Worship Music Review Kickoff!

Hello readers! I am beginning a project that has always been in the back of my mind – finding new Christian music that is appropriate for a worship setting. Some out there might suggest that anything labeled as Christian music should be just fine for worship – I couldn’t more strongly disagree. There are a lot of factors that go in to selecting music, but in order to explain them, here’s some background.

Lyrical Theology – We Sing What We Believe

The concept of “lyrical theology” was introduced to me last spring as I was working on a paper for a course in the history of Christian thought. S.T. Kimbrough, Jr. wrote of how, throughout the history of the church, hymns have been used to sing what we believe about faith, the scriptures, God, Christ and so on. This idea resonated with me; I had previously taught a class on selecting music for worship that took into careful account the theology of the music, as well as it’s ability to be sung. If you think about it, in Judeo-Christian tradition, the book of Psalms in the Hebrew Scriptures is probably the best collection of lyrical theology, but poetry (such as the creation story or that of the prophets) has also been recited time and time again, and used to teach and learn beliefs.

How do you teach kids the “ABCs”? You sing a song! So it is when you teach beliefs about who and what God is and is doing in the world.

So, as a minister of Community of Christ, I obviously buy into this particular view of Christianity. Though a part of the larger body of Christ, we have particular beliefs that aren’t directly compatible with every other flavor of Christianity. As such, I can’t just blindly introduce a song to a congregation without first considering its message. This is by far the most important part of selecting music for worship. Sure, a catchy melody might sound great, but if the content of the message is empty or, even worse, opposite the theology of the particular church or denomination, it does damage to the message of that group. For example, songs that celebrate the Rapture and salvation of all Christians flies in the face of the basic belief of salvation in Community of Christ:

The gospel is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ: forgiveness of sin, and healing from separation, brokenness, and the power of violence and death. This healing is for individuals, human societies, and all of creation. This new life is the loving gift of God’s grace that becomes ours through faith and repentance. Baptism is how we initially express our commitment to lifelong discipleship. As we yield our lives to Christ in baptism we enter Christian community (the body of Christ) and have the promise of salvation. We experience salvation through Jesus Christ, but affirm that God’s grace has no bounds, and God’s love is greater than we can know. (emphasis mine)

Any songs that exclude the possibility that salvation could be available for others outside of the Christian community are (in my opinion) limiting the grace of God. There are many other considerations to be made that deal with issues of theology; for my purposes, (again, as a minister of Community of Christ), I’ll look to my church’s basic beliefs and enduring principles.

Musicality – The Worship Wars

Here’s another concept that I encountered in seminary, though it was definitely something I was familiar with long before. Thomas Long wrote a book a while back called Beyond the Worship Wars: Building Vital and Faithful Worship, and in it he talks about the various ways the whole argument over “traditional” versus “contemporary” worship styles misses the bigger issue altogether – the depth and significance of the worship service. While I agree that worship (at least that which I’ve experienced) lacks a certain ability to facilitate an encounter with the Divine, the surface-level stuff like music style does need to be addressed. That’s where finding songs that are “singable” comes in quite handy.

Once I’ve identified a few “candidates” that are theologically compatible, then I’ll move on to analyze the songs based on their ability to be sung. Community of Christ has a long-standing tradition of four part harmony, but you will almost never find a contemporary worship song that lends itself to be sung with soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices. Instead, there is typically a lead singer and then maybe one or two other voice parts accompanying. This transition is definitely the norm, and people most familiar with popular Western music (not Country & Western, mind you) may not have ever head an education in reading music and probably not much in the way of singing it. Plus, we tend to think all that kind of music is for grandmas.

Choosing music, then, requires the ability to determine which songs are also simple enough to sing. You want something predictable and repetitive enough that the congregation can join in after hearing it only a couple times. The traditional hymns that we sing today were often sung to familiar tunes from their day, and many were probably not sung to the same tune we sing them to today. As long as the rhythm matched the phrase, the tune could be used. (Any staunch opposers to contemporary music because of its simplistic musical style ought to listen to an average congregation sing a hymn of which they are unfamiliar with the meter or tune.)

What next?

This is something that I am very passionate about. In my opinion, my own faith tradition has done a disservice to people in my generation by not exploring (and in some circles, completely dismissing) contemporary music. Without creating an official atmosphere for this discussion, the attitude toward contemporary music is that it is either too rock-like musically or too evangelical theologically. The rest of us that would like to find a place for this kind of music – for which there is plenty that is neither too heavy or evangelical – have been discouraged for myriad reasons.

My purpose is to set out to find music that addresses this need. Find music that is both theologically compatible and singable. Music that can be used for all varieties of worship services without compromising our theological or musical heritage and integrity.

I’ll be picking out newer albums, analyzing the music and then reporting back the songs that I think are appropriate for Community of Christ worship services. Learning the songs will be up to you, and be sure you are in compliance with the various CCLI policies before using them in worship. Also, if you have any artists, songs or albums you think I should hear, let me know! I’m always looking for new stuff to listen to, analyze and learn!

May our endeavors be always for the glory of God, and to aide those we are called to serve to encounter the Divine mystery!