for the demographic they truly want (more money).
They also have started a “classic” service for those who yearn for the more traditional.
Therefore, Grandpa and Grandma are not in the same service as the kids or grandkids.
How nice.
It seems like a cynical attempt to make Six Flags Over Jesus palatable to the folks who founded the church (all in their 60’s and 70’s or departed to older more traditional congregations) and the moneyed 30-40 year old professionals with 2.6 kids and a disposable income that can possibly be turned to tithing (show me that in the New Covenant).
As I have already stated, please excuse me while I go puke.
Yes I am bitter and cynical. Sue me.
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I’m a 23 year old, guitar playing, x-new music introducing pastor. I again experienced this last week while leading a camp for 13 year olds. We had some arguments with the worship leader, an extremely good charismatic guitarist, on exactly this, but decided not to push things. On the second evening we sang some songs at a burning cross, thus without words. He started of with some new songs, which I knew, but I could see the kids not participating. When the last song came I asked that we sing an old well-known Afrikaans hymn. Suddenly the voices of the kids were heard! And many of them don’t even attend church, but these hymns are so part of who we are, that everyone know them.
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Very nicely put Todd.
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Musical language and expression in worship is undoubtedly changing stylistically from one generation to the next, but this isn’t a large problem. True, the rhythms and arrangements of contemporary music are very different from traditional hymns. True, newer songs are more relationship based and less theological, and tend to be more about experiencing God than about knowing facts about Him. It is certainly true that there are next to none which have stood the test of time of so many of the greatest hymns.
It is true that few of the younger generation entering the church doors are familiar with traditional hymn arrangement, and the ability to sing four part harmony is becoming increasingly rare. Unfortunately, use of “contemporary” music can sometimes appear to signal a willingness to abandon the old faithful in order to appeal to the younger crowd. But this needn’t be the case.
The larger picture is that church is perhaps the last place on earth where all generations come together and participate in something in common. The larger problem is that unity can sometimes be threatened when we become too concerned with whether we should be more contemporary versus more traditional. Those are only style preferences, and if one must have one’s own style preferences in order to “worship”, then perhaps one misunderstands the sacrificial nature of worshipping.
We each have our preferences, but we also have an opportunity to worship together as family, and with songs that stir the entire family, in its present composition, with an eye to equipping its present outward-focused mission, and across all the generations.
How do we equip all the generations to be outward focused together? Singing together as a congregation appears to work well. Is it edifying for older members to sing newer songs which thrill the hearts of their grandchildren? Is it edifying for younger members to sing songs which stir the hearts of their grandparents?
Is it edifying to sing songs that equip the new visitors, who may have heard something on the radio, to join in singing? Is it edifying for the singing to be so good that church members feel like inviting others to come experience it?
Incidentally, few people dislike new songs, and a strong and very well-done presentation of new music, in conjunction with continued use of the best of traditional hymns (they often go together very well thematically) often results in increased enthusiasm. Naysayers can easily criticize things which are not done with excellence, but are rather reluctant to criticize things which work very, very well. Teaching can be done in such a way that songs presented for the first time on a given Sunday are already well known by the church, and sung with full participation.
When the music ministry focuses on the church family itself, and makes song selections for worship which the local church readily knows (or has been readily taught), the entire family can become equipped to sing with full participation and strength.
This can become a powerful outward sign and expression of unity, and it is much easier to lend one’s assent or “Amen” to something which is excellent. Whether the excellent songs are old or new or in-between, if the excellent song service reaches across all generations and allows for maximum participation by the entire family, then one finds far fewer critics and far more worshippers.
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Brian,
From a pre-Reformation stance ;), I think that one of the main purposes of congregational singing is to worship God as a community.
Entertaining-no;
What is worship evangelism? I’m not familar with that term?
Solid doctrine, with memorable tunes and words is very helpful. Especially since they can sneak into someone’s head and heart to make a difference later.
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Questions I ask:
1) What is the purpose of the music portion of the service? Is it to entertain people, to do worship evangelism, to teach doctrine, or to worship God?
2) Could the same songs be sung to Baal with little revision?
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Thomas wrote earlier: “A congregation will REALLY only sing what they know by heart. That is, overwhelmingly, the most important issue (just my opinion, of course). Congregations differ on how much they can know by heart and there are differing ways to impart that knowledge. However, often there is little or no effort given by music leaders towards helping the congregation learn songs by heart. One could argue that overhead projection and congregational hymnals do not really help a congregation with this; further, unless the repertoire is carefully controlled, the congregation can not keep up with the music leaders who practice extensively.”
