justme6272

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(In response to another social media post touting 'old school' contemporary music as being better than more recent contemporary music.)

"No matter where I attend church, song selection is the most neglected aspect of contemporary worship services.

Congregations spend the vast majority of their time standing and staring at words on a screen that were matched up with unsingable melodies and harmonies that don't make musical sense.

So most of the time, worship becomes concert-like, where praise teams miraculously sing the notes they've invested the time to memorize regardless, and congregations become audiences rather than singing participants. I can get that by listening to Pandora and choosing Hillsong or Bethel as stations, and then not singing when their songs come up.

This will continue until worship leaders and the listening/buying public raise the bar of expectations. Songs that are mediocre at best should be avoided in church, even if we love the personality and/or testimony of the person whose picture appears on the original CD.

Does God instill the same level of songwriting talent into every Christian who calls themselves a songwriter? HINT: No.

Does God want us offering up meat or produce? HINT: Meat.

Does God want us singing? HINT: Yes.

Do we march into Christian bookstores and buy a book just because a Christian wrote it? I hope not.

If it means that the good songs which people can actually remember and sing are chosen with greater frequency throughout the year, for years on end, so be it. I'd consider that a good thing. There are plenty of good songs when we don't limit ourselves to the most recent decade, or whatever has stuck to the Christian radio stations in the last 12 months. Radio airplay, Dove Awards, and Billboard charts are constantly evolving, in part due to competition at that moment. But no one is entitled to CCLI royalties.

Not everyone wants to sing, but for those who do, churches can help them do it. After deciding to choose a contemporary style of worship over more 'traditional' music, churches should narrow down the pool of options to a greater degree. The contemporary catalogue is not our grandfather's hymnal, filled with sensible melodies and smart chord progressions that are consistent with the Doctrine of Ethos. More discernment is desperately needed, even by worship team pastors who have written entire books on the subject of music in worship.

If I decided that old school, new school, or whatever school meant better, I'd vote for better, and I'd be able to vote by SINGING!"
 

yeshuaslavejeff

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"No matter where I attend church, song selection is the most neglected aspect of contemporary worship services.
Noting the first quote mark, is this a quote of someone else, or
is this what you have found yourself in the churches you attended ?
 
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WoshipWarrior

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If I decided that old school, new school, or whatever school meant better, I'd vote for better, and I'd be able to vote by SINGING!"

That's just it though - YOU are deciding which is better for YOU. The fact is each congregation is different, and though you may not be moved by

standing and staring at words on a screen that were matched up with unsingable melodies and harmonies that don't make musical sense.

That doesn't mean the the congregation understands music and is affected by "unsingable melodies and harmonies" like you are. The truth is that God inhabits the praises of His people.

It's the Worship Pastor / Music Minister's job to work to find that blend that meets the congregants where they are at, while adding new music (new to them and it doesn't always mean produced in 2019) that still draws them from the Outer Courts, through the Inner Courts, and into the Holy of Holies.

Or perhaps I misunderstood the intent of your post.
 
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nonaeroterraqueous

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Everyone has their own opinion on music, and it's hardly ever objective. They argue their favorite flavor like it's an absolute truth, and they hate the alternatives. We could choose music based on sophisticated chord progressions, or high-quality lyrics, and we'd still have a tune to sleep by. Our best bet is to aim for variety, with emphasis on the songs that suit the congregation.
 
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WolfGate

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nteresting that you mentioned a couple of groups by name and said they lead to "congregations become audiences rather than singing participants...not singing when their songs come up.

Yet my experience in 2 veins has been exactly different with those groups. I've attending worship (concerts if you wish) led by both of the ones you mentioned, and the "audience" was essentially universally engaged in worship along with the team on stage. I've seen the same with other well known P&W worship leaders/song writers. Then, in our own church, when given the chance to sing songs from those groups, the congregation is also essentially universally engaged in singing in worship. In both cases, the well known groups and our local church, everything from volume to predictability of melody and song performance was set to encourage participation.

If churches have a problem with people not joining, I think the issue is either cultural to that congregation, poor job of worship leading by the team, or failure to create a physical environment that encourages worship.
 
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