Summary: The old joke is, “How many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb?” The response is. “Change? Who authorised change? I vote against it!” Changes in worship are particularly controversial and often lead to what are called, “The Worship Wars.” Here are some thoughts about change in worship. Comments are always welcome.
It’s well known that the last seven words of a dying church are, “We’ve never done it that way before!” What the words suggest is that churches are caught in a rut. That change is a dirty word. That the status quo is king. That may partly be true if we treat the church as an organisation, rather than as a living organism, but there have also been times of radical change in the history of the Church, for example, the Reformation.
As a living organism, however, change is part of the life cycle of the church – ancient and modern. Worship renewal, for example, is not a modern invention. Time after time in Scripture the people of Israel were called on to return to the covenant God had made with them, and a key component of that covenant was the proper worship of God, and making the changes that this required. We humans have a long history of taking God’s design for worship and messing it up!!!!
Worship renewal was one of the reasons for the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. It was a key component of The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) which reformed, in part, the worship of the Roman Catholic Church. Since Vatican II there has been a significant renewed interest in worship renewal throughout the Christian Church, one that is reflected in the fact that almost every denomination has produced new service books and new hymnbooks in the last thirty years.
During this same period and arising out of the “Jesus Movement” in the nineteen sixties, came praise and worship music that birthed in many ways the great explosion of contemporary hymns and songs of the present time. All have brought renewal to the worship of God’s people, all have led to change.
However, as someone has said, not all change is good change and not all change is progress. The same could be said of worship renewal. Worship renewal for the sake of worship renewal is not enough. Worship renewal that is promoted because “everyone else is doing it” is guaranteed to fail. Worship renewal that is promoted by the personal agenda of the pastor or worship team is simply self- serving. No, worship renewal must come from a desire that is Spirit led. It must be the product of prayer. It must be birthed out of a desire to cause the worship we offer to be the best we can possibly offer. But I offer this word of caution, worship renewal will not be more of the status quo either.
I recently asked our worship team at St. Andrew’s (which represents people from 16 to 75 years of age) to list some of the changes they had seen in worship during their lifetimes. We didn’t pass judgement on whether these changes were bad or good we just noted what changes we had observed, sometimes minor and sometimes major in influence. Here the things they listed, in no particular order.
new hymns and music forms
greater use of other instruments than the organ
use of technology (sound systems, digital projectors and screen.
extended praise songs and singing at the beginning of worship
language (from Thee/thou to you/me)
use of drama
wider use of the colours of the church year
expanded roles for children and youth
more sharing and participation by members of the congregation
children at communion
different bible translations in use
more cross over between denominations (more sharing of traditions)
liturgical dance
ordination of women as ministers and elders
more interactive
less somber,
a movement from worshippers to spectators (cultural trend?)
the use of more songs and practises from the global church
different hymnals (wider range of musical choices)
printed bulletins
Notice that this list only spans a period of 60 years and if we had spent more time on this exercise I’m sure the list would have been much longer.
Then there are the major historical influences such as worship being conducted in the local vernacular instead of Latin, the massive influence of the printing press on worship, the founding and growth of denominations, the impact of new technologies. Even with these added in we have only scratched the surface of changes that over history, and over our lifetimes, have impacted worship. Then there is the whole other question of how cultural changes have impacted, and continue to impact worship. That is a subject for another day.
So the question is never change or no change. It is whether the change is biblical. It is whether the change will have positive or negative effects on the congregation. It is whether the change is Spirit led. It is whether the change honours God.
It is naïve, I believe, to think that changes in worship can be avoided but it is just as naïve to introduce change without counting the cost and planning the introduction and the implementation of change carefully and prayerfully. As Christians and congregations we are very vested and emotionally involved in our worship practises therefore change must be measured change, but it must not be delayed change because “what was good enough for Moses is not good enough for the present generation” who are often looking for fresh expressions of worship.
There is a Scripture that needs to be kept to the forefront of all discussions on worship so we remember that we are Christians, and that although our opinions may differ, and often dramatically, we must act as Christians throughout. Philippians 2:3-4 says:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look out not only for your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (NIV)
One of my favourite authors is Leith Anderson. In his book “A Church for the 21st Century” (Bethany House Publishers, 1992 p.22) he reminded us of this great truth “We know that the church has survived and flourished for almost 2,000 years, but we also know that it looks a lot different than it did in A.D.33.” That is also true of the worship of the Church. Perhaps it is a reminder to us the Holy Spirit is not static but is always on the move.
YOUR FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS WELCOME. WHAT ARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH CHANGE IN WORSHIP? WHAT LESSONS DID YOU LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE?
