- As with any field in music, Praise and Worship music is in a constant state of flux. If you’re going to contribute to that genre, stay alert to current trends.
Serious young Christians don’t want to play at religion—they’re interested in “extreme” Christianity and their music expresses it.
Also, today’s “melody vacuum” has created a hunger that is leading many young people to revisit the more musical styles of the 70’s.
Many churches today offer a choice of the Traditional Service or the Contemporary Service (some call it the Praise Band Service), and some have gone to what they call the Blended Service, a combination of the two types of worship.
(Our schools of music ministry in Singapore were hosted by Wesley Methodist, a large church that offered simultaneously both liturgical services and contemporary charismatic services. One Sunday morning a Chinese gentleman asked us, “Which way is the jolly service?”)
Be aware, though, of another trend, a disturbing trend. There are spiritually insensitive “worship teams” that get carried away with the fun of the music until it becomes rock for rock’s sake.
Some can conduct an entire worship service and never once approach a sense of reverence. To inflict this on a captive congregation is an act of aggression, tantamount to disturbing the peace. The church becomes an ideological battleground. Some people, not just the old, in their hunger for a true worship experience, leave and go to more formal churches where the sense of adoration of the majesty of God has not been lost.
One reason for this might be the spiritual immaturity of some musicians in the worship team. A “Praise Band” usually consists of a certain combination of instruments, but not every church has all of these instruments available. So they recruit the best players they can, some of whom may not be believers.
There has recently been a lot of discussion about this practice, some for, some against. Here’s our take:
This is Plan B, but it’s not necessarily bad, in our opinion. We’ve done it ourselves at times. We once saw a family of five receive the Lord and be baptized together because we invited their son to play in the band. But it puts a responsibility on the leadership to make sure the attitudes and atmosphere of the team don’t turn into a “gig.”
Another factor in the progression of worship music was the great success of the Promise Keepers movement in the 1990’s. Several million men in arenas and stadiums were led into a new experience in worship through contemporary music.
Many of them, including lots of pastors, went back to their churches and became dissatisfied with the status quo. Many a church music department was affected, if not outright overhauled as a result.
It goes on. So be concerned, not just with what’s happening now, but also with where it’s all going. You might be a trailblazer.
Written by : Jimmy & Carol Owens