I have to agree 100%. I have found over and over again that if you sing two songs in a service that the the congregation is unfamiliar with you will lose most congregations. They will tend to switch off and not participate in the rest of the service.
You have to be very careful and intentional as to how you introduce songs. I think that many of us worship leaders need to take our big worship binders with the hundreds of songs we know, and say, OK, here are the songs that we are no longer going to sing, reduce your existing repertoire to maybe 75 songs.
When introducing new songs, look for quality anthems, songs that you might want to be singing 10 years from now. My current favourite among the newer song category is “He Reigns” by the Newsboys!
My own predicament is this, I am currently attending a congregation founded by German immigrants. They moved from a German service to an English Service about 7 years ago. It is really hard for me to tell what works for them. What is a traditional hymn for me, is not for them. Yet you sing an older contemporary like “There is a Redeemer” and they raise the roof. As we are new to the church, we haven’t gotten that much involved in the worship team yet. When we do, it will be an interesting challenge to find what works well and what doesn’t. That is the challenge that all worship leader face and must be sensitive to.
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And BTW, U2 is the absolute most overrated band of all time. Singing horrible, playing junior high.
However, at least Bono (what an ego, almost equals mine) is taking some of his wealth and trying to make some difference for world poverty.
Certainly is better than the other Hollywood poseurs (Sean Penn et. al).
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Greg A.
What I tend to be verbose about you succinctly stated as music about “Jesus my boyfriend”.
Well done my friend.
if the music leads us to a trance-like state, beware.
If the music leads us to a deeper understanding of it is about God and always about God, then Hallelujah!!!
I don’t really care because I gave up church for lent (a small joke, I was raised SBC and then found the TRUTH in bible churches usually with a Dallas Theological minister and found myself later at a stealth Mega-church((Lakepointe, Rockwall, Texas)) several seasons ago and have not found a single good reason to go back to JesusWorld the Experience.
In fact, I am flirting with the RCC but just can’t seem to get past all the “it’s the ancient way so it must be right” theology.
Oops, too many subjects.
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John Wesley’s “Directions for Singing” might be interesting to ponder here.
I. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.
II. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.
III. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a single degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.
IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, then when you sung the songs of Satan.
V. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
VI. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing to slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.
VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.
From John Wesley’s Select Hymns, 1761
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Considering 2000 years of music in the church, the congregation we attended for close to three years opted for a very narrow genre — loud, abrasive, performance-oriented. Granted, the church is aiming for a demographic of 15-29 years of age (which is the topic of another rant), but the “praise” music all fit into what one person once characterized as “Jesus-is-my-boyfriend” kind of sickly-sweet sentimentality. We’re now attending a much more traditional church, that sings hymns at the 11:00 hour. We love it.
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I have been waiting to comment, but I thought I would wade in the water. I have been a “worship leader” in a couple of churches. The last church I served in did a split between hymns and choruses. I was the one in charge of the choruses. We had a separate lady who led the hymns. It sometimes seemed a little disjointed, but our people did sing both most of the time. Of course, I wasn’t above adding anything from hymns to songs from the old Country and Western Hymnal(even though I don’t much care for country music). I played guitar so most of the styles tended to be a little faster than they would have otherwise been. Even thought the people in that church sang quite well, it was often hard to hear it. I think it had a lot to do with the building. We were in a steel building and the acoustics were not good.
Now, I pastor a small church that meets in an older building. We have a high ceiling and lots of hard surfaces, including wooden pews with no cushions. The first thing that struck me in this church was the loud singing. We sing almost all hymns with one praise chorus at the first usually. But almost everyone sings and when we have even a small group of 10 or 15 the place can just ring. We are getting new hymnals soon, partly because our old ones are falling apart, but we aren’t getting rid of the old ones. They will go into a storage space, because sometimes you just have to drag out an old hymnal and sing one you haven’t sung that didn’t make the cut for the new one. We did that two weeks ago. I dragged out 8 copies of our old 1956 Broadman hymnals so a group of guys could sing “Bringing in the Sheaves”. We invited the people to sing along and many of them did. This Sunday ought to be interesting for me, because our regular song leader and his backup are both going to be out of town, so it will be me doing the whole service, playing my guitar for the hymns and enjoying every minute of it.
