LeavenVolume 6Issue 1 Worship Article 10

1-1-1998

The Contemporary Crisis: One Church's PeacefulApproach to the Traditional vs. ContemporaryWorship DilemmaRalph Beck

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Recommended CitationBeck, Ralph (1998) "The Contemporary Crisis: One Church's Peaceful Approach to the Traditional vs. Contemporary WorshipDilemma," Leaven: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 10.Available at: http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol6/iss1/10

oto the Tradif

Based on a class presented at the Pepperdine Lectures,April, 1996.

For several generations now, the format and "feeling"(or ambiance) of Sunday morning assemblies among mostmainstream North American Churches of Christ has beenquite uniform. Local church members who travel makereference to this reality-often in a complimentary man-ner: "During our last trip, we visited five congregationsin three different parts of the country. They do everythingjust like we do." Traditionally, the congregational atmo-sphere in most Sunday morning assemblies of Churchesof Christ has been what some would call "reverent." Oth-ers might use the word "sedate." (Worshippers in predomi-nantly African-American congregations, who have tendedto be much more verbally and physically engaged in theworship and preaching experience, represent a notableexception.)

The predictable, undemonstrative approach to corpo-rate worship within Churches of Christ has provided asense of security and comfort for many members. For oth-ers, that approach has become a source of disengagementand discontent. An increasing number of Church of Christmembers are visiting other fellowships. They see, hear,

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"U~ll!'~~ch

hip Dilemma

Ralph Beck

and experience things that "move," "encourage," or "con-vict" them; they long for comparable experiences in theassemblies of their own congregations. Additionally, theawareness that unchurched people are being drawn to suchassemblies motivates evangelistically minded Church ofChrist members to strive for change. Another contribut-ing factor is not so visible, but very rea!. Many Chris-tians, spurred by current sermons, books, and articles toseek a more personal relationship with God through prayer,Bible study, and the practice of other spiritual disciplines,desire a corporate worship experience that more closelyparallels the experience of their private or family devo-tionals-"genuine," "heartfelt," "open," "personal."

Some churches have begun to integrate into theirworship assemblies a more informal, celebrative atmo-sphere and a greater concern for the flow of the entireworship experience. They have incorporated specificmodifications such as the addition of contemporary Chris-tian songs; the projection of lyrics (and more recently,musical notation) on an overhead screen; the amplifica-tion of a group of singers, commonly called a praise teamor worship team; the occasional clapping of hands duringsongs with a fast tempo and a joyful theme; the raising ofhands during meditative songs; the sharing of personal

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testimonies regarding God's active presence and good-ness; the use of drama; and the occasional presentation ofa "special song," typically sung as a solo or by a smallgroup.

In many churches, the introduction-or simply thediscussion-of even minimal change has upset those whowish to retain a traditional assembly. In those samechurches, the resistance to-or outright rejection of-change has upset those who wish to incorporate it. Mem-bers and leaders who resist changes to the traditional as-sembly express honest concerns: "So many of these newideas are irreverent." "We need to be concerned about whatpleases God rather than what pleases us." "We would betrading the timeless, great hymns for trendy camp songs.""We will lose our distinctive four-part harmony." "It'sdenominational." "I don't see the biblical authority forthese innovations." "Our worship will become mere per-formance." "This is simply a ploy to move women intopositions of leadership." Our churches must work throughthe challenge of this "contemporary crisis."

One Congregation's JourneyThe church family of which I am a part, the Lake-

wood Church of Christ in Lakewood, Colorado, is oneexample of a congregation that has, for the most part, hap-pily and peacefully made the transition from a traditionalassembly to a more contemporary one. In telling our story,I will include the mistakes that hindered us in our journeyas well as the decisions and steps that moved us forward.

When I visited the Lakewood Church a little over fiveyears ago, my general impression was that the church wasready to shift from a traditional assembly to a more con-temporary one. "We just need the right guy [meaning me]to help move us forward." The challenge was one to whichmy wife and I believed the Lord was calling us, so weaccepted.

