Worship, How?

Both for my own curiosity, and because a status I posted on Facebook indicated that perhaps some others might be interested, here are some links and thoughts about contemporary vs./and alternative worship.

This whole line of thinking is timely for me as we look at creating a new worship service at Calvary UMC. CUMC has looked at the option of a contemporary service for several years, well before I came, but in the year before I arrived, other pressing issues pushed it to the back burner. Pastor Ken asked me to pick it up, and thus, here we go…

I also want to make two notes:

THE WORDS WE USE
We don’t all mean the same thing. Take, for example, “traditional worship.” To one person or group this might have a very clear meaning…that is very different from what some other people believe that term to mean. It does REALLY matter what we mean when we use words, and it’s always worth taking time to talk about our understanding of various terms and concepts as we work together. For example, I have to admit I have my own issues with the phrase “contemporary worship” because my own experience and much of what I have read now marks this concept as old. 1980s or ‘90s at best. But what others mean when they say contemporary worship is not necessarily what I think of, so I want to keep an open mind. And at any rate, the best thing to do is usually to take the best aspects of any concept to create one that works for your own setting.

IF YOU’RE GOING TO DO IT, DO IT WELL
Any worship style done poorly is a bad thing. Traditional. Contemporary. Alternative. Blended. Often, I find (and have been guilty myself) that poorly done worship is poorly planned worship. Worship planned either inadequately, or with the wrong goals in mind (i.e. trying to impress people rather than provide a venue for people to draw closer to God and one another). While traditional worship can often be done quite poorly, and at any rate, there is always room for improvement, the structure that generally marks traditional worship often at least provides a skeleton that give basic competency to any worship leader. New forms of worship (whether contemporary, alternative, etc.) often are marked by a casual tone and structure. The problem is often it is laziness disguised as casualness. In fact, I am quite sure that the smoother and more natural you want a service to feel, the more attention must be paid to every detail. Let me give you an example. In a traditional service, it is perfectly acceptable in most cases to mark shifts in the service abruptly: “Now let us bring to God our gifts,” or “Now let us share our joys and concerns.” All you have to remember is when it’s supposed to happen and just tell people. On the other hand, modern worship styles tend towards a more natural, holistic, even, approach. Introducing the offering becomes now not just a matter of what is happening, but how it is happening.

Before I share the resources I’ve found, I want to be honest about my own biases. I am inclined to a service somewhere between traditional, contemporary and alternative worship. Not only am I personally drawn to that (in addition to traditional worship itself), but it is also important that we keep in mind that demographics show that our immediate community prefers a somewhat traditional worship style. To dive head-long into the most contemporary type of worship would be to fail to do what Jesus showed us—meet people where they are. However, even in such a mix there is great variety.

I sense there is a need for a casual worship service…however, casual is hardly much of a definition of what we mean, so we’ve got to dig deeper. Many of the young adults (outside of Calvary) that I have met in Frederick have some (often significant) experiences as children in church. They are not opposed to church, they often just haven’t found anything of value in church since they grew up and moved out on their own. They often have high intellectual curiousity, and perhaps because they are very active in the community already, they expect church to be as well. Any worship service we start with an eye to young adults must necessarily include other aspects of authentic community.

I invite you to check out these resources and share your thoughts with me and others working on this issue as we discern where God is calling us. And please continue to lift up the ministries of Calvary UMC if prayer.

ALTERNATIVE WORSHIP
Definition: http://www.alternativeworship.org/definitions_definition.html

Alternative worship seems to be very tied into the Ancient-Future Church movement, or the Emerging Church movement. That said, there is almost an anti-establishment undertone that itself would challenge an existing church to replicate its style. The worship style replies upon a large group of people involved in worship leadership, and rather than drawing people into hip worship styles, uses the modern to connect people with the ancient (think secular music played while incense is burned).

What I find most attractive in the alternative worship style (here alternative is a rather specific term, not a general one meaning a different kind…) is the focus upon using a variety of senses in worship, interactive worship experiences, and a natural flow through the service. At its best, then, this style simply recognizes that we all have different learning styles and that we are called to be more than mere observers. The Church has long made these adjustments, as when stained-glass windows began to be used to tell Biblical stories, the Wesleys made hymns central to their worship (even, it is said, putting hymns to drinking songs), and the Bible was printed for all to read, not just hear. I also like the emphasis on authenticity, and I think this idea of authentic relationships and experiences is something that must be integrated into all worship services well. This movement also reminds us of the importance of openness and inclusion.

What I find most challenging about alternative worship, especially within the context of creating a new service within an existing congregation is the (as mentioned before) anti-establishment tone of the movement, abhorrence for doctrinal statements, and the risk of chaos. Chaos isn’t a bad thing if it’s fruitful, but there is a very fine line between fruitful chaos and just, well, chaos for its own sake.

CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP
In recent years, there has actually been such a backlash against contemporary worship that it’s hard to find a definition. Today, much of contemporary worship is practiced by huge churches with big budgets, very evangelical theology (evangelical as they define it, not the traditional sense that has perhaps been hijacked) and charismatic worship leaders. Contemporary worship in this vein is often most of a concert or performance, and is often criticized as such. Far from being experiential, much current contemporary worship is nothing more than traditional worship with less structure and cooler music. The experience for the worshipper remains much the same.

This site defines contemporary worship solely by its music: http://www.joshhunt.com/contemp.html

One of my problems is that you seem to simply end up with people arguing over different music. Really? Heck, I’ve heard people who still like the old Methodist camp meeting hymns best. How many music-defined services can we have? Surely something new ought to be more than just different music, right?

Here, Robert Webber (one of the writers we read in seminary) explains that one major difference is the stacking of songs at the beginning of the worship service in a contemporary service. He is at least approaching this from more of a structural, not just music-style angle: http://www.allthingsnewministries.org/trad_v_cont.pdf

All this having been said (and as long as this post is, this is just scratching the surface) I wanted to close with some videos of examples of these worship styles. I invite you to check them out and note (trying to think about what being present in the services would have felt like) what you like, what you don’t, and what you think should be included in any new service we do.

WORSHIP VIDEOS
http://www.vineyardcincinnati.com/lastweek.php?weekend=091206&#vid
http://www.tbc.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=89720#

“ABOUT” RESOURCES
Jonny Baker on Alternative Worship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2sjcBGIJ7Y
On Emerging Church worship: http://thebolgblog.typepad.com/thebolgblog/2007/04/youtube_video_o_1.html

I know there are a lot more videos out there, but I have to run for now. Check back soon for more videos.