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Worship or American Idol-atry? — Jon Gabriel
My wife and I have dragged our daughters to many churches over the past several years. We’ve enjoyed most of the sermons, congregations, programs and pastors, and my wife has liked most of the music. As for me, I’ve pretty much given up on finding any worship music that doesn’t drive me a bit batty.
For background, I’m a plain-old Christian, sans denomination, though I have enjoyed Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, Reformed and other congregations over the years. Most of the churches I’ve attended are evangelical, with several that would fit into the “megachurch” category. Most have offered inspiring teaching with solid, if not terribly deep, theology. But the music… oh heavens, the music.
My family tires of my weekly critique of modern church music and architecture, so I figured it was time to inflict it upon a larger audience. (You’re welcome, readers.)
My experience is in the pew not the pulpit, but church music (“worship music” in evangelical parlance) should direct the congregation’s focus to God, not the performers. Too often, I can think of nothing but the guitarist’s hair, the drummer’s kit or the singer’s oversouling.
This weekend, I (shockingly) was enjoying the second song at the Easter service. Sure, it was far too loud, but I was ignoring the band, singing along with the steady meter and focusing on God. All of a sudden I was singing by myself — the leader had veered into some spontaneous arrangement that showcased her unique vocal stylings. The song’s lyrics were still on the screen, but the congregation was lost. Since I could no longer follow along, I just quietly watched her performance, which was followed by extended applause.
This seems less like worship and more like an audition for American Idol. And I hate that show. (Besides, God’s not down with the whole idolatry thing.)
I won’t mention the specific church since this is standard among evangelical megachurches. I assume that most of the musicians have the best of intentions and are probably fine Christians. But week after week, these mini rock concerts grind at my soul. Am I the only one?
This modern version of “worship” also is reflected in church architecture. Many older churches placed a choir loft and an organ way in the back. This genius design prevents the congregation from being distracted by the musicians at the same time it prevents showboating performers. Instead, everyone in attendance has their eyes fixed forward and above, right where they belong.
Consider the opposite end of a traditional church: you have an altar, pulpit, maybe a baptismal, but the eye is directed upwards via the steep ceiling to the towering cross and the heavens above. Contemporary church architecture is wide and low, directing everyone’s attention to the speakers and performers on the main stage.
What once was vertical is now horizontal. Instead of looking to God, we’re staring at his ministers along with their elaborate Power Points. That works for a TED talk, but not for worship.
“Get off my lawn!” he cried. My complaints are not mere curmudgeonry. I love strange, loud music that scares my cat and austere modernist architecture that scares my wife. But when I want to celebrate musicians I go to a concert. At church, I don’t want to applaud singers, celebrate a pastor or focus on myself; I want to worship God. Is that too much to ask?
Published in General
I agree that we should have joy in our hearts when we worship the Lord, but I find overly emotional music out of place in worship. The point of the liturgy is to orient myself toward the Lord, not to make me feel. Not feel happy, or sad, or penitent, or desiring to dance. But to orient myself toward the Lord.
The Catholic Mass tries to do this, although there are many parishes in which the Praise Choir receives applause, sometimes even in the middle of the Mass right after Holy Communion, and that bothers me as well. The music should be seasonal and chosen to support the Bible readings: the two readings from the Old and New Testament, the Psalm, and the Gospel reading.
Since I am Catholic, I don’t have a lot of experience with other forms of prayer worship, but I must say that even the praise music I hear at Pandora, for example, has a kind of breathy, maudlin quality for the most part that I find distasteful.
Thanks for this interesting conversation. I have been really working on these issues because the other vocalist on our team left for school, and I have been on my own and struggling to find a good theology and practice of worship. Regardless of what style, front of the sanctuary or back, loud or soft, there is nothing more disheartening than leading worship and seeing a bunch of faces that look as though they are at a funeral regardless of whether it is Maundy Thursday or Easter Sunday.
Jon, I like the idea of worship as self-sacrifice, but worship could also be an offering of your whole self. I don’t know if that communicates what I am trying to say.