I have one good idea that might help those churches with performance mentality. It takes some logistics but the reaction(and the lesson) is worth it. Lead the music or preach from the back of the room. If you have a wireless mic it can be done. Do it from the middle of the room if you need to. I have done this once while preaching about worship. I circled my way to the back of the room while preaching to make my point about the need for everyone to participate without looking to the people on the front to do it for them.
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We’ve decided to do things a little differently in my church. I’m the pastor of an inner city church in Tampa called Watermark, but I’m also a song writer.
I started writing music to go along with the books that we are studying. Then we started recording them so that we would have a record of our studies through the books.
If you visit our church, you wouldn;t know the music, but you could pick up or download a copy of the music from us so that you would have an audible record of who we are and where we’ve been studying, and you could learn it.
It’s really been great and I think it is a great record of where we’ve come and are going.
Anyone can download our music for free at presonphillips.com, and now many churches are singing our songs.
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I’ve noticed when my church meets in someone’s home we only have a fraction of the church present but the worship (accompanied by me on guitar) is stellar- just about everyone sings with some gusto as we all sit facing each other. I don’t know why such enthusiasm is present at these occasions and not on our sunday morning services.
Even though this doesn’t satisfy my as an answer- I do think we have lost touch with the idea of “singing to each other” and instead we are “singing along with a choir/band/praise team”. When the crutch is yanked out from under us (as in a home meeting) we are forced to carry the song. But either way, its still spiritual laziness to abstain from singing in worship for no apparent reason.
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Several Sunday’s ago the worship leader announced that the theme of the worship that morning was God’s Grace. I was disappointed when by then end of the service we had sung several unknown, random, contemporary songs which did not include Amazing Grace.
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What is sad about the loss of congregational singing in the church is the loss of the power of singing. Somehow the national anthem, “Take me out to the Ball game,” or a school’s fight song bind us togehter in a strange way when we sing them corporately, yet all things considered, church music is not taken seriously. Singing together has a powerful sociological hold on us. I think back to when I was participating in a weekly prayers/Eucharist service with 5 or 6 people, and singing was a huge part of it. We would sing a praise chorus and a Wesley hymn (or something similar), sometimes with one guy on guitar, and it was great! Even if we didn’t always sound so great, at least we were willing to look foolish together in order to sing praises to God.
Besides, where else in our culture is it OK to sing 300 year old songs together? Like Bishop Willimon says, “You can’t get this stuff from MTV, you gotta get dressed and come down here to sing this kind of weird music.”
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A congregation will REALLY only sing what they know by heart. That is, overwhelmingly, the most important issue (just my opinion, of course). Congregations differ on how much they can know by heart and there are differing ways to impart that knowledge. However, often there is little or no effort given by music leaders towards helping the congregation learn songs by heart. One could argue that overhead projection and congregational hymnals do not really help a congregation with this; further, unless the repertoire is carefully controlled, the congregation can not keep up with the music leaders who practice extensively.
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I wonder if the UK is odd, or whether it’s just my experience: we’re not so reluctant to sing corporately (in fact, we have a handful of people at church whom, in a worse mood, we might wish to be slightly more reluctant).
Certainly, though, the author’s complaint about a “McDonaldised” church culture and about music groups drowning out congregations are valid over here. Within my own church, there are some folk who seem to have mistaken the church music group for a performing troupe rather than an aid to congregational singing.
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Believe me, I cannot cast any stones regarding “bad” music. I have some weird selections in my personal collection that cause friends to scratch their heads in bewilderment.
Your taste is completely subjective.
Also, as the writer above stated, the old hymns were at one time contemporary music and probably looked down upon by the curmudgeons like myself.
The point, I think, is that what is mostly being passed off as congregational singing is merely mindless repetition or being shouted at by the best contralto in the “praise band” who is not really good enough to be a professional singer and is using your worship service as a platform.
I’m not against modern music in any form.
Some of the most moving and personally spiritual songs I have heard were written in the last 30 years.
I object to what is very bad music with lame lyrics being foisted on me and others.
If what we want to do is stand waving like stalks of corn repeating Father I Adore you 200 times then Buddhist or Hindu chanting is probably a better choice. Same effect in less time.
the music in churches reflects the music in popular culture.
The only thing good on the radio is the baseball game this afternoon.
If you want good music you better start looking outside of the normal venues. that includes the amorphous glop passing as CCM and multi-billion dollar industry it is.
Ace of Base? U2? Oh well, you should see some of my crap.
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Have you ever “led” the congregational singing when you were the ONLY ONE singing?