It was more of a challenge than we had anticipated.There was a noticeable absence of many aspects of con-temporary worship that we had come to enjoy: congrega-tional greeting time (hugging and handshaking), contem-porary worship songs, testimonies, the occasional raisingand clapping of hands, and verbal and visual indicationsof affirmation during sermons. Furthermore, it appearedthat the congregation as a whole was not as eager forchange as those who had encouraged our coming hadthought. On more than one occasion, my wife wept as wedrove home from the assembly-not from anger or re-

sentment, but from an unmet desire to experience the joyof corporate worship and fellowship as we had known it.

What to do? Fortunately, prior to our coming, an area-wide "Day of Praise" featuring Ken Young and the HallalSingers had been scheduled at our facility for a Sundayafternoon. Approximately one month prior to the event,Ken and I described to representatives from the Denverarea churches what the event would look, feel, and soundlike. On the day of the event, over eleven hundred peoplecrowded into our building. Ken skillfully directed our sing-ing and pointed our hearts to God-thoughtfully blend-ing contemporary and traditional songs. Groups of med-leys-some fast-paced and exuberant, some slower andmeditative-were interspersed with prayers, Scripturereadings, and devotional thoughts. Song lyrics and comple-mentary visuals were projected onto a large overheadscreen. Following our "official" dismissal after four hoursof worship, several hundred worshippers spontaneouslymoved to the front and sang into the night.

The excitement generated among our Lakewood mem-bers was tremendous. One of our senior, more traditionalmembers told one of our elders, "This is the best thingwe've ever done." "Bingo!" I thought. "We can changeour assembly overnight." So during the next three Sun-day evening assemblies, I laid out my vision for what ourmorning assemblies might look like in the very near fu-ture.

What a blunder! I had mistaken enthusiasm over aspecial event that had occurred at a time other than theregular Sunday morning assembly for a widespread de-sire to incorporate many of the elements of that event intoour Sunday morning worship experience. At the end of

This is the best thingwe've ever done.""Bingo!" I thought. "Wecan change ourassembly overnight." ...What a blunder!

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my third message in that misfit series, one of our mem-bers publicly asked, "How do I vote against this?" I soonrealized that I had misinterpreted the success of our "Dayof Praise" experience. If I had it to do again, I would saynothing about future possibilities and, with the elders'knowledge and approval, simply introduce mild changeswith minimal comment.

Now what? The elders and I were not willing to forcechanges that could lead to a nasty split. Nor were we will-ing to sacrifice the possibility of a more ceJebrative wor-ship experience, one that could have a great evangelisticimpact on our community. We decided to offer a Sundaymorning "praise service" separate from our main assem-bly. It would not be an alternative or "second" assembly;there would be no sermon, no Lord's Supper. Rather, itwould be an additional opportunity for us to experiencean extended time of praise, using a praise team, and toshare personal testimonies and brief devotional thoughts.

When to do it? We concluded that the best time wouldbe during our traditional Bible class hour-immediatelyprior to the regular assembly. We would continue to offerchildren's classes and one adult Bible class for those whodid not want to participate in the praise service. To com-pensate for the loss of the adult Bible classes for those inthe praise service, we changed our Sunday evening for-mat from the traditional "second preaching service" to aBible study format. A combined "Bible hour" was pro-vided for the children.

The results were both positive and negative. On thepositive side, the many of our church family who yearnedfor a more expressive worship experience had that desiremet, as did friends and neighbors who were frequentlyinvited to that service. Another positive result was a natu-ral "bleeding over" of some of the excitement, enthusi-asm, and thoughtfulness of the praise service into the regu-lar worship assembly. Assembly planners and leaders be-came more concerned about an intentional flow of wor-ship. "Tromp time"-the long periods between worshipactivities when assembly leaders wait for one another tosit down before standing up to make their treks to the pul-pit-was disappearing. We incorporated some of the con-temporary songs into our main service. The congregationbecame more participative. Both laughter and tears wereflowing more easily.

There was, however, a negative side. The segregationof those for change from those against change was clearlymarked by having the praise service compete with an adult

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Bible c1ass-during the traditional Bible class hour. Theoverheard choruses of praise reminded class participantsthat many of their dear friends were not in class with themnow. They were "out there!" when they should have been"in here!" At the same time, a number of people who regu-larly participated in the praise service missed going to aSunday morning Bible class. Clearly, some further adjust-ment needed to be made.

