The first of these forms is chant. Before the development of
harmony in tonal music, chants were used as the music of the Church. Originally
derived from the Jewish practice of chanting Torah and the Psalms, Christianity
used chants in worship from its earliest expressions. Chant remained the
dominant form of worship for the church through to the Middle Ages and is still
used in many traditions today. While musically rather unsophisticated, chant is
easy for worshippers to learn as it utilizes simple melodies and is written to
fit the shape of the text. This form is often used in a call and response
fashion where the cantor begins a phrase and the congregation responds, or
antiphonally, with two choirs, or halves of the congregation responding to each
other. Worshippers get a sense that the words they are chanting have the weight
of tradition; this is how Christians from time immemorial have worshipped, and
the worshipper joins into that tradition becoming one voice in the eternal
choir of the Church. The interplay between leader and congregant, or different
sections of the congregation, reminds worshippers that we live in community
with one another. As this is a text driven form, the theology of such texts is
often incredibly rich and orthodox. Many texts are derived straight from the
scriptures or have been the established texts of the church for centuries. The
simple undecorated melody, while perhaps squelching personal creativity,
reminds worshippers that God speaks through the Church and the Amen is sung in
the unity of humility before the authority of Christ. There are of course
criticisms that can be leveled against this form, especially when it is insisted
upon as the only appropriate form of Christian worship. It can be seen,
especially through modern lenses, as an affront to personal creativity and
expression, in other words, it can appear stifling of the individual. It is not
my purpose to defend any particular form, as all forms of worship are
ultimately fallible and susceptible to corruption. But I would suggest that
perhaps the use of chant today would be appropriate to bring into balance the
out of control individualism that our current culture suffers under.
The next form we shall turn our attention to is that of the
hymn. Often written in four-part harmony, modern hymnody derived much of its
melodic inspiration from the popular music of the time, mainly famous snatches
of opera music, or catchy drinking tunes from the local pubs. This redemption
of culture can be seen to glorify God as worshippers set right the disordered
things of this world that have fallen astray. The text of hymns is gradually
unfolding, and so all of the verses should be sung to appreciate the narrative
nature of this form. Many people make the claim that hymns generally have
better theology than modern music, this is frankly not true; there are many
hymns with absolute rubbish theology, the thing is, they’ve all been forgotten
and the hymns we continue to remember are generally the classics. The use of
the four-part harmony allows all members of a congregation to find his or her
place in the music. Whereas other forms can be sung in a key too high for some
and too low for others, theses harmonized pieces create avenues for each voice
type to be able to worship at a comfortable level. The end result of a
harmonized piece of music is a song that has a definite direction, but the
intricate interplay of voices, the tension of dissonance and resolution,
creates a rather robust picture of how humanity itself interacts. So in the
form of the hymn we get participants worshipping in a manner that reflects the
way in which they live their lives, constantly in various stages of tension or
resolution with one another but ultimately creating a glorious sonic image of
rightly ordered creation presenting itself before the Creator. This is a very
incarnational picture of the Church worshipping the incarnated one. As one hymn
says, “All God’s creatures’ got a place in the choir, some sing low, and some
sing higher…”
Fast-forward to the present day. With the advent of the
Vineyard movement, the Seeker church, and various other evangelical and
charismatic strains of Christianity, the Praise and Worship chorus has sprung
up as immensely popular. Once again reflecting the popular music of the times,
this music allows for great personal expression, creativity and improvisation.
There is a certain freedom from the oppression of established guidelines that
allows artists, or worship leaders to act spontaneously under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit without the fear of interrupting the liturgy, or messing with a
sacred form. It is a highly emotionally charged form which allows worshippers
to easily become involved in the music, usually utilizing simple repetitive lyrics
that are easy to learn and improvise on. Worshippers may sing melody or choose
to make up their own harmonies as they are led to do so with the ideal effect
of a mass of people singing one theme while elaborating and decorating it with
all of the unique attributes that God has blessed his people with.
Now, an admonition to the worship music leaders of Churches.
This brief sampling of church music is but a sketch of the plethora of musical
options available to the Church. I have said nothing here of spirituals,
chorales, Taize, etc., but I’m sure you are aware of the broad expanse of
options. Now some traditions may be more tightly identified with certain forms
than others and that is ok, but for churches with freedom to experiment, do not
limit yourselves to one form! Chant allows for great unity, but can become
stifling and oppressive, and congregants may easily disengage from it. Used
appropriately however, it can become a great meditative tool and re-introduce a
sense of the sacred and ancient traditions of the Church back into our liturgically
bankrupt services. As a singer of choral music, I myself rather enjoy hymns,
and deeply appreciate the intertwining of my voice with that of my brothers and
sisters in a great symbol of human solidarity and diversity. However, I
recognize that in many communities, the tradition of choral music has faded
away so that many will find this form difficult to enter into as some formation
of skill through practice is required. As so many in evangelical churches today
are unable to use this form, it may bring much benefit to a congregation to
introduce the singing of at least one hymn per service, encouraging worshippers
to use the hymnals for these songs rather than projecting the lyrics on the
screen. In this way, worshippers learn to listen to one another and to find
their proper place in the harmony rather than being bulldozed by a melody that
may be quite difficult for their voice range to sing. Finally, I feel that I
have the most words of correction for the Praise and Worship genre. This is due
largely to the fact that it is the form with which I am most familiar, and
while I have had many wonderfully meaningful worship experiences within this
form, I have learned also the pitfalls of it. Too often, as in our secular pop
music, it is tenor or soprano voices which tend to dominate this genre. Many of
the songwriters write melodies that are largely in the upper register, or,
because they are all trained singers, range from a very low point to a very
high point. This makes it difficult for many worshippers to join in as their
voices simply cannot sing the notes that the leader is capable of. Great care
should therefore be taken to choose keys that are at a moderate range to ensure
that the maximum number of untrained singers will be able to raise their voices
in praise. As for improvisation and elaboration; a certain level of this may in
fact be appropriate, but leaders must be constantly aware, especially in
presenting new songs, that most members of the congregation will not be able to
follow sudden vocal elaborations or solos. When a singer does this, he or she
effectively transforms from a symbol that leads the congregation into
worshipping God, and becomes an object of attention in his or her own right.
There may be room for some exclamatory vocal celebrations, especially within
the context of a familiar, repetitive song where there is no way the
congregation will be led astray from their assigned part in the song; but I
would caution against the individuality and glory grabbing that the performing
of solos so often accomplishes. As all of the forms that we have discussed have
their roots in the culture in which they grew up, so too does the Praise and
Worship form. As individualism is the dominant paradigm of our culture, this
form tends to celebrate and promote it more so as well. This is all well and
good, for which each one of us come to Christ as individuals, but at the same
time, we are part of the Church, we are communal beings, just as the Trinity is
communal, and so we must take precautions against stressing individualism too
much.
Choose your forms wisely therefore, being conscious of the
strengths and weaknesses of each. Use variety, for as God has revealed himself
with many images, metaphors and names, so to should our worship seek to glorify
him with the varying images, metaphors and symbols that these various forms
create. The way in which we worship, will inevitably shape the type of people
we become. It is impossible to assume a certain posture before God, and
practice a various way of life in our worship, and not be effected by it. The
way we practice our worship before God should be done with care therefore,
keeping in mind the type of Christians we desire to be formed as. As James
writes, “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look
after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the
world” (James 1:27). Be mindful of the ways in which our worship leads us to
the realization of this goal. For that is the true goal of worship.
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