I attended a church in Hollywood, and John Lennon’s imagine was the benediction. Didn’t seem appropriate.
Lord save me from over-amplification. Sadly, most people don’t know how to project (it is not the same as shouting!) and can’t be heard anymore without electronic support. I, on the other hand, stepped well back from the microphone when Lamenting at Tenebrae during Holy Week because my voice is trained for non-amplified performance…
As a member of a worship team at an Assembly of God church, I sympathize with your feelings. We are a “big” church of about 300. There is always someone unhappy with the worship service. Always. There is a constant tug in the spectrum with “performing” trying to take over “leading” and “losing the congregation” to “giving space for free worship”. This is not limited to mega churches. Let me encourage you to worship with music outside of church. I encourage you to be prayerful during the music when your impulse is to be critical – even if the prayer starts out “Dear Lord, where are you in this?” Pray for the worship team during the week. We need it!
It’s all in the breathing. Use that diaphragm. Hold that note ’til Christmas. I think one member of our current choir knows how to project.
I have no opinion on “what’s the best type of church music” because I’m simply not a big fan of live music in general. When I want to listen to music, I like to do it with headphones in a darkened room, all by myself. I like Bible Study and rousing debate. The singing simply isn’t my cup of tea. But that’s just me. I’m a curmudgeon.
I did play drums in a church rock band when I was 17/18 though. It was a way to participate without having to sing.
Amen, Mama Toad! Amen!
Catholic here. I attend both the Norvus Ordo (post Vatican II) and Tridentine Latin Mass. I think the key to any music is that it serve the liturgy (or the structure of worship for non-Catholics). I must admit that few NO Masses have music that serves the liturgy while TLM music is better at accomplishing this goal. I do appreciate some of the older hyms (e.g. “How Great Thou Art”) but again, even they don’t serve a formal liturgy well. Give me a polyphonic Mass setting by Palestrina any day over the treacle of the new Mass settings.
I’ve seen knock-down, drag-out fights over hymns vs. praise songs. That’s one reason I’ve been so hesitant to criticize at church itself. You have given me a great reminder to pray for the worship leaders instead of grumbling.
I feel exactly the same way about The Star Spangled Banner. I always wish the celebrity selected to sing it would sing it straight, and lead the whole stadium in singing together. It’s not about the performance, and all that irritating embellishment.
As for worship music, ironically the best example I can think of of music directing one’s attention to God is also one of the most beautiful performances I’ve heard. One could be distracted by the loveliness of it, but the fact that it’s conducted by an angel definitely directs the attention upward. It feels like he brought these boys together to sing directly to God, and he pulls it off. (That he’s also Cary Grant, and that the song is called “O Sing to God” doesn’t hurt either…) Please take a few minutes to watch this link if you haven’t heard this:
http://youtu.be/-i2vGR3RE74
Easy fix for this. Drop down the octave. Happens all the time.
It’s always appropriate for congregants to drop to a lower octave if that’s what’s more comfortable for them.
I’m glad to hear you’re pretty much giving up. If you’re a musically-sensitive person also intent on worshiping God, there’s most likely always going to be some aspect of any church’s worship music that can drive you nuts if you let it.
Since no one else seems to have said it yet, I will:
Yes, there is a place for showmanship and spectacle in corporate worship. Traditional worship music is by no means immune from this, nor should it be. A well-played Bach organ fugue necessarily shows off the musician’s talent. As does any well-prepared vocal solo from any traditional oratorio, cantata, or what have you. And if you’re going to do that sort of music in church, it’s more respectful to God to do it well, I think.
The paradox is perhaps that excellent showmanship is by nature unobtrusive – it draws the listener’s attention into the music itself rather than towards irrelevancies. “Oversouling” isn’t an example of “too much” showmanship, but of poor showmanship.
I guess I am in the “old curmudgeon” category. I was raised in a traditional, rural-area, Presbyterian Church (I think our church used the PCUSA Hymnal from 1955 for the longest time). I have always enjoyed the traditional hymns, and always feel a deep connection to my grandparents, other ancestors and family, as well as the historic church community – those who have gone on ahead of us – when we sing them, wherever I might be. Most of the time, I attend Catholic mass today with my wife (who is Catholic), and there I also generally enjoy the traditional music over the new.
I’m all for spectacle, as God is spectacular. I’m also a fan of excellence in presentation (what I believe you are calling showmanship). What I oppose is a worship leader competing with God for attention. I have seen fantastic Christian musicians in a concert setting. There, they have shown off their musical gifts and I have showered them with applause. It was not sold as worship, but rather as a performance.
Also, a soloist by nature is performing a solo. In that too, I marvel at the performer’s gifts and musical offering to God. However, when a musician is attempting to lead a large group to focus on God through song — to worship corporately — I don’t want my attention redirected to man.
Each church has its own rituals and practices. In the Mormon church, even after a deeply moving piece of music has been performed in a worship service in a chapel, we never applaud (at least I’ve never heard applause). I haven’t a clue whether this is written down somewhere (if so, I’ve never seen it), but it has become the practice. It’s one I like.
On the other hand, if you’re a member of a clapping, stomping, arm-waving church, so be it.
Jon,
I wonder whether it was the “spontaneous arrangement that showcased her unique vocal stylings” specifically that upset you so much, or whether it might have been more the general problem of you as a congregant feeling your focus on God disrupted because you were confused (and perhaps embarrassed) by not knowing what was expected of you. This is a logistical problem for any church, one newcomers to a church feel especially keenly.
For example, at Easter Vigil at our local Orthodox church, they follow, approximately, the order of worship printed in this book, alternating between Greek and English. But sometimes they skip or substitute verses, and sometimes, instead of alternating verses between Greek and English, they repeat (what I assume is) a particularly important verse in both Greek and English. Moreover, the musical settings they use for the Liturgy of St John on Easter aren’t the same ones in the printed pew booklets. Like you, I’m a plodding, Midwestern Prod. I tend to get cranky if I’m not told exactly which words and music the congregation is responsible for. And so I found the service disorienting, even though it was far from “contemporary, self-indulgent” worship.
My experience in our local Catholic parishes is at opposite ends of the spectrum. My home parish is more liberal/modern in its liturgical music, although the director manages to make most of it relevant to the scriptural theme. After nearly every Mass, many in the congregation applaud, which I don’t dwell on even though I don’t participate and don’t find it particularly appropriate. However, the recessional on Palm Sunday was the very reverent and moving Were You There, which was followed by a near silent exit of the congregation. It seemed right, and I was heartened that so many recognized the solemnity of the moment.
My girls have been/are members of St. Cecilia’s Schola Cantorum at another, more conservative parish in town. The director is a professional opera singer and the organist has a PhD in music. My kids have learned chant, the traditional responsorial songs, and some great old hymns. And, yes, they process too. When the director sings the descant with the organ at full throttle at the end of Mass, the walls aren’t the only things trembling. That’s worship music, glorifying God.
At our Easter Vigil service here in Jakarta the priest sang the Exultet in Spanish, the readings were proclaimed in English, Spanish, Italian, and Bahasa Indonesia, the psalms were sung by the Javanese choir in English, and the Gloria, Sanctus, Pater Noster, and Agnus Dei were chanted by the choir in Latin. We had a communion hymn but it was so unobtrusive as to be almost a period of sacred silence. Now that was a beautiful mass – perhaps the most lovely I have ever assisted in.
I love what the Church has to say about sacred music:
112. The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy.
<snip>
Therefore sacred music is to be considered the more holy in proportion as it is more closely connected with the liturgical action, whether it adds delight to prayer, fosters unity of minds, or confers greater solemnity upon the sacred rites. But the Church approves of all forms of true art having the needed qualities, and admits them into divine worship.
<snip>
116. The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.
But other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations, so long as they accord with the spirit of the liturgical action, as laid down in Art. 30.
How glorious. Our cantor sang the Exsultet — none of the clergy here could have pulled it off.
There are times when I want to remind the choir director that he does not need to provide incidental music here and there. If the song is over, it is ok to just stop playing. We can be silent and joyful/worshipful/prayerful too.
There is a special “church” model sound board. The volume controls go up past 11 to maybe 15.
When you hear a phrase like “exuberant worship” it means the gain will be cranked to the max, with sound pressure in the 130 db range in the front rows.
I don’t blame the Orthodox church I attended for disorienting me, incidentally. They may not follow their printed handouts too exactly, but their liturgy is an old one that doesn’t change much. Doubtless if I had been brought up in the church, or catechized and baptized into it, I wouldn’t have been disoriented. Their tradition is strong even if it isn’t clearly written out.
My heavy reliance on written-out words and music in congregational worship may be a sign that I could stand to loosen up and go with the flow more. Maybe it’s good for me to sometimes feel lost in church. After all, we humans can take inordinate pride in just about anything, including in being a well-oiled, “unobtrusive” member of the congregational machine.
And we who don’t really have a home church may feel like lost outsiders pretty much anywhere.
I love silence in the mass but it is so rare today.
Our priest, Fr. Jose, is a real blessing. He is a young Spaniard and one of the Vatican diplomats here. He comes to the small chapel we attend to serve the Spanish speaking community in Jakarta. He has the most glorious singing voice and preaches the homily in Spanish, Italian, and English each week. I will miss him when we leave here at the end of June.
I couldn’t approve of the worship at my congregation more — beautiful hymns from over the entire course of Christian history, solemn and high-quality liturgical worship, talented musicians, etc., etc. — but while my Lutheran congregation works hard at having this, I think most of our Arizona congregations have adopted the praise band stuff. It makes me sad just because Lutherans are never going to do praise band well. We do Bach well. We do the liturgy well. We don’t do evangelical clappy rock stuff well because our doctrine doesn’t match it. It’s like an offense against both Lutheranism and praise music, if that’s possible.
It’s possible.
So, just out of curiosity, have you heard any of the music from Jars of Clay’s “Redemption Songs” album done by a worship band? That version of “I need thee every hour” with modern instruments is terrific live.
Athena is out, and she left her Ricochet account logged on. My name is, umm… “Marcos,” Athena’s husband. At the risk of exposing her bias, I confess that I am a drummer and BGV on the same worship team with her.
“What did churches and synagogues do […] before that?” Well, they made as much racket as they could with the available technology! Shouting and clapping, trumpets and tambourines, flutes and cymbals, all seem to imply that calm reverie was not the only traditional form of worship. Pipe organs and piano were not invented and implemented to lower the decibel level in the sanctuary. The same could be said of choirs as well.
I love all you bumps on a log who want to meditate to music with your hands in your pockets, but don’t try to tell me it’s tradition. Most ancient cultures danced when they sang. How did us white people get so stodgy in the last thousand years? Clap your hands and move your feet; it is as fun as it looks!
Sorry, Athena!
Worship wars. Sigh. Anglican church musician here. Liturgy is hot right now. Everyone seems to be discovering we’ve had an incredible Prayerbook for about 450 years. Yet, a lot of our churches continue to buy into a 25 year old Church growth movement “praise band or die” theology.
In 200 years mean in dresses will still be dispensing the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. What about pop American Christian iconography? My guess is there be thousands of cultural anthropology dissertations written on the writhing, tattooed people the alters, pulpits, and fonts were removed to make room for.
Charismatholic that I am, I see virtues both in quiet, contemplative worship music (ala Vox Silentii, the Dominic Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist), loud (er) contemporary worship (various artists from the International House of Prayer’s Forerunner Music Academy, Salvador, Outbreak Band, Rapsoul, Kirk Franklin) and everyone in between (John Michael Talbot, Phil Keaggy, etc.). It’s not the style that matters; it’s the focus and the purpose.