One of the silliest phrases that came into vogue the last few decades was the term “worship wars.” There have been people at times in history who have been killed for choosing to worship a certain way. Those are worship wars. Ours have been worship wrangling, at best.
In our fellowship, one of the key areas of struggle has been over instruments. That is, can we use them. A number of congregations have chosen to add instruments to their singing.
From my limited observation, I see a funny thing happening. What was brought in as a “tasteful accompaniment” tends to become the center of attention. The lightly strummed guitar and gentle flute give way to the full-out praise band that “rocks the sanctuary.” That’s interesting to me, because that’s been a major battleground in churches that were already using instruments. They’ve struggled over musical accompaniment of singing vs. vocal accompaniment of instruments playing. Best I can figure, those in our brotherhood that have chosen to go the instrument have sided themselves with the “progressives” in other churches.
There are churches that have used instruments for many years that haven’t moved past a piano accompanying the congregation. Why do you think our churches tend to jump from “no instruments” to “full instrumentation” so quickly? It’s hard for me to see how this can do anything but hurt congregational singing. Am I off base? Have you seen churches with loud “praise bands” that still had strong congregational singing?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Strong congregational singing from a participatory metric? A volume metric? A quality-of-singing metric?
When there’s a band playing, I sing at the top of my lungs – I follow the melody but I sing OUT! Without accompaniment, I don’t. I’m a white guy in America, and for whatever reason I don’t seem to be wired for full-body a cappella singing like I’ve seen and heard from Christians in other cultures. Also, I kinda have a big-but-rough voice, so I don’t get to sing at the assembly the way I would in my car or at a concert.
Thanks Nick. That’s exactly the kind of input I’m looking for.
This topic hits pretty close to home for me. I can still remember in my first ministry position going to the local nursing home and when the resident Church of Christ member was there we didn’t use instruments but when she did not attend we went ahead and had accompaniment because it wasn’t an issue for me. The good singers were louder without instruments and those who were not good singers often didn’t sing. With the instruments they sang because it covered their lack of singing ability.
At that point I would have told you accompaniment might help. Well seven years later I would say it is more than that. Those were older believers who understood that we are called to sing. They were raised on a piano or organ. Also I have discovered that Church of Christ people are trained to sing along. That is a part of the teaching and so no matter if there are instruments or not people raised to understand the need to sing will sing.
I just don’t see that being the case in other backgrounds. The last time I was at an instrumental worship service with the band going people actually gave me dirty looks for singing out. I took the stares and dirty looks to mean they preferred to enjoy the professional gifted individuals on the stage.
Generationally it is my opinion that people come for the experience and are motivated by how it makes them feel. They are not there to add their voice to the group. Worship is not about them singing, it is about them experiencing God. Throw in the professional nature, in most big churches everyone up there is being paid. The people in the band may have no faith at all but just need a place to make some money on the weekend.
Why do Churches of Christ who jump in jump in at this point? It is where the culture is and that is why they are adding instruments. They better get ready to join the worship rat race (definitely not a war) because someone is always going to offer a better experience for the masses. They will need to invest heavily in the worship band and all the special effects. It is what the people want and have grown accustom to.
Think they will be happy without the full service? Not in my experience and at some point you may find yourself asking is this really what the church is supposed to be about? I think it was love God and love your neighbor not love God and have a really great worship experience that makes you feel special. But I could be wrong….
Darin,
Thanks for sharing your experiences. And for the thoughtful questions at the end. As I stumble my way through this, I’ll probably have to spend some time on the meaning and theology of worship.
This is a question that has been repeated many times in many publications. I’m sure it will continue to repeat, as I feel we are just on the edge of the overall growth of the issue. As of yet, I have not heard anyone comment from the viewpoint of the musician.
I may write more on this later, but for now let me just say this: the opportunity for a Church of Christ-raised musician to finally let go and use ALL their talents in praise to God is almost a watershed moment.
I was born on Friday and in church on Sunday. I grew up singing a capella in church and taking private guitar lessons (as well as other instruments) all through my educated years. Voices for the church – instruments for the weekend bluegrass jams. I remember dipping my toes in the water and going to Sandi Patti, Michael Smith and Amy Grant concerts and leaving wondering why WE couldn’t do that? I spent the next 15 years working as a professional a cappella singer. When the next phase of life came along, I worked as a Music Minister at a Church of Christ.
All during this time, several decades, I had a longing in my heart to be free to use every aspect of the talent God had blessed me with in His service. 18 months into my work as a Music Minister, our church leadership decided to practice what we believed and we added instruments.
We began slowly with light instrumentation. But very quickly we found people who had the same desire… drummers who had no place to play other than the bars of their younger years. Keyboardists who played for the Lord in their living room and had no chance to express their feelings publicly. Guitar players who were tired of Ozzy when they really wanted to play Sonic Flood. There was a great desire, long inhibited, to play for the Lord. Consequently, it grew very quickly from a light sound to a full blown rockin’ worship band.
