Does It Matter What Style of Worship Music We Use?

What kind of music should a church use for its worship services? In a congregation with a long history, this question is usually answered in light of tradition. Worshipers in these churches, while often being open to new songs, will expect to also sing tunes that they remember from their youth. Many of us assume that newer congregations, without these restraints of history, are freer to choose their styles of worship music. In newer churches the restraints are supposedly less about tradition and more about what people like. In other words, worship leaders in newer congregations -- that is, ones that have not yet been in existence for an entire generation -- will tend to use music that appeals to the greatest number of potential new members. Monique Ingalls, an ethnomusicologist who studies how churches worship, says that in these "contemporary" services there is often an assumption that musical style is a neutral force. In other words, the style of music is determined not by any inherent meaning but solely by its power to attract and retain visitors. Music style is seen as an instrument (no pun intended) for appealing to as many people as possible. The early contemporary Christian music scene actually stated this assumption in a "Christian Rocker's Creed":

Are all hair styles created equal, too?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all music was created equal—that no instrument or style of music itself is evil—that the diversity of musical expression which flows forth from man is but one evidence of the boundless creativity of our Heavenly Father. (CCM Magazine, November 1988)

Dr. Ingalls argues that it is not so easy when it actually comes to planning and leading worship in a congregation. Her research shows that churches continually struggle to find the right songs and arrangements for their worship services. Even if they won't admit it, church leaders know inherently that music styles are not neutral. This is demonstrated by the fact that we argue about it. If musical styles were actually neutral vehicles, then the desires of newcomers and the needs of long-time members could be balanced with little commotion. Whether we admit it or not, we all believe that some styles are better than others. Here are a few of my ideas about why these negotiations are so complicated and interesting.

All churches have traditions.
Every congregation has history, even if its traditions are only those of the wider, universal church. As part of her dissertation research, Ingalls attended St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Nashville. Based on the look of the bulletin, she expected to experience a fairly traditional and liturgical worship service. However, at some point in the service a worship band began to lead the congregation in responses to the prayers, sung in a contemporary style. St. Bartholomew's seems to have staked out a place that weds their denominational traditions with contemporary musical meaning. The overall format of the liturgy and some of the centuries-old wording remains as part of its Anglican heritage. But new songs and styles lead 21st-century worshipers into a meaningful experience with God and each other.

Some proponents of the creed that "all music styles are equal" are actually on a campaign to purge the church of all traditions. (Or at least traditions that they don't like.) But even a congreagation that was planted just last month is part of one, holy, and apostolic church stretching back to the first century.

Musical meaning is created together.
Music these days is increasingly as a solitary experience. Personal music devices and ear buds rule the day. Listeners (usually called "consumers") have their own personal collections in the cloud or on Spotify. Even musicians are retreating to their own bedrooms to create entire albums with Pro Tools, away from studio-based collaborations with engineers and producers.

Many worship leaders are tempted to chase this trend of diversification and add as many styles to their services as they can. The logic is sound: if music styles are a tool for attracting people to your services, then you have to branch out into every conceivable genre. However, this approach misses out on one of the most important functions of church music: it becomes meaningful as it is experienced in a group. For his chapter in the recent book Christian Congregational Music, Mark Porter interviewed several people who worshiped at a contemporary service in the UK. One of his interviewees, Tom, identified his musical tastes as broad and eclectic. However, he said that he neither desired nor expected his church to meet all his personal musical needs. Rather, the worship service was a place for him to create meaningful experiences with others who did not share his tastes:

The music I respond to in church...it's got a congregational dynamic. It is a response; it is designed to be with a range of different people all coming together to affirm one common faith (page 210).

Worship happens where the familiar meets the unfamiliar.
In a similar vein to Tom's testimony above, limiting worship styles to what is familiar robs the worshiper from truly encountering God. Jeremy Begbie says that when it comes to worship music we should not be asking ourselves "Do I like it?" Instead we should be asking "What is going on here?" This kind of disruption in our assumptions happens when we come up against the unfamiliar. If I only encounter worship music that I know and like, then my opportunities for growth are limited. If God is mystery, then encountering the holy should include moments of disorientation.

This is part of the art of leading worship. Dissonance and confusion on their own are not helpful in a worship context, but learning and growing should include moments of reaching into the unknown. We can indeed go too far and make worship completely about the unfamiliar. This has been the error, often unbeknownst to them at the time, of some cross-cultural missionaries. I saw in the Philippines how some national church leaders readily accepted songs that they did not understand. They believed that worship should be opaque and strange, because they believed that God was hidden and unknowable. Today's worship leader has a similar challenge -- to bridge the gap between the earthly and the heavenly -- the familiar and the unknown. Good thing that Christ went before us to show how humanity could be joined with the divine and be simultaneously immanent and transcendent.