It seems to me that relevance is more than a matter of style!!

Over the years – I have observed with curiosity a number of changes in the music and language of worship – and – at least for the most part – a majority of those changes have been made at the superficial level of style. I have heard people say that the “old traditional hymns” are stodgy – they are like funeral dirges – they are not “peppy” enough to be accepted by the current generation – and so they have been tossed aside for music that mimics the current popular culture – a sort of “top of the charts” music. And the result: now people are observing that people no longer sing in worship – it must be a matter of generational preference. I don’t think that is the case. Much of the music that people now “listen to” in worship was never conceived to be music for participation – it was written as music for presentation – by a solo artist or group. And the result: worship has evolved from a liturgy of participation to a liturgy of presentation.

Some years ago – a colleague of mine observed that in many churches on many Sunday mornings all of the hymns were offered at the same tempo (generally too slow) and at the same volume (in many cases led by an organ played by an organist who seemed determined to “win” the competition with the congregation – and – often the crowning blow of that competition was a free-hymn accompaniment on the final stanza, following an extravagant and extended interlude of epic performance proportions) that wandered into harmonic tonalities that left even the most experienced singers wondering how they should attempt to sing the familiar tune against a tonal progression that seemed to have as its primary goal the creation of an environment that would prohibit even those with perfect pitch from being able to sing the tune.

Sometimes it is just a simple uninformed seemingly insignificant matter that can undercut the best of intentions. For example – I once was approached by a very well-meaning head usher who informed me that I needed to make certain that all of the choir’s anthems from that time forward would be of sufficient length to make certain that adequate time was allowed for the ushers to receive the tithes and offerings from the congregation. My “evil twin” arrived just in time to suggest that the addition of a couple of more ushers would likely solve the problem – and that the selection of the anthem could continue to be based on the criteria of what might best contribute to the overall content of the worship experience.

These stories and observations could go on and on and on – and – I know a multitude of musical coleagues who could easily extend the list even further – probably approaching a point of true infinity.

So what are we to do? It seems to me that the content of the language of worship is far too important to be relegated to a place in line behind any logistical consideration or any personal preference for style. I once heard Brian Wren observe that inclusiveness involves much more than just gender neutral pronouns.

Also I will never forget attending a Session meeting where the primary subject of discussion became the difference between the business world and the church (a subject that was not even an agenda item on the printed docket for the meeting). After a signficant amount of time had passed (an amount that I am sure was not actually as long as it seemed) – one of our wise elders finally raised a hand and began to speak: “It has been my experience (he happened to be the senior excecutive vice president of a major national company) – that there are two kinds of people in the world – those who care about other people and those who do not – and – I have known some of each of those two kinds of people both in business and – in the church.”

It seems to me that we are called to love God with ALL of our heart, soul, mind, and being – and – to love ALL people at ALL times. And so it seems to me that inclusive love should be the first and only criteria for the language – liturgy – and music that we utilize when we gather for worship!