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This is also a wider cultural thing. At one time, if you wanted music you had to make it yourself. Singing and playing instruments was something that most everybody did – in church and at home. But with the rise of radio and the professionalization/ commercialization of music, fewer and fewer people sing or play for enjoyment and expression. Music has become passive, not just in church. The attitude seems to be, “if i can’t sound like what I hear on the radio/cd/ ipod, then I can’t sing.”
Actually, church is the one place where group singing is encouraged – even if it’s sappy pop KLove stuff.
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I really appreciate your post! Even within the fellowship of a cappella churches of Christ (known for great congregational singing), I’m finding a trend away from what used to be full-participation in the singing by virtually everyone attending. Recently, almost no training has been offered and the decline has been pronounced.
Because I believe so strongly in the power of fully-participatory congregational singing, I left my worship ministry position to help churches re-learn and re-capture the beauty of four-part a cappella singing. Also, coming from a professional music “presentation” background, my current focus is on helping everyone discover the joy of singing. It’s rather easy to get “singing enthusiasts” excited about singing, but my greatest reward is in helping to convince average people who don’t sing (and don’t think they can sing) to join the wonderful music offered to our God.
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This isn’t a debate about church music. It’s about the loss of singing.
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What exactly is the command for congregational singing in the New Testament?
Is “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” really a command to sing together? Does it have to imply all at once , every time gathered singing?
The value and tradition of congregational singing is undeniable, but is there a specific command that makes it mandatory?
It would seem to me that many of the Psalms would never work in congregational singing, but are meant to be instructional and therefore would most likely be perfomed for a congregation.
It seems that this argument that while we need to learn to be careful in our attitude of worshiping together through song, there is definitely a different standard between preaching and leading worhip.
If both a preacher and a worship leader both attempt to skillfully, passionately, and eloquently do their tasks, the preacher will most likely be praised and the worship leader accussed of putting on a show.
I’ve both preached and lead worship and while doing a bad job of either is easy, it is much more difficult to do a good job at the latter. In either case it is easy to put on a show and more people will have illegitimate complaints about the latter almost every time the group is large enough.
Way too many of the complaints about worship come down to taste and turning tradition into laws. The origional church did not likely sing anything that sounded like the traditional hymns. The hymns themselve were the CCM worship of their time (musically, not the whole industry end).
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“But finding worship leaders and leadership in general committed to using the best of all usable kinds of music is very, very rare.”
What is sad is that I’m a pretty mediocre musician and a laymen, but I think I am pretty qualified theologically, liturgically, and musically to lead worship and I cringe myself at the majority of worship services at other churches. I don’t understand why some people feel led to lead worship when they don’t have a grasp for the nuances between different types of worship songs or understand a logical order of service that allows a congregation to experience the depth and breadth of our rightful response to God in worship.
Music leaders need to view what they do as a “second pastor” like you mentioned, and think theologically about the content of the music before they think about style. Its a matter of “form follows function” not “style over substance”.
When I was a kid in an SBC church we had a full-time “music minister” and it seemed like our worship service was based on the method of “two fast ones, a slow one, and then a pleading invitational at the end.”
A very large prosperous pentacostal church I attended years ago had a Micheal W. Smith type music leader and a full band, but the worship time droned on and on and the music was so repetitive. Even though the audience participated in this more lively music- there was no reflective music, the emotion was just cranked to 10 and never let up.
The PCA church I am in now has a volunteer choir director thats stuck in the 1950’s who doesn’t even select the hymns (our pastor does that) but only selects music for the “call to worship” and a very arbitrary and out-of-place “anthem”. There is no visible music leader and participation is very weak. I actually tone my voice down just so I’m not the loudest person in the pews and overally noticeable.
So why is it hard to find music leaders? In the first instance of my childhood SBC church I think it was the lack of a rich heritage of liturgy that views the service as a whole and not each songs or portion of the service as isolated. In the second instance I think the charismatic worship I’ve experienced lacks any kind of connection with the past, or the wide array of attitudes of worship that different types of songs communicate (lament, sorrow, contrition, repentance, thankfulness, joy). In the third and present worship situation I find myself in I think a more visible leader and more instrumentation would actually help round out the very organized order of service and liturgy, but I still don’t know if it would garner more congregational participation.
::shrugging shoulders::
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“…older people (assuming you still allow them to come to your church)…”
Ouch.