Within a year of beginning the praise service, our lead-ers formulated a new Sunday morning schedule. Our praiseservice was reduced from forty-five minutes to thirty min-utes and preceded the Bible class hour. It worked beauti-fully. Praise service participants were back in Sundaymorning Bible class, and both groups were happy. We usedthat schedule for approximately one year.

During that time, another significant change occurred.We had been projecting the words of our songs onto ascreen during the praise service. We had continued, how-ever, to juggle two sets of songbooks (one traditional andone contemporary) during the main assembly, because theabsence of musical notation in overhead projection was aconcern for many of our people. Then we discovered ofthe possibility of projecting both words and music ontoour large screen. Suddenly, the main gathering had evenmore of the flavor of our praise service. Songs weregrouped in thematic medleys. Songbook numbers wereno longer announced. More contemporary songs weresung. Members and visitors alike responded favorably.

Approximately one year later, for a special bring-a-friend Sunday, our elders gave permission for our praiseteam to sing a few songs from the back of the auditoriumimmediately prior to our assembly. As they sang, we pro-jected slides of our church family members in various set-tings on the overhead screen. For the benefit of our guests,who would be unfamiliar with our worship songs, ourpraise team continued to be amplified during our congre-gational singing. The unsolicited response of both mem-bers and guests was overwhelmingly positive, leading tothe incorporation of the praise team into our regular as-sembly.

Soon after that decision, the elders began discussingwhether we should continue to have a separate praise ser-vice or whether it should be incorporated into the mainassembly. From those discussions, a new plan emerged.We terminated the praise service and extended the mainassembly from an hour and a quarter to an hour and ahalf. Following a brief fellowship (stand and greet) pe-

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riod, the first twenty minutes were devoted to a "seasonof worship." There was opportunity for occasional testi-monies. The "season of worship" typically segued to theLord's Supper. The new schedule was well received andcontinues today.

Guidelines for Healthy TransitionBased on both my observation and my experience, I

believe that the following seven guidelines are vital to ahealthy transition.

I. Church leaders, both official and unofficial, musthave a desire for change or at least a common per-ception that change is necessary to achieve thechurch's purpose and mission.

2. A significant number within the congregation mustalso desire change. The larger this number, the easierand smoother the transition.

3. Church leaders must be both persistent and patient.It is quite possible for churches to achieve signifi-cant, positive results by taking small steps towardchange. Conversely, it is easy to venture too far toofast and bring about disaster. It is unwise for anychurch to try to mimic exactly the specific steps andtime line of another church. Every congregation hasits own set of dynamics that will impact what, when,and how changes should be introduced.

4. The congregation must have members who aregifted-and willing to serve-in ways that will sup-port desired changes. To constructively integrate apraise team, for example, the congregation musthave at least a few reasonably accomplished sing-ers.

5. Leaders must realize that they cannot "educate" theentire congregation into feeling good about poten-tial changes. They commonly assume, "We just need

to teach our people why these new things we're plan-ning to do are important, then they'll come onboard"; in fact, those reluctant to change tend tobristle at that approach. On the other hand, whenallowed to simply experience something a little dif-ferent, those members will often accept, and evenenjoy, what is new.

6. To members who express concern, leaders mustlovingly, confidently articulate the reasons forpresent changes. They must especially be preparedto affirm the congregation's commitment to bibli-cal authority.

7. Leaders must be emotionally prepared for the pos-sibility that at least a few members will not acceptany changes in the assembly. At Lakewood, threecouples left us at various points in our transition.Although the tender hearts of our shepherds werehurt, that hurt has been softened by the overall highmorale within the congregation and the many whohave come to us-and continue to come to us-because of our more contemporary, celebrative as-sembly.

If there are any tears on the way home from churchthese days, they are tears of joy. My wife and I wouldrather be with our Lakewood family on Sunday morningsthan with any other group in the world. We praise God forfilling our hearts, as well as those of many others in ourcongregation, with love and patience. With our contem-porary crisis largely behind us, we increasingly focus ourenergies and attention on our mission-reaching out toothers with the saving message of Jesus. Thankfully, thechanges in our assembly greatly complement that effort.

RALPH BECK serves the Lakewood Church of Christ inLakewood, Colorado.

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