A Thinking Reed

"Church classic"

Written by

Lee M.

in

Here’s an article about a trend among churches using the “contemporary” praise-band-and-overhead-screen format to reintroduce what some are calling a “classic service,” complete with choir and hymnals:

No one can dispute that the contemporary-style worship has helped churches grow by pulling in “unchurched” young and middle-age people, who tend to like the informality and rock-influenced music. It is still far more common to see a mainline church experimenting with a contemporary service than a contemporary-style church trying out tradition.

But some students of the contemporary style say that much of its music lacks the melodic sophistication of enduring hymns, or the poetry and doctrinal depth of lyrics penned by such writers as Charles Wesley (“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”), Isaac Watts (“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”), Fanny Crosby (“Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine”) or Thomas Dorsey (“Precious Lord, Take My Hand”).

And while traditional worship can be stiff and uninvolving, the contemporary experience – music, big screens, mood lighting – is often derided as “church lite.”

Comments

3 responses to “"Church classic"”

  1. Joshie

    The whole phenomenon is pretty curious. It strikes me as similar to the way American conservatives end up defending an older form of liberalism against a newer form, these chorus churches are trying to get back to an older form of “contemporary” worship. Not that that’s necassarily any better or worse, but it just strikes me as odd I guess.

    Reply
  2. Lee

    Kind of like how “classic” rock is music that was made in the 60s and 70s?

    Ironically, the creation of a “traditional” or “classic” service as another niche worship style would only seem to reinforce the consumerist approach to worship that a lot of traditionalists would presumably deplore. It also seems like it would contribute to the age-segregation of the church, which is a pet peeve of mine. I sort of think that ideally the entire congregation would worship together at a single service, though I realize that is probably not feasible for many congregations.

    Reply
  3. Joshie

    I’m so realived that I’m not the only person who has that pet peeve!! I think it’s a lot more feasibile than many churches make it seem. If your church is so huge that you need more than two services on Sunday morning, its time for a spin-off congregation.

    A big problem with the age-segregation of the church, besides the obvious, is the impact it has on teenagers. When young people graduate out of youth group they no longer see church as relavent to them as adults because they have been fed a steady stream of stuff focused entirely on them as teens. So they never darken the door of a church again until they have kids and decide to take them to church.

    Reply

Leave a comment

More posts