This post reminds me of when I first moved out of Toronto to where I am now. For years and years previously I’d gone to a Roman Catholic church where I grew up on the “old skool” style of using hymnals. Really, I genuinely liked it, though I admit I did (and sort of still do) buy into the idea of church being an event possessing a lot of “gravitas”.
Anyway, when I started running around with some of the folks I know now, I got this vibe at a lot of the Baptist/Pentacostal/Non-Denominational/etc. churches along the lines of “Hymnals1!? We don’t need no steeenking hymanals!” – not that their way was any worse than mine, I just had a little difficulty understanding why people had to look at a PowerPoint slideshow with canned images and videos of springtime flowers, sunsets/sunrises and children playing instead. (Maybe it had something to do with my favorite hymns in my home church’s hymnals being quite sombre and lamenting.)
Like with many things I had difficulty adjusting to in the practice of Christianity here, I half wondered if the problem was more with *me* as a Christian; otherwise I just shrugged to myself, said “When in Rome” and did as the others did…
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An issue that has arisen in my travels is the energy that a music leader will use when he or she is playing a style they do not like.
Example: at a 1st call retreat, the music leader was energetic when it came to songs like “Shine Jesus Shine” and “Shout to the Lord.” However when he was called to lead a traditional hymn the leader played it deliberately slow. I wish I knew why this happened. Was he trying to make a point? Was he playing slow on purpose to convince people that the traditional hymns were boring? Imagine how alive the hymn would be if it was played with the same energy and intent that the newer songs were played.
One last thing, the last six Contemporary services I have been to (five of them have been Youth-led), “Shout to the Lord” has been played. I know many pro-CCM will say that they don’t like the traditional hymns because the hymns sound the same, but can’t that same argument be used for people like me or hear the same 10-20 CCM songs all the time?
Anyway, good conversation, people!
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Don’t want mine out there when yours hits 🙂
I’m a more prepared in that department than I was 8 weeks ago. But given what was going on in my life, I can only imagine what I would have written.
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Anna:
I have consistently said both/and for 8 years on this blog.
It can and should be.
But finding worship leaders and leadership in general committed to using the best of all usable kinds of music is very, very rare.
And we do need to realize that it’s not a two sided question. There are many different kinds of music, lyrics and instruments that can be used.
But it is a point to be made that the hymnal is alot more diverse than the canon of CCM at this point. The process of deciding what is usable and worshipful is quite different once CCM is in play.
peace
MS
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Stephen,
Why does it have to be either/or about congregational singing? Why can’t it be both/and?
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The thing about Driscoll’s comments about music is he by his own admission can’t carry a tune and has chastized his church for not being good at congregational singing. And they’re not, but there’s not always a clear indication that this is because they don’t want to sing so much as that there are so many bands playing completely different or new arrangements of existing an original songs that half the time people don’t know the material. So while I agree with Driscoll’s concerns about sappy love songs to Jesus there are two concerns. 1) loving Jesus is considered lame and sappy by the world 2) there’s a risk that he offers a critique of his own congregation that may be partly the responsibility of his own teaching and the approach taken by the music department at his church.
But lest anyone think Mars Hill has no use whatever for older repertoire they had a traditional choir for a few years (organizational changes ended up making it a bit impractical, it seems), something I never would have guessed they would have done. I think the church is trying to figure out how to have the new and the old and because it’s a very young church there are things that just take time to sort out.
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My take:
I think he paints with a pretty wide brush here, but the principles are solid and should be considered. He lays most of the blame for why congregations don’t sing well on a music team that is untrained or insensitive. I think this most certainly could be the case (and have seen it many times as well), but in my estimation there may be some other factors that also play a role:
1. Weak preaching that does draw attention to the greatness of God. When a vision of God is huge a response to this God should naturally flow from those who love Him. The primary teacher/preacher in the church is real worship leader. Great music will draw people, but won’t keep them if the preaching is weak.
2. Bad sound technicians that fail to mix the sound well (either too loud or too soft). You can read some more developed thoughts of mine on this issue here if you like.
3. Perhaps a large population of unbelievers or young believers are present and have not yet developed a love for the great things of God.
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If you want your congregation to sing, you’ve got to make it easy for them to do so. Our LCMS church follows a traditional liturgy – chanting and singing are interwoven throughout the service. This all assumes a high degree of participation on the part of the congregation – we’re not just a passive audience.
As a young child I learned to read music by following along in the hymnal; in the few occasions where I’ve attended contemporary services, I’ve been at a loss trying to sing music when only the words are displayed on a screen. I want the actual music on a page so I can see the notes going up and down.