There is much more to this story, but I have learned two important points (more than that actually, but two for this response):
1). It takes a leader blessed by God to control the composition, make-up and delivery of any given band so that it blesses the church and does not distract from worship.
2). It takes a leader blessed by God to involve the church body and keep them involved and participating. I believe ownership of worship is extremely important. Having an experiential worship is wonderful as long as your spirit is in communion the Spirit. But if experiential equals observatory entertainment, something is lost.
Incidentally, I am back in the a capella church world, but I am richer for experiencing both. Thanks for the article.
Gary, thanks for another viewpoint that needs to be heard. I’ve heard other musicians say similar things. In a discussion on the frustration that women sometimes feel at church, I mentioned this same point.
There needs to be a discussion of how people can utilize their gifts in worship, both musical and other kinds of creative gifts. What has a place in the assembly and what doesn’t? Such needs to be addressed.
There is an interesting dynamic within music and musicians, I think – I rarely hear other creatively gifted people feel the sense of… lessening of worth, maybe?… that musicians feel when their talents are excluded from that one-or-two hours a week we share before God.
I appreciate Gary’s perspective as well, because it raises a challenging point about our real dependence upon the Spirit. We make decisions in a lot of pragmatic ways, as have been described above (cultural relevance, pleasing the old guard, etc.).
How would our congregations be affected if we did not feel compelled to initiate “programs” or make changes unless/until the community of faith recognized someone as being gifted by the Spirit with both a particular talent, a particular drive, and the particular humility required to exercise such gifts?
You know… sort of the way Paul teaches Timothy and Titus to look for elders?
My observations run along the lines of people not singing out enough at either non-instrumental or instrumental congregations. This is purely anecdotal, but the people/relatives I’ve talked to that use instruments in worship give two main reasons: they like the way it sounds, and they don’t want anyone else to hear them (they hide behind the music). There have been some good comments and questions, so here’s another one. Many state the argument that “God gave me this talent to play a musical instrument, so why can’t I?” That may be fine for drummers, guitarists, etc. But what about people whose only training is that of blowing a horn or flute or some other instrument that would prohibit them from singing (keeping in mind that “singing” is the admonition we are given)? Are we then to discriminate based on which talents or skills a person has? I played trumpet in high school and used to be able to carry a tune on several brass instruments, but try as I might, I just couldn’t get these fingers to bend in the correct position to play a guitar (and alas, my Brian May jam session fantasies remain just that…). Nick made a good point about this being the one area where people use the “but it’s my talent” argument. I’ve never heard a baker crying foul because they can’t serve a layered cake instead of unleavened bread for the Lord’s Supper. As for those going to full-bore instrumental jam bands, to me it makes us dependent on an external source to stir up the emotions of worship, which is different than Paul’s instructions that the source of our joy in singing should be our heart. Just my thoughts…
Just one more thought on this as I pondered Nick’s statement about the difference in how we sing out at a concert or in the car vs. in worship. I’m thinking about how I sing in those situations (besides loud and out of my range…). Usually, we sing the melody. I’m wondering if lack of knowledge of 4 part harmony used at most congregations is a hindrance. It sounds great if you know how to do it, but can be intimidating and even embarrassing if you think everyone else knows how to do it. I’m thinking of my wife, who sings “also” (you know, whatever the person next to her is singing, she sings “also”). She can’t read a lick of music and has no real sense of harmony (and who grew up in a Christian church and loves instrumental worship music). I’m wondering what would happen if the song leader would just say “OK, everyone just sing the melody today, no bass or tenor or alto” what would happen. I may just try that.
We already do :) That’s why I’m not a songleader.
I think there’s more emotion-stirring that comes from the music than you give credit. When we sing songs in a major key, does the boisterousness come from our hearts or from the music? When we sing songs in a minor key, does the somberness come from our hearts or from the music? What about descants (like the soprano part in ‘Jesus Is Lord’)? My heart is stirred by an external source – the singing of my sisters in Christ! The relationship between music and heart is more complex than simply internal/external, I think.
Travis,
I would observe that the singing of four-part harmony is a dying art in our churches. The use of projected songs accelerates that, as frequently only the lyrics are projected. I’ll also state that I don’t know that it’s necessarily bad that four-part harmony go away; it’s not like that’s a practice that dates back to biblical times.
The use of praise teams might prolong the use of that singing style, but I’m not sure. Our schools aren’t putting the emphasis on musical education that they once did, culture has moved away from singing as a family pastime, and traditional singing styles are disappearing. Four-part harmony lives on in the “Sing Off” style, but most of that isn’t something that could be reproduced at the congregational level.
Grace and peace,
Tim
I’ve visited a variety of churches with instrumental worship, in my experience I have found that most have many of the church members singing out. How well I hear others sing depends on what type of musical accompaniment is used but for the most part, I’ve never had a problem.
Grace and Peace,
Rex
I have very little experience with instrumental praise in church (thiugh I hear it all the time on the radio). My most recent experienxe was probably seven years ago, when visiting Little Rock Church. It is essentially an instrumental Church of Christ, and the worship leader there had an uncanny sense for when to wave off the praise band and let the congregation sing a cappella — a couple of times in the middle of the song. The band followed him closely and sang when not playing. The church was smaller than mine (about 250 when I was there), but the singing was heartfelt and uplifting.
At the other end of the spectrum: I work and worship at a pretty large (1200 at two services, split 700/500) a cappella congregation, where the singing is pretty good. Yesterday it shot to awesome in a matter of minutes when a power failure occurred, and all lights, projection and amplification blinked off. The worship leader switched to some songs we know better and cherish, and people just seemed to feel more free in the darkness to belt out their praise to God. It was virtually indescribable.
I used the word “uplifting.” I think it describes the dichotomy we feel. Worship is to be directed toward God, yes. But we are also asked to sing to and encourage one another. It’s not a sin to feel uplifted by lifting up Christ in song and hearing others do so. I don’t know where we got that idea. It’s foreign to scripture.
And I think if our concern is to improve our worship together, frankly, instruments and praise teams and powerpoint and books are pretty much irrelevant issues. They’re tools. Worship begins in the heart and comes out of the heart — through the voice, the hands, the feet, the voices, the smiles, the tears, and the expressions of love we have for God and one another.
My experience comes from an organist who as she grew older played louder to the point that no one could hear the person next to them singing. I can imagine a rock band playing to that point that there is no singing. I listened to a song that I liked on a local Christian radio station; only heard the band and not the words though there was singing involved. And I visited a Methodist church that had a guitarist playing expecting the audience to sing; which it hardly did. There are both positive and negative happenings in this.
On praise teams: I personally think that they are decreasing singing rather than increasing it. Visiting Pepperdine Lectures, the Praise teams often drowned out the singing. Kind of sad in my view.
When my small house church decided to try singing with instruments it was at my husband’s request. He is a talented musician, and he wanted to play the guitar during worship to suite his musical tastes and talents, and because he wanted his gift to be used to glorify God. No one objected, so he lead a service with a few songs and it was moving and beautiful. I guess it was inspirational too, because now the other members have tapped into their musical talents and we have members writing their own worship songs with the piano and even ukelele! It is far from a full on “band” but I can see why churches you are referring to that introduce instruments end up going all out. Many people have musical talents and they want to use them for God. People in the OT played all sorts of instruments and did it all the time, and it wasn’t considered a distraction, it wasn’t considered entertainment, it was considered praise to God.
As for the singing, I’ve been mostly to acapella congregations, and I sing loud, very well, and I know my harmonies. I do get a lot of compliments, and that actually is a huge distraction to me. I enjoy singing with instruments better because I’m noticed less. I’m not worried about how I sound (because I’m basically leading the Alto section when I sing), I’m not worried someone thinks I’m showing off, I’m not worried my focus is in the wrong place. In the few instrumental congregations I’ve been to I’ve seen more people just let go of their inhibitions and praise God in ways I feel I would be judged for in the acapella congregations. Tears, hands raised, clapping, you know, all that sinful emotional stuff ;) I’ve even been to a rock concert for my favorite band (Thrice) and felt like I had never praised God more.
But, that’s just me.
Thanks for getting this discussion going. I grew up in the a cappella tradition and work with a congregation which worships in that tradition. I have also participated in programs conducted by those of other fellowships who use instruments in their worship. I observed very quickly that the accompaniment of songs with instruments did not affect my attentiveness to the words of the songs. In fact, if anything, the musical accompaniment allowed me to more effortlessly sing on key and therefore have even greater capacity to focus on lyrics.
Having said that, I have observed that some…..not all….in fellowships which use instruments, allow themselves to be so taken in by the sound that the lyrics get lost. My youngest son frequently plays guitar in services at churches where he worships. He has often expressed to me his yearning to help some of these fellowships to have a richer appreciation of the lyrics and the benefits of actually singing rather than being a listener.
My own view is that God desires our hearts and minds to be engaged in our worship of Him. This can occur, I might add, when a person is singing or sometimes when a person pauses to listen to the voice and sound of others in worship. In defense of those we might observe whose lips are not moving in a song service, I would advise us not to judge what might be going on in that person’s heart at the moment. It’s too easy to think that these individuals might have just come to hear some good music and take in the “concert”. But there is also the possibility that their mind and heart is engaged at a deeper level than those whose lips are moving and whose eyes are focused on shape notes on a page and the key signature and wondering if the song leader got it too high or too low or if it should be sung faster. In other words, let’s search our own souls and not be so quick to search the souls of others.
I am so glad to read about Church of Christ Churches who have shaken off crusty old and silly doctrine to include instrumentation as part of worship service. Praise God with the timbrel and dance!!!!
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