Heads - Hymnal, Tails - Choruses...

I read this article by John Stackhouse. Basically, he says if churches have worship with drums and guitars then the music is always too loud and needs to be turned down. His five reasons for turning it down are:

1) “…cranking up the volume is just a cheap trick to add energy to a room.”
2) “…when your intonation is not very good—and let's face it, most singers and instrumentalists are not anywhere close to being in perfect tune—turning it up only makes it hurt worse.”
3) “…the speakers in most church PA systems cannot take that much energy through their small, old magnets and cones…”
4) “…consider that you might be marginalizing older people, most of whom probably do not like Guns N' Roses volumes at church.”
5) “…a church service isn't a concert at which an audience sings along with the real performers. Musicians—every one of them, including the singers—are accompanists to the congregation's praise. They should be mixed loudly enough only to do their job
of leading and supporting the congregation.”

Okay, so can I pass this on to the organists that I know who sometimes play so loudly that my kids cover their ears and the windows shake? ‘Cause they “are accompanists to the congregation’s praise” and should not be louder than the people singing, right? And, of course, the choir’s intonation with the organ can’t possibly be very good so make sure they sing quietly. And, really, who wants to add any energy to the room during a worship service? That’s just plain silly. And I say these things because I love traditional, organ and choir led worship.

To paint “contemporary”*** worship with such broad strokes as Stackhouse does in the article is irresponsible at best. I really wish he had just included SOMETHING about the organ being too loud – really, John, I wouldn’t even have this post if you had.

And is it just possible that a church could have a sound system that really can “take that much energy”? Volume issues aside, that’s a shot at every church – because maybe none of us care enough about our people to provide adequate sound systems so that people can hear God’s word spoken clearly. Um – we don’t all have “small, old magnets and cones” in our worship spaces, “contemporary” or not.

Come on. I can’t believe there’s anybody still waging the worship wars. Yes, I know I just engaged in a bit of a worship skirmish here. But it still blows my mind that honest-to-goodness, rational human beings take pot-shots at worship styles they don’t like.

Here’s why I can’t believe it still goes on. From the comments section to the above mentioned article:

I'd not heard of this "worship war". I am 60 years old, I love my Lord and am so grateful for my salvation. I've been to a few different countries and experienced different styles. Yes, i too, finially experienced the music being much too loud. They were about to blow thier amps , screatching etc. I knew they were trying to work on it , during church time. This is what God put in my heart, " Will you worship me? Testing. Testing. Will you worship me? In the noise ? when it is too loud? Not the way you personally desire the music to be. Will you worship me? Can you hear My voice in the distraction?" I began to smile, the music was too loud again i smile. "help them Lord, and yes i will worship You now! in the midst of problems , pain , War, ... And so i worshiped in the 3rd row . hands lifted up ,voice with a heart of thanksgiving , determined to let nothing stop me from praising My Saviour nor from hearing the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Peace (posted by Karen February 10, 2009 6:01 AM)

Preach it, Karen!!

When the little kid sings out of tune, my heart rejoices that there’s a child offering his heart. When the mic feeds back because the sound guy (or girl – we’ve got ‘em both) forgot to mute it, I am so thankful that we have people who have these gifts and skills and want to worship God with them. If the organ’s too loud, I praise God for the beauty of the music nonetheless and the gift given to the organist. If the band is too loud, and it happens sometimes, I will nevertheless give God all of my attention and all of my praise. ‘Cause it’s not about me in worship, it’s about God.

And even when I’m distracted by the fussy old guy in the pew. Heh, you thought I was going to say little kid, right? Well, I’m only distracted by the impatient and graceless responses of the people who are distracted by the little kid – let the babies cry and the seven-year-olds dance, ‘cause that’s how God made ‘em and we’ll love them all the more – because it’s not about MY worship experience and how much I get out of it, but what I offer to God – even in the midst of distractions – and, let me tell you, I’m so ADD that my shoelaces sometimes distract me during worship – I’m not kidding – but I still give God all the glory…

You know what? I think I’m going to put part of that comment up on my wall – ‘cause I need to remember that when worship isn’t what I think it should be and how I feel about it. Worship is about God.

“Will you worship me? Testing. Testing. Will you worship me? In the noise? When it is too loud? Not the way you personally desire the music to be. Will you worship me? Can you hear my voice in the distraction?”

*** You know I HATE HATE HATE HATE the term “contemporary” worship – ‘cause we all equate it with music – and in my mind it conjures images of two guys with acoustic guitars (one a twelve-string, five of which are not quite in tune) singing “This Is the Day” and “Here I Am Lord” with an overhead projector on the wall… Now, I know that’s not reality, but it’s me. Plus, the reality is if today I choose to sing the 200 plus year old hymn “O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” which I love, well, it’s contemporary. ‘Cause I’m doing it today… So, is “modern worship” better? Nope. Um…”Alt Worship” Bleah… Sigh. How about just worship? But then how will people know whether or not it’s going to be too loud and avoid it? Sigh…

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