Robes and Drums

Hello Emmanuel,

Rev. Jay Madigan from Williamsburg UMC shared an article (http://thomrainer.com/2014/08/30/six-reasons-churches-moving-back-one-worship-style/) I want to expand on for this MMP.  It is about worship styles and how we are perhaps seeing a shift in trends.

As I moved through seminary and into my first and second appointments (1994-2009), there was a trend of multiple styles.  Churches would try and find ways to appease the traditionalists as well as the modern worshippers of the community.  Two different worship services would be developed.  One would have liturgies and hymns and robes.  The other would have drums and khakis and coffee.  The purpose, I suppose, was to show that any style was ok as long as worship was designed to point people to God in whatever style the person related to the best.

Emmanuel’s experience is rather similar.  Over the past several years there has been attempts made to show both the traditional side of worship and the modern side, sometimes within the same service and sometimes in separate services.  Sometimes it worked well and sometimes it didn’t.  As a pastor, I have often struggled with this tension between traditional and modern, probably because I don’t know which one I prefer (I grew up traditional but my personality leans toward more modern).

You know what I’ve learned in 5 years at Emmanuel?  Worship style doesn’t matter near as much as many pastors and church leaders thought it did.  What matters more is authentic worship.  Sure, there will be those who prefer one style of music over another…. Or one style of preaching over another.  And there are those who see more meaning in the traditional liturgies than others.  However, Emmanuel has taught me that if a church loves people and lives what it says it believes, people will usually overlook the nuances of what they don’t prefer and embrace what they do prefer in terms of worship style.

Pastor Jay and I had a discussion once about this very topic.  What if we get back to a day when there isn’t ‘traditional’ or ‘modern’ or ‘contemporary’, but just ‘worship’?  I personally believe Emmanuel is close to that day.  We have been weaving two different music groups in and out of worship, each with its own style.  And there are days when liturgy is read or recited (mainly during the sacraments).  I realize that there are those who prefer one style over another, but I don’t see it impacting ministry in any negative way.  We all still proclaim that ‘God is good’ (which, by the way, is a modern form of liturgy) and by the end of the service we hopefully leave with a pertinent message and by the end of the week the hungry get fed and the sick get visited and Small Groups meet and discipleship happens.

What I hope I see happening is a focus on God who is at the center of worship and less energy around how we focus on God.  While no church can be everything to everybody, I actually think that is the point.  So why try?  Let’s be the people God made us to be and share the gifts God gave us to share and let the style fall where it may.  And if it is heart-felt and authentic, people will come, souls will be inspired and disciples will be made.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe