Worship
Trends
Five Recent Worship Trends
Styles and preferences in worship are a moving target. Once you think you've modernized they move again. This is the challenge to the baby boomers like me (and for early Xers). Boomers and early Xers inherited "revivalist remnant worship" from their parents. They examined it and pronounced it D.O.A. They wanted something more professional, more upbeat, more relevant, and, well, the term we preferred to use was more contemporary. That's it! So we launched "Contemporary Worship"-worship that was relevant to seekers and even people off the street. At least that's what we claimed to do. We imported a band, a "praise team" with a mic-a-piece (at first with large colored sponge heads) and we projected recent "praise choruses" on a large screen up front. We developed minute-by-minute schedules, spotlights, renamed the chancel/platform a "stage" and banished all "dead air" in our upbeat fast-paced brightly-lit services. We did this in most growing churches in the 1980s.
A HA! We had it now! We boomers had updated worship and had it the way we wanted it- "Contemporary worship." We were proud of our accomplishments, and the older folk who originally resisted us eventually shut up, died or moved to Florida. We had an atmosphere and musical style particularly suited to our boomer philosophy and tastes. We were satisfied. We had accomplished the revolution! Worship was what it was intended to be! We sat back and enjoyed our "contemporary worship."
The trouble with "contemporary" of course, is that by definition you can never achieve it. What does contemporary mean? Up to date this year? This week? Last night? What "contemporary" meant to most boomers was a 1980's style. The "radical contemporary worship revolution" was not an on-going revolution. Like most revolutionaries we got lazy once we took control. Boomers froze in the musical styles and tastes of the 1980s. Go ahead and see what we still sing... check the copyright dates-more than half of the songs are right out of the 1980's. Many of our boomer worship leaders now complain, "I can't find quality recent music," or, "I just don't connect with this new music." What they mean by this is that recent music doesn't fit their 1980's preferences. Like the Amish froze in the lifestyle of the 19th century, these worship leaders have frozen in the styles of the 1980's. Which is what makes it all so laughable. The students I work with weren't even in kindergarten when this "contemporary" style was introduced. Thus this curious result: most of my students consider our boomer contemporary worship "traditional worship!"
Among Evangelicals every generation seems compelled to make their worship styles reflect their generation's needs and tastes. So, along come the younger Xers and millennial generation who have been raised in "traditional" (that is, boomer) worship and they want to change things again! What is so amusing is how boomers have quickly become traditionalists-defending their own style of worship and resisting the innovations of the young. "If you want to do that-you'll just have to start your own church-you can't do that here."
Actually most boomer worship leaders don't have a clue about the most recent innovations. They are completely out of touch as they perpetuate their 1980's worship style, (with a few 1990's songs tossed in). Boomers have become just like the older folk whose style they overthrew. The revolutionaries became conservatives. And these boomers who now have a death grip on worship can't imagine why all the younger people can't settle down and worship their way-after all "worship isn't about styles anyway-let's just worship God" (meaning "worship God my way and quit trying to change things").
So, what are some of these recent trends the younger folk prefer (and many boomers are resist)?
1. Darkness.
Younger folk don't like boomer "bright light worship." They prefer covering up all the windows with black cloth and turning off most of the lights-leaving a dimly lit room. In this muted atmosphere you can't see the faces of the leaders or most other worshippers. It's a private atmosphere. And there will be candles. Lots of them. They'll light as many as 50 candles spreading them all over the sanctuary providing a flickering almost-spooky light for worship. Aghast, boomers say, "Why it's like a séance in there-it's too much like Devil-worship, I say."
2. Mellow.
Younger folk have largely discarded most of boomer upbeat "happy songs" and replaced them with a mellow mournful almost-blues style music. Triumphant praise choruses play a minor part in this style of worship. Sometimes called "meditative singing," this form of music provides a "sanctuary" or oasis environment in the hectic weekly schedule of the young. The tempo of these songs is often slowed to a crawl, and the tone is sad and mournful. It connects with the somber side of life. Such singing is soft and contemplative. Boomers complain, "It all feels so depressing-I expect worship to pick me up, not take me down."
3. Participation.
Younger folk really believe "worship is the act of the people." They despise performance, spotlights, and ego-tripping soloist-wannabe worship leaders. So how do they keep the worshippers eyes off the band and other worship leaders? They put them in the back, or at the side, and let the worship leader (sitting right in with everybody else) use a mic to start music and keep the tempo moving. Quickly these leaders let their voice die out so that the worshippers hear the collective singing of the entire audience, not the solo-with-accompaniment voice of the worship leader. It is an experience in corporate singing and corporate worship. What is left up front? The projected words on which to meditate, sometimes separate meaningful projected images to dwell on, and even meaningful objects to focus on-like the cross or other symbolic representation. Boomers react, "Nobody is in charge in there-if they'd put somebody in charge up front they could get this thing moving."
4. Singing as prayer.
Young folk see singing as a means of prayer. Boomers saw music primarily as a means of praise. Younger people see singing as a means of everything-praise, prayer and even preaching. Primarily singing is becoming prayer. It is corporate and personal devotions. The quote "He who sings prays twice" is popular among the young. Boomers had prayer too, but not as central to worship. For us boomers prayer is used as a means of getting people to quiet down or as a segue way to the next "set." Younger folk are making prayer the primary content of worship-through singing prayer that includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and even supplication.
5. Sensory.
Younger folk want to touch, taste, smell, and feel something in worship along with seeing and hearing. Worship is not something to watch or listen to for them-it is something to sense. Thus they hand out mementoes in worship-a thorn, a piece of string or a grape to hold during the service. They use scented candles hat make the place small like an ancient cathedral. They plan for symbolic actions-like walking to the front to stick the thorn they've been holding into a Styrofoam cross, or to drop the card on which they've written their sins onto metal plate to be burned. They do "stations of the cross" type moving about the room doing different actions at each location. They even are reintroducing frequent Communion, providing an action, touch and taste in one act. Boomers think all this moving around is too much trouble and say, "Why don't they just let me sit here and rest-why do they keep making me walk around or get in groups?"
What is driving these trends? New "bands" dedicated to worship, for sure. But also student movement like the huge ministry to "post moderns" at Graceland (Santa Cruz Bible Church) observed by Andrea Summers (See also Andrea's Andrea's response to this essay). Other influences--and perhaps most significant of all, is the world-wide Taizé student worship movement in Europe which is rapidly spreading and influencing student worship in America. An increasing number of US churches are now offering a Taizé service and young people are thronging to them.
There are, of course, other trends among the next generation's worship but these five seem most prominent now. So, what do you think? Will boomers are early Xers be able to absorb the best of millennial worship preferences? Or, do you agree with me-that to have this sort of worship the younger folk will folk have to start their own worship services? If they start their own worship services what will we call them? Hey, I've got an idea! Let's call it "contemporary worship!" Then we can rename our own services "Traditional worship?"
So what do you think?
To contribute to the thinking on this issue
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Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday