[Tony]

So What?

Okay, now that my spleen has been vented of the worst trends in P&W and the potential downsides of the Worship Leader, I’ll now offer some thoughts on how to keep from throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Music:
I’ve said it several times before, so I won’t go into much detail here, but my criterion for congregational worship music are that it be 1) Truthful, 2) Musical, and 3) Congregational.

With that said, the first priority for Contemporary Worship should be song selection. And the first priority of song selection should be the content. It must be biblical – either directly from scripture, or in harmony with scripture, or at least not in conflict with it. The latter should be the last resort, however.

We must never give in to Cool or Popular. We must choose wisely, and really good selections are available if we will only look.

Second, let’s broaden our definition of Contemporary. This will help alleviate the need to constantly replace our catalog. If a song is appropriate, then don’t discard it just because it’s 10 or 100 years old. Find a way to repackage it to keep it fresh if necessary, but don’t just discard it. I do understand that some songs only have a season of usefulness, either due to the circumstances that they address, or the text becomes less effective when its original creative impact wears off. But I don’t believe that happens as often as we think on really good songs. Remember, leaders will probably tire of a song before the congregation does, and they may still feel its impact. And since we are trying to facilitate congregational worship, let the songs continue to speak.

We work very hard to develop our sound as a worship team, but don’t be afraid to change it up every now and then. Routines form ruts that can be difficult to see beyond, and we can get comfortable in them without recognizing a whole world of interpretation available. Go “unplugged” every now and then to see if a song holds up on its own merit (toss it out if it can’t). Change the lead instrument to keyboard. Break out the organ once a year. Go a capella. Our congregations are more open to variation than we think.

Musicians:
We must, absolutely must protect our Worship Leaders. We need to encourage them to be mature in their faith, and broad in their understanding of congregational music. We must give them opportunities to hone their craft, to exchange ideas with other leaders, and develop a thorough understanding of group dynamics and group leading (not emotional manipulation).

We need to grant grace to the older ones as they make the transition to new forms. We need to grant grace to the younger ones as they develop into church leaders. We need to support all them in discovering and utilizing their unique gifts in their unique ministry settings.

And maybe we ought to stop calling them Worship Leaders. We have almost given the title a mystical quality (there has even been an in-house back lash, flipping it around to Lead Worshiper, which I don’t think works, either). But they are not Shaman; they are Church Musicians, or Music Ministers. A more accurate name allows us to appreciate their service to congregations without elevating their influence to an unreasonable stature. In my opinion, the Worship Leader in our churches is the Holy Spirit, and He doesn’t need our assistance.

I’m sure I’ll be coming back to this topic in the future, but for now I’ll give it a rest. Thanks to those that have read and responded, and please feel free to continue doing so.