A New Beginning - part 3

This is part 3 of an article on Ethnomusicology and the local church. Click here to begin with part 1.

THE BACKGROUND - continued

How did they reach this level?

For many churches, it will be tempting for the new minister to respond, "They did nothing." That is how we often feel about new people groups. It does not matter if they are far advanced when compared to other local groups. We look at where they are and immediately want to pronounce them dead on arrival, and we decide that the previous minister is to blame. As you investigate their past, you may soon discover that they only did what they were told to do. If the team is not up to par, then the leader failed to direct sufficiently. You may also discover that the past ministers took their new church body and threw them headlong into new programs, ministries, styles, etc. Some crazy foreigner came into their midst and tried to convert the heathens . . .and failed. The heathens choose to revert to what was known and comfortable.

If their past lacked education, training, encouragement, and true servant ministries, then the individuals of the body should not be blamed for the lack, or seemingly lack of growth. Their musical level may have plateaued before they ever left the cellar. They needed a strong leader who knew when and how to challenge the body in the growing process. You may be able to force a child to eat broccoli, but, as President Bush pointed out, if an adult does not want to eat it, he won't. You cannot force any of your volunteer members within the music ministry or church body at large to do anything that they do not want to do. The timing must be perfect.

When will be the perfect time to begin educating the church body? That depends on the level of education. A good leader is always educating. Everything you do and say should be an example. If you want your choir to learn how to sing with a good tone, you begin by exampling that in front of them before you ever mention it to them. Seeking the advice of current, long-term members will help you to learn God's will, the people's vision or lack thereof, and the amount of resistance you will encounter. Hours of research and prayer are your best tools when trying to start or change anything within the church body. Remember that you are to make disciples, not musical prodigy.

What is the true style of choice for them?

Regardless of where the church is musically or how they got to that point, you might find that the true desires of the church are quite different. I believe that you will find that this applies in all areas of the church, not just musically. The vast majority of the church is typically very happy to simply attend each week and leave all of the decisions, planning, and growth up to the hired guns—a term that I heard often at a church in Texas when they were referring to the hired staff. There may also be a contingency among the congregation who believe that God called the staff and therefore they should be the ones to make the decisions. However, the individuals who fall into neither of these camps might be the toughest group to persuade. They are generally the ones who believe that the church is for them and that they have been left out of the decisions for far too long. A good study on this last group can be found in Gordon MacDonald’s book, “Who Stole My Church?”

Worship styles continue to be a touchy subject in our churches. Every minister of music must deal with the battle of personal preferences when it comes to worship styles. But the style war is nothing new to the church. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote that he could not stand the music his children enjoyed. And while Bach wrote music mainly for churches in his time, almost none of it is performed in modern churches except as part of a classical concert. But his music was new and contemporary during his time.

George Frederic Handel did not live to see his music performed regularly in churches because it was too contemporary and used opera-like techniques which were forbidden in church music. But today his “Hallelujah Chorus” is performed in churches around the world every Christmas.

Martin Luther believed that music should be written in a language that people could understand, but many argued that only Latin could be used. He also believed that music should include new texts at a time when only scripture could be used. Hymns such as the “Doxology” were even banned from churches in 1674 because the forms were too modern. Imagine if we still had to sing songs in Latin. We would not have “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” or other great traditional hymns if it were not for men like Luther insisting on new music.

John Calvin believed that the organ should not be allowed because it is never mentioned in the bible. He went so far as to lead mobs of people into churches where they poured a cement mixture down the pipes of the organs. While he was opposed to any music with new texts, he did support the creation of new tunes to fit the psalms. We would not have many of our well-known traditional tunes without men like Calvin pushing for contemporary sounds in music.

Many of our 1850s Gospel era hymns were originally not allowed in Southern Baptist churches because they came out of the Methodist Camp Revivals and were considered too rhythmic and energetic. Some pastors even taught that the songs were satanic because of the modern sound.

In the 1950s and 60s, churches battled over allowing those praise choruses by some new Gospel singer by the name of William Gaither. When youth camp songs such as the Gaither choruses and hymns like “Sweet, Sweet Spirit” or “Pass It On” where included in the 1976 Baptist Hymnal, many in my hometown church cried out that the liberals must have taken over the Southern Baptist Convention.

And still the battle over personal preferences continues to splinter the church. Some people believe that one of the newest heresies in church music is the resurgence of hymn writing among contemporary Christian artists. Not only are they changing the tunes of our beloved old hymns, but they are also writing new texts and putting them to hymn-style tunes and expecting us to sing them.

Why is it so hard for us to put aside our own personal preferences for the glory of God and His kingdom? Ed Stetzer, LifeWay Christian Resources, said, “People will fight to death over their preferences while people all around them die and go to hell.” God knew we would have these battles over personal musical desires, that is why he commanded us to sing psalms (music based on scripture), hymns (traditional songs that teach our Christian heritage), and spiritual songs (modern music of our own age).

A self-centered church will be less likely to want any changes musically. They are not about to consider the musical needs of others. If a church is willing to make changes so that they can grow musically as well as meet the musical needs of more people, then you will need to determine the musical needs of your church body and the potential attendees from your community. A church in a large metropolitan area will have much more flexibility in choosing a singular worship style that will work for them. Most churches will need to find a style that meets the needs of all ages unless they choose to focus on only a portion of their community.

Click here to read part 4.