CyberGroup Discussion - Beyond the Worship Wars

Wayne Holst

Drama

For some, worship has become too theatrical or performance oriented. That can be said about worship in the traditional churches with "smells and bells" and "chancel prancing" as well as in the Willow Creek - styled churches where religious drama has essentially replaced traditional preaching. While St. David's cannot be criticized for an over-emphasis on drama, it is still a moot point for us. We need to think about the extent to which our worship leaders may be tempted to slip into the role of performers rather than priestly/pastoral leaders in the best sense of the term.

Worshippers can view their leaders as "only as good as their last act" and keep them on edge over whether or not they have slipped with their lines. Entertainment worship, writes Marva Dawn, is deadly to the formation of character and we must be careful to avoid forms of communication that dumb down, merely amuse or trivialize the content of our worship.

Robert Webber states that worship should be both a dramatic retelling and a dramatic reenactment of the biblical story. Effective worship is more than a dutiful recitation of hymns, prayers, readings and talks. Worship involves word and gesture, movement and narration, in a highly active and participatory reenactment of the Gospel story. As such it is inherently dramatic.

Worship Characteristic #3:
Vital and faithful congregations have recovered and made visible the sense of drama inherent in Christian worship

Vital congregations do not make worship dramatic. Instead, they are concerned about how to allow the drama already present in worship to be brought to the surface and to be deeply experienced. We need to ask ourselves whether the drama in our worship genuinely spring from within the act of worship itself or if it is imported from the outside. Jazzed up worship can sometimes, in fact, become an intrusion, interruption or distraction. It is vitally important to think about this as choirs select their music; ministers lead activities like childrenOs messages, conduct sacramental acts, or engage in preaching.

In truth, good worship is a kind of community theatre. Members of the congregations are not an audience but are, in fact, the actors and the words and actions of worship form the script for their various parts. Community theatre at its best engages the participants in worship (passing the peace; reciting a creed) seeking to bring out their finest gifts, best skills, and most sharply honed abilities to this event. The drama needs to speak personally to the participants and helps them to feel directly involved.

The shape of worship conveys meaning. The order of worship is an implicit narrative although its narrative shape may be partially hidden from view. It is a retelling, every service, of the sacred story of a God who seeks and saves the lost. Many different orders of worship can be used, but in all of them good worship is an acted-out story, a piece of community theatre.

Indeed, one of the tests of worship is whether the order of worship can be narrated. If we cannot take the elements of the order of worship - hymn of praise, prayer of confession, scripture, etc. - and recount the story inherent to their ordering, then there are missing elements or the elements are out of proper sequence. Worship leaders are responsible to see that the connections among the elements are clear. This involves a concern for elements of pacing and matters of timing.

It is important that worship be enhanced by natural kinds of instrumentation so that people have a sense that this is an event, enabling spirits to celebrate. We need to become deeply familiar with engrained worship patterns which get our heads out of the hymnbooks and our hearts soaring.

(The author believes that the natural worship flow of a baptismal service can be sabotaged when newly baptized infants are paraded around the sanctuary. Compare this to having the whole baptismal party process down the centre aisle as an act of welcoming into the Lord's family. Or, the act of multiple baby dedication. see page 50).

Note also the value of using symbols and signs not always associated with traditional worship but which speak to people in our culture (see examples, pages 51-2).

Each congregation has the opportunity to think through the dramatic narrative of its service of worship and to ask "Is there a way to allow the inherent drama in this scene to be more fully visible, to be more completely clear in its meaning, and to be more inviting to participation."

Music

Music is the nuclear reactor of congregational worship. It is where much of the radioactive material is stored, where a good bit of the energy is generated and, alas, where congregatinal meltdown is most likely to occur. Change the order of worship and you have a debate. Change the style of music and you may split the congregation. Each generation tends to have its own musical preferences. Churches need to learn and practice the "soul musics" of the great majority of people in the culture. One generation's bane is another generation's blessing.

Regardless of our age or situation, music is very powerful and formative in religious experience. We get our theology far more often from the hymns we sing than from the sermons we hear.

Verses of hymns are often not taken literally by those who sing them. Worshippers may identify a particular hymn in terms of their life experience and that makes all the difference in the world. A personOs music is a powerful alloy of memory and emotion, experience and conviction, expression and aspiration. People will naturally be very concerned, if they discover their particular favourites are removed from the hymnbook, or the familiar words changed.

Note the example (pages 56-58) of how a congregation created a 'vastly different' service pattern on a Sunday morning - not so much by changing the order as the style and the music.

The author believes that while praise music gets people involved, it is also simplistic, repetitive and ultimately boring. What needs to be asked about selecting music is how it creates a climate of awe in worship (cf. Elton Johns' "Goodbye English Rose" as compared to Verdi's "Requiem" at the funeral for Princess Diana).

Much contemporary music is self-centered and narcisistic. That was also true for the pietistical hymnody of the 19th century. So the battle rages over a preference for popular hymns that appeal to the masses, or musical treasures with theological depth and heritage. Some creative congregations have found a third way to deal with music.

Worship Characteristic #4:
Vital and faithful congregations emphasize congregational music that is both excellent and eclectic in style and genre.

We need to focus on music that is congregational, eclectic and excellent. Vital congregations are committed to increased use of music in worship but the shift is focused on quality, not mere quantity. Music is the thread that ties the flow of the service together. Music is used in a variety of ways. Full-length hymns and shorter choruses are employed to gather the people, to reinforce the readings of scripture and preaching; to generate a sense of mystery throughout, to cultivate congregational participation, to express thanksgiving and joy, to surround the offerings of the people, and to send the congregation into the world to service.

Professional music staff have an important responsibility not so much to help congregations listen to the music as an audience, but to assist them to actively listen, worship and flow with the music.

There are musical standards of excellence. It must pass two tests - functional and internal. The music of worship should be good music as measured by inherent musical standards, and it should be effective music as measured by how well it actually works in a particular congregation to give voice and expression to praise.

Eric Routley:

Question: Should the church musician allow the congregation to sing the hymns they like and love or should the musician demand that they sing better music?

Response: You have to begin with what a congregation knows and likes, and what they will sing. But the church musician must always put a little musical pressure on the congregation to move them along into more mature musical expression. You begin where they are, but you don't leave them there.

We need music in which we can genuinely participate but which also encourages us into more mature and complex understandings of faith. The best hymn is one the congregation can sing with passion but which leaves the worshippers changed at the end.

Congregational music should be varied in its style and genre. it is possible, within one congregation, to experience an amazing diversity of music - from classical to folk, from Bach to rock. Excellent music can be found in many different forms. Our concern should be for excellence, in whatever genre and across a wide spectrum.

Conclusion:

Music holds a service together from beginning to end. This is not to say there are no rough edges. No everyone likes all forms of music. An ethic of tolerance and mutual participation is required. People need to be willing to sing music they do not necessarily like for the sake of the unity of the body.
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