Worship and Music

Collected from presentations during the first biennial Christian Congregational Music conference (congregationalmusic.org), this book explores the role of congregational music in Christian religious experience, examining how musicians and worshippers perform, identify with and experience belief through musical praxis. Contributors from a broad range of fields, including music studies, theology, literature, and cultural anthropology, present interdisciplinary perspectives on a variety of congregational musical styles - from African American gospel music, to evangelical praise and worship music, to Mennonite hymnody - within contemporary Europe and North America. In addressing the interconnected themes of performance, identity and experience, the volume explores several topics of interest to a broader humanities and social sciences readership, including the influence of globalization and mass mediation on congregational music style and performance; the use of congregational music to shape multifaceted identities; the role of mass mediated congregational music in shaping transnational communities; and the function of music in embodying and imparting religious belief and knowledge.

In studies of spirituality, increased attention is being paid to experiences that foster a deepening sense of the sacred. Corporate Christian worship is a spiritual practice designed to focus on the glory of God and to deepen one's faith. To identify key processes that might contribute to the worship leader's spiritual engagement and embodiment, 26 music worship leader exemplars, from various ethnic and denomination al backgrounds, were interviewed. Primary areas of inquiry included the roles of embodiment, cognition, affect, and spirituality in worship, leader preparation, and the congregation's role. Transcripts were ana lyzed using qualitative analysis software, NVivo 9. The most prominent themes were bodily signals, God's action and presence, God-centric engagement, facilitating worship, divine purpose, and continual commit ment to spiritual formation. These worship leader exemplars highlighted the importance of an embodied orientation where they sensed being used by God and where worship preparation was viewed as an ongoing orientation in daily life.

Jesus desires that we should be set apart to a holy way of life, and then “sent into the [evil] world [system in opposition to God established by Satan]”  to carry out God’s plan in spreading the good news of redemption to those who oppose and hate Him (John 17:17 - 18).

Christian performing artists are to communicate God’s Word amid opposition from the world’s sin, its values, and its goals e.g., “cash rules everything, get drunk, have random sex, and party till you drop."

Is there a place for sadness in contemporary praise and worship music? Should there be a place for sadness in contemporary praise and worship music? How can pastors, church leaders, and songwriters create a place for sadness in a contemporary worship service?

There appears to be little room for sadness in the contemporary praise and worship music. Creating collective religious rituals for lament is not only an effective way of mitigating sadness but also consistent with the rituals of lament found in the Psalms. Christians can find ways to express lament, even while confessing sin, remaining patient in hope, and joyful in expectation. However, with a few simple yet intentional changes, songwriters, worship leaders and pastors can play a role in creating a place for Christians to express sadness, and to do so not as ‘those without hope’.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented need for innovations in churches around the world. Organizational innovativeness, a precursor of successful innovations in organizational contexts, is rarely studied in churches. This study of American church attenders (N = 244) found that perceived innovativeness of churches (conceived of as the elements of a church's culture which promote innovation, specifically, creativity, organizational openness, future orientation, risk-taking, and proactiveness) was a very strong predictor of church commitment (conceived of as intentions to stay in the church, r = .60, p < .001). Of the moderators examined in this study (membership tenure, age of participant, church size, and gender), only gender moderated this relationship; the relationship between perceived innovativeness and church commitment was stronger for females than for males. This suggests that innovations that facilitated relationship development and relationship maintenance had the greatest impact on church commitment during the pandemic.

Os cultos da Brasa Church, ministério de jovens vinculado à Igreja Brasa, em Porto Alegre, RS, têm se destacado no cenário evangélico local pela implementação de uma tendência estético-musical denominada worship. A partir de uma abordagem material da religião, esta dissertação aborda as formas pelas quais o worship engaja sentidos e materialidades na produção de experiências religiosas cultuais. Tais experiências, dispostas em regimes de sensibilidade, promovem uma determinada “cultura” de adoração: uma “cultura do Reino”. Por essa disposição teológico-prática, os jovens são estimulados a transformar a “cultura” – instância que é situada no espaço do “mundo”, ou do secular. Os deslocamentos da “cultura” efetivados pela “cultura do Reino” evidenciam reconfigurações evangélicas quanto às relações entre sagrado e secular. Através de um trabalho etnográfico atento às mediações materiais da adoração, pretende-se demonstrar como o worship materializa a “cultura do Reino” e se constitui em uma estética da adoração estabelecida a partir de articulações materiais que fornecem um suporte para a transformação da “cultura” para o Reino.