We’re led by our organist – and he introduces each hymn, playing solo on the organ before the congregation sings the first verse. So even if you can’t read music, you have a pretty good idea what the song is supposed to sound like. Of course, even with all of that, there are plenty of people in our congregation who listen silently. But at least it’s easy for the rest of us to join in and participate.
The best part of congregational singing, for me, is when I look at the information about the hymns, printed on the bottom of each page, and find that we’re singing something that’s several hundred years old. That’s when I feel connected to Christians who sang the same songs, centuries ago, in little village churches and great cathedrals, singing in praise of the same God. It’s a humbling reminder that we didn’t just invent all of this yesterday.
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Maybe I’m simply not sophisticated enough to fully appreciate ‘good’ music (i’m not a muscician, I can’t read music, and I can’t carry a tune in an empty bucket). I just don’t see the singing issue as big a problem as described here. I don’t really visit many different churches, I just know what I experience in my church. The worship services include a combination of CCM and old hymms. The lyrics of the hymms can be very profound and help to guide my worship. But then again some of the CCM used in worhsip helps me to worship as well. The church I grew up in (different from where I go now) used the traditional hymmnals…I can’t say I have great memories of the worship.
Times change along with styles of music. I would contend that sometimes preferences even change back to a previous style (why we have the phrase ‘retro’?) If the ‘old hymms’ are as great as everyone makes them out to be (I’m not saying they’re not) and they help to deliver the Gospel message through song, then they will not fade away entirely. I get the sense of an elitist mood; the folks that know quite objectively what is ‘good’ worship music and what is ‘bad’ worship music. I can’t say that I like every worhsip song out there. Sure, maybe some lyrics are sung too many times in a row, but just because I didn’t like that version, doesn’t mean that someone in the congregation didn’t have a good worship experience. If someone drew closer to God, then my opinion about the quality of the song and the theological implications of the lyrics, means absolute squat.
Keep in mind, I haven’t been taught singing and can’t read music. Maybe my ignorance of what is objectively ‘good’ music is evident. Afterall, there appears to be a 99% chance that some of the music I listen to is an ‘amorphous glop’…I wasn’t aware of this. Is it possible my other musical tastes are suspect (Beethoven? Jimmy Buffett? Bob Marley? U2?…80’s Biggest Hits?, is there a powerpoint presentation I can download somewhere that will be able to provide me with an objective musical ruler?
If I went to visit another church, I sincerely hope I don’t find myself too critical of their worship leaders. But there is something easy about blaming someone’s else inability to sing the song just right, or to play the song the ‘right way’ for my own unfullfilling worship for that day. If I experience a worship service that doesn’t connect me to God, or teach me the Gospel, then I would love to be able to lay that at the feet of our worship leaders. It would keep me from having to look inward at the real cause of an unfulfilling worship serivce. None of us really like looking there do we?
Now I have to get going…where did I leave that “Ace of Base” CD?
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And secondly, we have a lot of children who know Veggietales and don’t know “It Is Well With My Soul.†That’s an unspeakable, horrendously stupid loss and if I catch you advocating it, I will be tempted to harm you.
It’s happened before; when Christian meditation and contemplative prayer were thrown out in favor of preaching. Shortly followed by the scolding denunciations of “The Threat of Eastern Mysticism (TM)” when the Christians’ kids started OMMMMMing away to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Will a future generation of Christians’ kids — after congregational singing has died out in favor of “Just like American Idol, except CHRISTIAN (TM)!” — find their congregational singing fix with congregational chantings in Buddhist temples and congregational rote devotions in Islamic mosques?
Like Mr. Spencer said, take a look at the Catholics to see where all this is headed — and remember, they stopped short of using the overhead projector. — Urban_Otter
As in “Gather Us In”, THE most overdone lightweight Processional/intro hymn in history?
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IMonk –
I have a radical suggestion for anyone who wants to recapture the historical hymnody of the Church and sing it well… Go A Capella!
I grew up in a Church that didn’t allow musical instruments in Church service. As one would expect I grew up to wanting to be in a rock band (sadly the best I can do is occasionally play in a cover band). However – I also noticed as I went to a variety of Churches that there is an inverse correlation between the singing of the congregation and the volume and quantity of instrumentation.
