Several years ago I visited the Rev. Jason Barr, senior pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I saw firsthand what transition looks like after change has run its course.John's got a good analysis of the piece that's worth reading. Check it out.
When Barr arrived at Macedonia 15 years ago, the church used a pipe organ and primarily sang anthems. When he introduced drums to worship, a church officer removed them from the sanctuary. Barr brought the drums back in and chained them to the floor.
Under his leadership one traditional service at Macedonia became three contemporary services. A few hundred members mushroomed into 2,500. I always assumed the contemporary worship at Macedonia was simply an expression of Barr’s theology or perhaps a sign of pragmatic pastoral savvy. But recently, I heard Macedonia was planning to reintroduce traditional worship to the congregation.
I had to find out why.
Much to my surprise, Macedonia’s services became contemporary in the first place partly because Barr couldn’t recruit musicians who read music. He could only hire those who play by ear. That changed when Macedonia hired a new worship pastor who plays by ear and is trained academically in music, worship and theology (such a combination is the Holy Grail in African American church musicianship).
What intrigued me even more was Barr’s theological rationale for reintroducing traditional worship. He said that he hopes to eliminate the “hip hop chatter” in worship, referring to the continual prodding of people to be demonstrative during singing and between songs. He finds this approach to worship emphasizes the immanence of God and excludes the transcendence of God.
This switchback highlights the perennial challenge leaders face in navigating the waters between tradition and innovation. As our churches think deeply about shaping future generations of Christians, Barr’s story shows why somebody needs to stop and ask the question, ‘to what end are we innovating?’
I've often commented about the direction that church music has gone, and wouldn't it be nice if this was a new trend in worship? Not likely, but we can still dream.
The reality is that quality endures while fluff disappears. Too much church music these days is fluff - songs that suffer a dearth of quality in both lyrics and musicality. Like any other fad it'll be around for awhile before there's a return to quality. Churches whose pastors begin to realize that their members are gaining nothing of spiritual or Biblical value from the content of the worship music will look for something better.
This story gives me some hope.
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3 comments:
Me too!
Quality traditional music is alive and thriving at St Matthew's Anglican Church in Newport Beach. I would bet there's even room for a baritone voice.
Some of the churches I am familiar with which went from the traditional music over to contemporary music are learning a big lesson. The members who loved traditional songs the most were the one's in the church which were the tither's and free-will offering givers. The younger generation which liked the "fluff" songs might put a dollar or two in the offering and that was about it.
Finally the regular offering giver's decided it was time to start with-holding their giving at their church or change churches.
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