[Tony]

Evaluation of Praise & Worship Music in American Churches

I want to be frank here, but not so critical as to appear anti P&W, because in fact, I’m not. There are many positive outcomes from the genre and from contemporary worship trends in general. But it bears examining, and in doing so, hopefully we can enjoy its benefits in our context with balance and ministry focus. It’s never a good idea to utilize something in corporate worship just because it’s “cool” (I will evaluate the role of the Worship Leader in a future post, and hope to take the same approach).

I also confess that as I process this subject, I still have many unanswered questions, but maybe that’s okay, too. If you’re looking for definitive answers from me, you’ll usually end up disappointed. Plan now to just get over it…

Let’s first discuss the musical style of P&W. By its very nature, it is contemporary (For the remainder of this post, I’ll use the terms P&W and Contemporary interchangeably), using instruments and voicing reflective of other current music venues. Guitars, keyboard, drums, 2 or 3 vocal parts (primarily melody; seldom including a bass line), are all channeled through a mixing board and amplified through house speakers. While there are acoustic elements, the delivery method is clearly electronic.

The upside is the genre’s relevance to the musical tastes of the congregation. Historically, this has generally been true for most church music, reflecting the influences and musical devices of society at large. The familiarity of the audio experience is considered pleasurable to the majority of listeners. And if the music is deemed accessible by the congregation, they may be more inclined to participate. Musical participation has always been a goal of corporate worship, and supports biblical instruction for God’s people to sing.

Some valid questions need to be asked, however. How narrow should we define contemporary music? What about those who don’t find P&W engaging? Is there any merit, meaning, or value to previous styles? What happens when a song is no longer perceived as Contemporary?

I’m occasionally asked these questions from a different angle. People will say something like, “why can’t we just sing Traditional Church Music?” My response is usually the same: With gentleness and a wink, I ask back, “Which Tradition do you mean?” There are plenty of songs from previous centuries with texts appropriate for corporate worship. Do they mean Plain Song or Gospel Song? Operatic modes or Appalachian Folk Tunes? It restates the issue of what really defines Traditional or Contemporary, and Traditional or Contemporary to whom?

The intent of the term Traditional usually refers to the songs they sang when they were growing up in church. What was in their hymnal or songbook then is what they want to sing today. Thirty years ago, Bill & Gloria Gaither songs were quite popular in American evangelical churches. Today a P&W congregation might sing the chorus to “Because He Lives” at Easter time.

The life cycle of Gaither tunes represents the long side of the staying power of contemporary music. P&W focuses primarily on songs no more than 5 years old. “Awesome God” and “Shine, Jesus, Shine” are now referred to as retro or Old School, and sung only a few more times than “Because He Lives.” Before long, they will join the ranks of the other Gaither tunes.

“Because He Lives” is a great song, but its musical style, early 70s Southern Gospel, is not viewed as Contemporary anymore. The P&W Worship Leader looks for more recent songs that make the same statement. What’s more, he must spend a fair amount of time looking for new songs to replace what is in use today.

If the turn around time for a song is roughly 5 years, the task of writing a catalog of relevant, meaningful contemporary songs, and getting them into circulation quickly and widely can be difficult for the career composer. The temptation might be to settle for incomplete – or worse, faulty – songs that have a good hook. And if pressed for time, the Worship Leader might be tempted to settle for the hook as well.

And when we give in to the temptation, the quality of worship, and therefore the congregation, suffers. But at least they enjoy a really good groove while suffering.

Fortunately, there are many quality song writers out there, and many diligent Worship Leaders who make the effort to find them.