Seriously! A Calvary Chapel in my area (not to pick on them or anything – I think others share this sentiment) apparently consciously believes that the sound system should prevent congregants from being able to tell if anyone else is singing! Worship should be between you and God, after all, and you shouldn’t worry about if someone else can hear you or if you sound good, etc.
Nice theory by somebody who doesn’t love music. Transpose that to visual art and it’s as if somebody was saying – worship God by painting a picture, but after all worship isn’t about how well you paint but about your heart so everybody gets paintbrushes and paint but you’ll all be blindfolded so can see the artwork and nobody is tempted to paint for man instead of God… Ok – worship away! This may be an explanation for the works of Jackson Pollock.
Anyways – obviously fundies trying to prove that the Bible forbids musical instruments in worship have some serious problems. But preferring regular use of a cappella as a tool to develop appreciation for and ability to sing classic hymnody makes a lot of sense.
As a child (10 or 11 years old) I learned to sing harmony by following my mom’s alto. As I got a little older I switched to tenor – and because there were no instruments I could clearly hear a couple of the tenors in the congregation and follow them. I never developed a voice deep enough to sing real bass but I tried to sing bass lines and switched octaves when necessary. So today I can sight sing (ie figure out a simple piece of music from a score when I’ve never heard the tune, improvise bass and tenor lines, and generally sing traditional 4 part harmonies with ease. And I’m not outstanding in the group of people I grew up with – most of the kids could sing parts. A lot of them were in singing groups – trios and quartets, choir ensembles at the local community college, etc.
The point is – current styles of worship the article complains about (loudly mic’ed worship leader with plenty of instrumentation) absolutely prevents people from being able to participate in singing. Not being able to hear yourself and and others when singing is analogous to painting blindfolded and prevents anyone from learningn how to sing…
Again – I’m not arguing instruments are wrong or rock is bad (I own a Strat, I play in a band). I simply think that music leaders who care about congregational participation and singing should use a capella singing as a tool. I’d like to see good congregational singing make a comeback and I think occasionally reducing accompaniment would be one of the most effective ways of helping the congregation learn to sing and partcipate.
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Of all the mistakes made by modern American evangelicalism, the loss of congregational singing is one of the most tragic. Contemporary praise band music starts off with the congregation all enthusiastic and emotional, and over the years leaves them listless and apathetic.
Like Mr. Spencer said, take a look at the Catholics to see where all this is headed — and remember, they stopped short of using the overhead projector.
Why must the contemporary worship band with its modern praise music eventually result in the death of congregational singing? I don’t know, but the fact that it does is the most profound argument against it.
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Anna and iMonk,
I guess my question would be would the new testament authors be encouraging “worship though singing” or “singing because it’s a communal act?” Don’t get me wrong, I am a strong proponent of congregational singing, I am just wondering if the ends and the means need to line up.
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An Old Testament example isn’t a new covenant command. Congregational singing is, however, commanded in the new testament epistles. While this is no doubt pragmatic, and not essential to either salvation or worship, it is one of the few things that is explcitly commanded in new covenant gathered worship.
[Had to give a more Protestant view of worship on that one 🙂
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Stephen,
I think that we should save/encourage congregational singing because it helps/teaches/leads us to worship God as a community. (And it is Biblical, when you look at Old Testament worship, and even the Temple worship at the time of Jesus.)
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I don’t comment very often because I feel that there are more eloquent people commenting from my view point. Perhaps if I waited longer someone would make this point as well. While I agree with the struggles of “congregational singing” in contemporary churches, I think the issue stretches further, than the style of worship. It has been rare, in the twenty-some years of my church-going (six of those being on church’s staff) to find a music director, worship pastor or lead worshiper (GOD forbid) who teaches people to worship the GOD we claim we are singing to. In most cases the churches are teaching people to sing a song.
I’ve spent a good deal of time in churches all across the denominational board and have found that I have been able to worship GOD with both hymns and contemporary songs. The converse is also true. I have been around churches where I have tried to find a way out of the sanctuary when any sort of music is going on.
I guess the question that comes to my mind is, “if we are going to save congregational singing, why are we saving it?” If the answer is to preserve the old, beautiful hymns I think we are missing the point.
peace.
steve.
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link for Indelible Grace: http://www.igracemusic.com
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In his outstanding book Mother Kirk, Douglas Wilson has very helpful things to say about TEACHING the congregation to sing and how Christ Church has done that with special classes and singing opportunities.
I’m very grateful for the fully graded choir programs at the churches where I grew up and where I served. The contemporary church has embraced contemporary pop and ironically abandoned the art of singing.
