Praise God With Guitars and Organ?
Blending music styles can enliven worship without dividing the congregation

By EVA STIMSON, Editor (Presbyterians Today) Photo at right: Morning worship service at Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Santa Ana, California. In the praise music group: Linda White, flute; Erik Matson, drums; Jason Joy, guitar; Tim Austin, bass player; Rob Blaney, piano. Linda White is editor of a new Presbyterian resource on blended worship. NOTE: Rob Blaney ultimately arranged piano accompaniments for many of the songs in this book Lift Up Your Hearts: Songs for Creative Worship - RB

Photo: Lynn W. Miller

It's a typical Sunday morning at First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Rich organ chords from Bach's "Fantasia and Fugue in G" reverberate through the rapidly filling sanctuary. As the prelude builds to a climax, four ministers in matching gowns of somber black file in and take their places in the chancel. A sea of blue-robed choir members rise to deliver, with operatic flair, the choral introit, "Come, Thou Almighty King."

It's all very formal, very high church, very . . . traditional. But wait! Is that a guitarist standing up there on the red carpet behind the Communion table? Yes--and not only that, there's a set of drums. Also visible to the sharp-eyed observer are trumpets, bass, flute and synthesizer. The crest of a harp curves gracefully above one of the flower arrangements. And a few minutes into the service the music begins to change.

Piano replaces organ for what the bulletin labels a "praise chorus"--the first verse of the familiar hymn, "Crown Him With Many Crowns." Then comes a "song of adoration," accompanied by piano, harp, guitar, bass and percussion. "We worship you, O Lamb of God . . . ," sing choir and congregation.

After a baptism and "church family news" (announcements), the choir sings its "offertory"-- another praise chorus with a jazzy, contemporary beat. It ends with a flourish of drums and cymbals, prompting a round of spontaneous applause.

Like many other Presbyterian churches across the country, First Church in Colorado Springs is experimenting with "blended worship," a form of worship that combines contemporary music (sometimes called "praise music") with traditional hymns and liturgical elements in a single service. Paul Detterman, associate for worship in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Congregational Ministries Division, describes blended worship as "an expanding of the canon beyond traditional hymns." This movement in congregations, usually prompted by the need to reach out to younger people who have little or no church experience, has fanned the flames of worship renewal. "In the past eight years," says Detterman, "there's been an explosion of worship resources."

Two years ago a six-person task force began gathering materials for a Presbyterian resource on blended worship. The result of their work, a collection of songs and worship-planning helps titled Lift Up Your Hearts: Songs for Creative Worship, is scheduled for publication by Geneva Press this November.*

"We really need a resource for contemporary music--not to replace the Presbyterian Hymnal, but to be used along with it," says Sylvia Washer, executive presbyter of Mission Presbytery, who heads the blended worship task force. Washer says her involvement in evangelism convinced her of the need for such a resource.

"The majority of young people think the playing of traditional Presbyterian hymns on an organ sounds like a funeral," she declares. "They haven't grown up with it."

"We need to be seeking worship that is fresh and engaging, but also faithful to our roots," says John H. Stevens, pastor of First Church in Colorado Springs. Since his congregation began using more varied musical styles in worship, he adds, the services have become more dynamic and attendance has increased.

Stevens decided to try blended worship about 10 years ago. He had been invited to preach at a church in California that offered two very different kinds of worship services on Sunday morning: a "contemporary" service, followed by a more traditional one. Stevens preached at both. "I thought at the end of the day, 'This is a shame,'" he recalls. "It's a shame we divide our congregations on the basis of style, when there're elements in each of these services that will enrich our worship life."

Stevens and James DeJarnette, the church's minister of music, decided their church would continue to offer three identical worship services on Sunday morning while experimenting with the addition of contemporary music. "We want people to have the same experience at whatever service they attend," he explains. "If you divide worship, you end up with two congregations."

Having more than one service is not even an option for most smaller churches. Yet sometimes pastors in these churches encounter resistance when they try to change the familiar patterns of Sunday morning worship. Opposition has not been a problem in their congregation, say Stevens and DeJarnette. "Our object has been to make worshipaccessible to newcomers while not alienating people who have a long history with the church," DeJarnette explains. "The critical thing is that any changes be meaningful-- not just style for style's sake."

eJarnette believes planning and commitment to quality are key ingredients for successful blended worship. Good resources are also important, Washer says. When church musicians or pastors rush off to the local Christian bookstore and pick up contemporary choruses to use in worship, they sometimes are less than pleased with the results. The praise music currently on the market varies widely in its theology, singability, use of Scripture, and sensitivity to inclusive language. "Some of the words are great," she observes. Others can best be described as "sloppy sentimentality."

The forthcoming Lift Up Your Hearts, in contrast, is "put together by people with high liturgical sensibility and musical taste," says Thomas G. Long, director of Geneva Press. "They're trying to separate the wheat from the chaff."

Most congregations don't have the people resources of a church like First Church in Colorado Springs, which employs a full-time minister of music and counts many professional musicians among its more than 5,000 members. To help smaller churches, the task force preparing Lift Up Your Hearts has tried to choose music that is easy to play and fun to sing.

"Our goal is to make the music accessible," Washer says, so it can be done well by church musicians, whatever their level of training or skill. "We want people to learn the songs in worship and hum them on the way home."

Eva Stimson is editor of Presbyterians Today.

* For order information call 1-800-227-2872.
Blended Worship: Helping Change Happen

1. Be theologically sound and pastorally intentional in your worship planning--every element of the service and every piece of music should be used for a reason and should point the worshipers to God.
2. Begin gradually. Change is never easy. For example, add one chorus as a prayer response or an acclamation.
3. Accompany traditional and contemporary music with new instrumentations. Invite people from the congregation who play instruments to use them tastefully in worship.
4. In addition to the organ, try using a piano or guitar, or if the music is singable and easily learned, try singing without accompaniment.
5. Make sure the choir and other musicians have adequate rehearsal time. Work with the musicians to explain how and why the new music is being used.
6. Make sure to teach the congregation the new music so that the newness of the music does not distract from the first priority of worship.
7. Seek out the best music from good resources. Take the time to locate music that is singable, with words that are faithful to the Reformed understanding of God and worship.


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