THE WORSHIP PENDULUM
Not me. Although somewhat artistic by nature, I tend to look at life more prosaically. Thus, I am rather proud of the fact that the following line appears in the “God’s Singers” book: “The silence hung in the air like the descending blade in Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum.” I do believe it to be the only more-or-less poetic line in the whole book.
In our house, conversations tend to be a give and take between the artist and the pragmatist.
There is this kind of back-and-forth pendulum swing in the worship life of the church, too. For a time, lasting usually a decade, the music of the church will be characterized mainly by songs of great artistry which are best experienced in the context of “performer-listener.” Then, someone of influence will decide that the congregation is kinda getting left out, and songs which can actually be sung by ordinary people will begin to show up and tip the balance.
Right now, we seem to have entered a new ‘artist-driven’ season. Many newer artist songs have a musical range of an octave and a fifth, starting low in the verse and going high on the chorus. That just happens to be the same range as “The Star Spangled Banner,” a song notoriously difficult for even accomplished singers to navigate.
Predictably, what tends to happen when one of these songs is offered for congregational participation is a lot of performing (onstage) and listening (in the pews).
I am all for artistry in the Church. Bring on the amazing soloists who rend our hearts. Bring on the Rock bands whose songs contain notes and rhythms which get our bodies moving in praiseful dance (sorry, my more conservative friends). Bring on the “Glee”-influenced vocal groups whose fresh sounds (fresh? This is the music I cut my teeth on…) remind us of God’s creative, artistic Personality. Bring on beautiful Bach chorales singable only by accomplished, classic choirs.
Just don’t pretend that these can substitute for the participative worship of the congregation. Remember the lessons we have so painfully learned over the last decade or two. As Pastor Jack Hayford has said, “the congregation is the most important choir in the church.” Each member needs to pour his or her heart out to God in worship and praise. And that can only happen when they are able to sing songs which lie in their vocal range, with words they feel comfortable using, led by a worship leader whose highest aim, after touching the heart of God, is to touch the hearts of the people, and enable them to fully enter His presence.
The pendulum needs to swing again. And, somehow, it needs to stay swung.