Somewhat panicked, angry, and frustrated...

[Elle]

:mad: Just got an email from my pastor and would like to know if my initial reactions of pure panic and frustration are me just overreacting. I can't remember if I told you guys, but I studied classical piano for 15 years, and currently play all kinds of stuff for church, from contemporary christian to old hymns of the faith, to jazz, to classical. Anyway, we have 3 worship teams right now that play for two weeks on and four weeks off. So this is the message I got today...
"Some members were concerned that not enough hymns were being sung during the service. The elders decided this week to have four contemporary songs at the opening of our service. Then, there would be one hymn played before the message and one hymn after the message. The philosophical and theological rational for this decision will be shared as part of the sermon on Sunday, December 5.(can't wait to hear this!) I would also like to meet together with you again to see if there is a way that we can work together better. I would like all of you to be able to attend this meeting. Could all of you make it after prayer meeting on Wednesday, December 8? Here are the items I would like to discuss at that time: 1) I have greatly appreciated CY's scheduling of the worship teams as well as CY's working together with all of the worship teams to provide some continuity to our worship from week to week. In the past, it seems like the worship teams have operated as completely separate entities which I don't believe has been good for the church. CY, would you like to continue to schedule worship? If not, who will schedule it? How can we improve coordination between the different worship teams so that the congregation can keep learning new songs? 2) I keep hearing that people are unhappy about the music. I don't think there is any solution that will make everybody in this church happy regarding the music. But if possible, I'd like for us to be able to submit to one another, and to work with one another. We've got more important things as a church to spend our energy on than fighting over music. Let's find a way to come together."
Having been heavily involved in "worship leading" for lack of a better term, this whole thing stinks of control and people wanting their own way. Who are we worshiping anyway? Thanks for letting me vent. Please pray that this situation will not be a trigger for me to self injure - it's been 15 days, and I don't want to go back there. Elle

[Reg]

HI Elle,

I don't sense anything in this other than an attempt to try to co-ordinate the music and comply with the members requests. However, one thing does stand out. Who are the few who don't think there are enough hymns sung? Are they the power brokers of the church?

We had a similar thing happen in our church recently when the worship services and the kind of worship done went under a review. We were/are mainly contemporary with a few traditional hymns sung. Some also complained that not enough traditional stuff was sung. I heard it was a few older, more established members who were not happy with all the modern contemporary stuff. Personally, I like it as I'm sure most in the congregation do also. It is a very vibrant dynamic church with a lot of young people. Our praise/worship Pastor is great. He tries different things to make things desirable for most. You can't please everyone with the music. There will always be some who don't like it.

My concern is that those few who complained, have too much power to override what most want. I sure hope it's not to appease them because of the financial contributions they make and perhaps might withdraw if things don't change.

One distrurbing thing is that we lost our praise/worship Pastor recently. He transfered to another church out west. I am suspicious enough to believe it may be because of that. I hope not. I really don't know all the facts. Time will tell.

[Elle]

Hey Reg - Yah, most of the complainers, I think, are long-time members with fairly significant roles in the church. I guess I feel like we're being micromanaged. I agree that hymns can play an important part in any worship, but it bothers me that this is a subject that even needs to be dealt with. Plus, now that I think about it, it was probably a trigger to the days when I was told what to play and how to play, and anything else was ''sinful''. Thanks for the perspective. Elle

[Satscout]

Take what works and leave the rest...

It sounded less controlling and more coordinating...

It is hard to interpret without knowing what your worship setup is like. How many services are there each Sunday morning? What other alternatives are there for either "more of the contemporary" or "more of the traditional" in music style?

We have three services each Sunday morning, two in "blended style" and one in "contemporary style". The first two services are led by choir and orchestra, and usually have a mix of hymns, praise songs, and anthems of many different styles, including some that are little more than choir singing backup to a soloist. The third service is mainly our worship assistant on guitar plus maybe trap set plus maybe piano plus maybe alternate instrument like mandolin (way cool sound)... with contemporary songs and arrangements that grate on the ears of some of the ones who prefer the old styles. They simply go to first or second service. :) No love lost.

Sometimes - ok, rarely - the "blended style" is done for three services, like our Thanksgiving service this coming Sunday. And sometimes the "contemporary style" is done for three services, like we did LAST Sunday. (Most of the folks at the first service didn't even realize that by putting the words up on a screen, we were supposed to SING. I was singing "alone" in our corner for the first three verses of the first song.) :o ;)

Of course, our solution(s) wouldn't work for everyone, and not every member likes every service or service style. It sounded like in the case of your email, the sender was trying to reach a compromise.

(((((Elle))))) Take care of YOU...

Sharon

[Florence]

As a music pastor in a church that deals with this on a weekly basis, I have to come to the conclusion that there is a fundamental issue that is being overlooked or going unrecognized by some of the members and by the pastor. I'm going to be very blunt, so brace yourself.

Are you ready?

IT'S NOT ABOUT STYLE!!!!!!!!! IT'S NOT EVEN ABOUT PREFERENCE!!!!!!!

I can hear you all shouting out there. Believe me, I've heard it all. "But I worship better with 'this' kind of music!" "We have to honor our elderly folks in the church." "If it's not in the hymnal, it's not ordained by God." "We'll lose all our young people if we don't have contemporary music." (Add your own favorite argument here.)

Some folks walk out of the "worship" service and say one of two things. One is: "Wow, that was a great service! I got so much out of it! I loved the music! I loved the sermon! I loved the drama! I loved the children's message! I loved it!!!!!"