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I agree with both the article and what Michael has written. I find praise music almost unsingable, and it is even worse in small groups. Did all the writers miss the English sections on poetry, or did their teachers emphasize analyzing the poem rather than first and last listening it as read aloud.
I wonder if part of the problem is that music isn’t being taught in schools, and so people don’t get exposed to the range styles, etc.
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At my church, the worship leaders are in their 20s… and unlike the previous worship leaders, who were in their 50s, or the ones before that, who were in their 40s, they like hymns. We regularly get a hymn, or two, or three, in their set.
The kids like hymns because the pop-music stuff is on the radio too much and gets old quickly. Meanwhile the old stuff is cool and Goth and trendy.
Yeah, we Californians are weird.
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I’ve said the phrase “No-one’s singing” more than once at my church. It doesn’t help that the new music leader (who is a good guy overall) forces the congregation to sit though 2-5 songs he wrote….then the story about how the song was written. Ironically, they also sing hymns now and then and the congregation comes alive every time, but then they add a new chorus or bridge with little connection to the song (David Crowder and Chris Tomlin are notorious for this, Tomlin even got a Dove Nomination for adding a verse to a public domain hymn) and the congregation starts mumbling again.
Then the pastor comes out, who is oddly enough named David. While it is a monologue, he seems to “get it” more than the music beforehand would suggest. He preaches from the word, focuses on Christ and His sacrifice, quotes Dallas Willard and NT Wright, discusses the plight and mentality of Christians and others outside of the insanely rich US, and works alongside leaders who are able to do the same so we’re not stuck with a single personality-driven church. So much is good here, but when a rock band concert mentality takes up the first 35 minutes of a service, there’s a problem.
A co-worker called what is going on the “Worship Hits” mentality: The sing the latest and the most popular on the charts, replace them every few weeks and keep a few classics (circa 2000). Anything older needs a major overhaul if it’s to be popular again. This works for ADD pop radio, but will destroy the unity and communion of a church.
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Found this great resource about the history of the Lutheran side of Reformation Hymnody.
http://www.goodshepherdinstitute.org/dvd/index.php
There is some great music on this DVD and it is well produced. You can download a clip from it at the above link.
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I appreciate the original article and this response. It prompted me to immediately write to our home church in the States and profess my appreciation to our Senior Pastor and Worship Pastor for continuing on in the taken-for-granted practice of congregational hymn singing.
As a guy with a music degree and some professional experience, I am also saddened that the death of congregational singing is also rendering future generations musically untrained. Sure, reading music and harmonizing isn’t terribly important spiritually or theologically, its loss just adds to the list of skills and knowledge we are not passing on to future generations.
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Maybe you should look at the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s Lutheran Service Book for good solid hymns that teach.
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The Gospel is the story of God that includes me. It’s not “about” me in the same way it is about God, but as the meaning of my life is expounded in it, it is “about me” in a way that speaks to me.
Some of the best older hymns were about Christian expereience, such as “Amazing Grace” or “I Stand Amazed in the Presence” or “And Can It Be.”
I understand Dr. R’s point in this me-centered age, but it is important to know that if we didn’t exist, there wouldn’t be a Gospel. It’s God’s story that includes us by his grace and for his glory.
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AMEN!!
I visited my friend’s church last week and heard one song about God and a bunch of songs about “me”. One described Jesus’ love in a way that was surprisingly romantic (as Mark Driscoll said, like singing to your cosmic boyfriend Jesus).
On the White Horse Inn a few weeks ago, Rod Rosenbladt caused a stir (especially in my house) by saying, “the Gospel is not about you and your walk. It’s about God!”
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I guess I am of a certain age (over 50) that I kind of like both.
I do not consider any service that leaves out some of the great hymns to be worship for me.
However, I also have enjoyed individual performances of newer songs.
I absolutely abhor the PowerPoint/Overhead chanting that passes for singing in most evangelical churches today.
Also, I am a musician.
A rock and roll and singer/songwriter musician.
Bad music is bad music. 99% of modern “Christian Music” is amorphous glop.
As an adult I began to really pay attention to the lyrics of our treasured hymns.
What a contrast to chanting I love you Lord Jesus 3,000 times to the tune of some generic 70’s bad music or hearing some nasal twanged rendition of what a good day Jesus the magical person has given me.
I’ll take AC/DC over most modern junk in church any day, At least they’re honest about the motivation.
Excuse while I go puke.
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