Daniel Renstrom: It seems to me that when the modern worship movement came into town, churches became more and more age segregated.

This is pure speculation, but it seems to me that when the modern worship movement came into town, churches became more and more age segregated. There is probably a doctoral student somewhere in America working on this topic right now, so I’ll wait for that book to come out to tell me more about it. But as a general observation, I do not remember churches in my youth having such radical age divides as they do now. And my guess is that music is one of the main reasons for this change.

This is certainly an oversimplification of a larger problem. But music is one of the main ways that a church shows its stylistic preferences. Thus, music becomes an important way for a church to identify itself. My guess is that many people make the decision about where they will go to church based largely on the style of music. It’s just easy to be around people who like the things we do.

Continue reading.

Sign up to receive weekly WorshipIdeas every Tuesday morning in your email:

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

 

We guarantee 100% privacy.
Your information will not be shared.

Jamie Brown: Most worship leaders serve congregations who don’t exactly make it easy.

The dream of every worship leader is to serve a congregation who makes their job easy. They sing every song with gusto. They never complain or gripe. They learn every song after singing it once. They’re always just begging for more. It’s like you’re in heaven every Sunday. Freedom abounds.

I suppose these kinds of congregations exist, but my hunch is that they exist, blissfully, mostly in the dreams of delusional worship leaders.

The reality of most worship leaders is that they serve congregations who don’t exactly make it easy. There are weeks, and seasons, and years of painful slogging. There are particular people who seem to relish the opportunity to criticize you. Songs fall flat. Excellent musicians don’t exactly fall out of the woodwork. And as you look out over your congregation you get the distinct impression that they’re just not that impressed and they’re just not that into you.

Congregations can tend to be, in a word, resistant. And this is the phenomenon referred to as “reality”. Real people, the people who are actually sitting in the pews on Sunday mornings, tend to like to feel safe, and tend to want to avoid having their personal sovereignty threatened. And few things threaten the personal sovereignty of people more than heartfelt worship. It gets at our pride in a unique way that’s both good for us and painful for us at the same time.

Continue reading.

Sign up to receive weekly WorshipIdeas every Tuesday morning in your email:

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

 

We guarantee 100% privacy.
Your information will not be shared.

Marion Aldridge asks: what happens when it’s obvious an individual and a church are no longer a fit?

(This blog describes a problem I have never heard named. Unfortunately, I have not proposed a solution. I hope I am starting a helpful conversation, since I don’t have a Final Answer. What are your ideas?)

Most churches are small. Compared to the government’s various definitions of “small business,” which can be up to 50-500 employees, our congregations are tiny. It is a rare church that has a dozen employees. Most have one (the pastor) or two (the pastor and an administrative assistant). Some have full-time or part-time employees with very specialized skills—financial secretary, minister of music, preschool coordinator.

If someone is a good employee, but in the wrong job, larger businesses can move a person to an assignment where he or she can succeed.

Aha!

Churches can’t do that. We are too small. There is no wiggle room. Promotions and demotions are nearly impossible in ecclesiastical life within the same congregation.

Continue reading.

Sign up to receive weekly WorshipIdeas every Tuesday morning in your email:

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

 

We guarantee 100% privacy.
Your information will not be shared.