The other folks say: "I can't believe how bad the service was today. I got absolutely nothing out of it. I am absolutely livid that they used the organ/worship band! I can't stand it when they use/don't use drama/video/whatever. How am I supposed to worship when I hate everything that happens here!"

What people don't understand is that the thing they should be saying when they walk out of the worship service is, "Lord, I hope you were listening because this morning was for YOU. Every word that was said, every song that was sung, was for YOU. Lord, we just are so thankful that we were able to join our hearts together in this service to let YOU know how much we love YOU."

You see, it's not about style or preference, it's about GOD.

Now stay with me here. Style does have a place, but it's not with US. Style should be determined not by what we like or don't like. Frankly, God doesn't care. He's only concerned that our worship be in spirit and truth.

Style should be determined by the focus/calling/vision of the church. What has God called your church to do, to whom has He called you to reach? Some churches answer the Lord's call to reach children - and everything they do, first and foremost, focuses on children. Not that the entire worship service should have children's songs, but what comes with children? Parents!!! Parents who are probably somewhere between the ages of 20 and 45. Knowing this will help determine STYLE.

Some churches have as many as 7 generations attending. The one I work at is one of them. That's why we offer two services - one "blended", one traditional. Because we believe God is calling us to minister to families with children, but we also believe we are called to minister to the elderly.

Oh, we still have folks who come to the blended and complain when they have to sing a hymn and others who complain because we are too close to contemporary. But, the leadership has chosen to follow the Lord's leading and to gently and carefully continue to point the naysayers toward the primary beneficiary of our worship.

I don't know if you can comfortably point out to your pastor that the problem is not with preference, but rather with the object of your worship. When it's all "I and me" the object is wrong. It must be "God."

On a final note, I firmly believe that anyone who is involved in a position of leadership in the church - and specifically in worship (planning, scheduling, etc.) should be 'called' to that position - not simply someone who is 'willing.' A person who is 'called' and given that position should be encouraged and supported by the appropriate staff (most noteably, the senior pastor) and they should have regular meetings to evaluate, plan, and discuss how things are going, how they need to evolve, etc. The worship planner/leader should not be a lone ranger, nor should they simply be a "hired hand" (whether they are paid or not) who takes orders. They should be seen as a 'minister' - called by God to be a servant-leader.

Obviously, this is a hot-button for me. As they say, take what works and leave the rest.
Florence

[Elle]

Hey Florence - I couldn't agree more. You sound like my sister (who also used to be Director of Music at her church). Thanks for reminding me...

[Hope 98]

IT'S NOT ABOUT STYLE!!!!!!!!! IT'S NOT EVEN ABOUT PREFERENCE!!!!!!!
Frankly, God doesn't care. He's only concerned that our worship be in spirit and truth.
Florence

:D

Consider me standing and cheering. I agree totally.

For Elle though - what seems rather ordinary to those of us who don't know your church directly - may very well be abusive to you.

I am deeply entrenched in very small church dynamics. Two of them even. One is primarily contemporary, but has hymns before Sunday School.

One church has only singers and a drummer for the worship, so they depend on recorded music. The other has musicians, but only enough for one team. Only one of the churches even has an organ, but it took over 2 years to find someone to play it!

I would have no idea what to do with 3 teams, or even 3 services. My guess is that you are panicked, angry and frustrated for a reason, whether we see it or not. I'll be praying that you find peace and know what to do when the time comes.

[Willow]

something that worked at my former church was to include the fabulous, rich older hymns in the song lineup and do them in such a way that they blended with the more contemporary songs. You can do any hymn in such a style that it holds it's value for the older members, but discards the stagnant, stilted rhythmic patterns and chords that make old hymns seem boring. They aren't boring at all, but very rich and informative.

It's not hard to do with a bunch of musicians in the room... LOL! We had a bunch of fun with contemporizing the old hymns that were requested in our services. In a blended congregation, I feel it's important to reach everyone possible. it's a way of including everyone. People feel unheard and excluded if their requests go unanswered.... even if the answer is a simple "no" and a "why" that makes sense.

Also... there is a forum at the site: http://www.worshiptogether.com that I found most helpful when I was a worship coordinator.

Hope this helps.
Willow

[Jerry]

I keep hearing that people are unhappy about the music. I don't think there is any solution that will make everybody in this church happy regarding the music. But if possible, I'd like for us to be able to submit to one another, and to work with one another. We've got more important things as a church to spend our energy on than fighting over music. Let's find a way to come together

Dear Elle,,,
Self Injure????????,,,Over these uncivilized mutants?????,,,This Pastor isn't doing his job.He is trying to please everyone,and passing it on to you.If he was worth his salt,he would tell the people who don't like the music,not to let the door hit them in the ass on the way out!!!!And then to compound it he belittles your talant by taking the cavaler attitude that they have more important things to do???????What this (explative deleted) needs to do is sharpen up his people skills!...Elle,,,,,It's one thing to have these people devalue you,they're ignorant dolts,but don't you devalue you,,,,,I woun't hear of it!!!!!!
Love Jerry

[Willow]

Wow Jerry... I'm astounded. Once again, you've cut through the chase and gotten to the heart of the matter. That prompting to self injure was the single most important thing in the post and I missed it!!! Thanks Bro. You are good!!!!

[Doug64]

At least in Elle's case, she will have some input.


In our former group, there was the time when they had a worship coordinator who picked the songs each week and notified the worship leader which ones to do (whether he/she knew the song or not) because he thought they fit the topic of the sermon.

Nowdays it appears the W L chooses the songs to be sung (we visited this weekend for the first time in 5 years - long story) and there was a mix of contemporary and hymns with the emphasis on the former.

We enjoyed it.

Doug :)