Wie können wir einen Gottesdienst musikalisch gestalten? Was können wir aus der Bibel über Musik im Gottesdienst lernen? Und warum wird ein Gottesdienst eigentlich so gefeiert, wie er gefeiert wird.
Um Fragen wie diese geht es in diesem Buch. Kurz und bündig vermittelt es theologisches Grundlagenwissen und gibt Musikern und Gottesdienstmitarbeitern unterschiedlichster Gemeindetraditionen wertvolle Praxistipps für die Gestaltung und Liedauswahl.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented need for innovations in churches around the world. Organizational innovativeness, a precursor of successful innovations in organizational contexts, is rarely studied in churches. This study of American church attenders (N = 244) found that perceived innovativeness of churches (conceived of as the elements of a church’s culture which promote innovation, specifically, creativity, organizational openness, future orientation, risk-taking, and proactiveness) was a very strong predictor of church commitment (conceived of as intentions to stay in the church, r = .60, p &lt; .001). Of the moderators examined in this study (membership tenure, age of participant, church size, and gender), only gender moderated this relationship; the relationship between perceived innovativeness and church commitment was stronger for females than for males. This suggests that innovations that facilitated relationship development and relationship maintenance had th...

_Singing the Congregation: How Contemporary Worship Music Forms Evangelical Community_ examines how the widespread adoption of a pop-rock-style congregational music shapes the way evangelical Christians understand worship. The book demonstrates that participatory worship music performances have brought into being new religious social constellations (“modes of congregating”). Through detailed ethnographic accounts of five of these modes—concert, conference, church, public, and networked congregations—this book seeks to reinvigorate the analytic categories of “congregation” and “congregational music.” Drawing from theoretical models in ethnomusicology, congregational studies, and contemporary ecclesiology, the congregation is re-conceived as a fluid, contingent social constellation that is actively performed into being through communal practice—in this case, the musically-structured participatory activity known as “worship.” By extension, “congregational music-making”  is recast as a participatory religious musical practice capable of weaving together a religious community inside and outside local institutional churches. Congregational music-making is not only a means of expressing local concerns and constituting the local religious community; it is also a potent way to identify with far-flung individuals, institutions, and networks that comprise this global religious community. The unique congregations explored in each chapter include but extend far beyond local churches, revealing widespread conflicts over religious authority and far-ranging implications for how evangelicals position themselves relative to other groups in North America and beyond.


The introduction sets out the book’s scope, argument, and goals, places the musical repertoire and religious community in historical and cultural context, and frames the study in relationship to recent scholarship in ethnomusicology, evangelical studies, and congregational music studies. It defines contemporary worship music in North American and global perspectives and discusses its relationship to closely related Christian popular music genres. The chapter then situates the rise of contemporary worship music in relationship to widespread conflicts over shifts in evangelical worship practices known as the “worship wars,” the development of the Christian music recording industry, the adoption of new technologies within congregational worship, and the influence of pentecostal-charismatic Christian practices. Finally, in describing the book’s research methods, I explore the challenges faced navigating distance and proximity in the field as a result of my own religious upbringing as an evangelical and my complex relationship to communities in my study.

This article examines Celebrating Grace Hymnal published in 2010 by Celebrating Grace, Inc., founded out of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. I explore the musical and textual contents of the hymnal, compare it with its immediate predecessor, Baptist Hymnal (1991), place it in its historical context within twenty-first century Southern Baptist life, and highlight several important contributions it makes to the study of hymnody. I also reflect on its reception and adoption as a resource for congregational worship within its first five years of publication.

The marriage of popular music and Pentecostal worship is well documented. Its advocates point to meaningful experiences for the worshiper, or more broadly church growth and the younger demographics of Pentecostal congregations as evidence of its efficacy. Its opponents highlight popular music's secular or profane associations, or the contemporary congregational song (CCS) genre's commercialisation, individualisation, and lack of theological weight in its lyrics. These are the battle lines drawn for the " worship wars " of the 1990s and 2000s. While some of the more acrimonious contentions have dissipated in recent popular and academic literature, underlying presuppositions and arguments have not necessarily been resolved. This paper seeks to freshly reexamine the marriage of popular music and Pentecostal worship from the perspectives of Pentecostal theology and musicology. This paper begins by exploring popular music's somatic, emotive, and metaphysical qualities. Those qualities are also identified in the contemporary congregational songs (CCS) utilised in Pentecostal worship. Following this, the Pentecostal values of embodiment, experience, and encounter are introduced. An alignment will be drawn between somatic popular music and the Pentecostal theology of embodiment. Similarly, a link will be drawn between the emotive capacity of popular music, and the experiential orientation of Pentecostalism. Finally, popular music's unlanguable and liminal elements will be aligned with the Pentecostal theology of encounter. In so doing, this paper proposes a justification for the marriage of popular music and Pentecostal worship. At the same time, it raises the problematic nature...

Kate Bowler and Wen Reagan. 2014. "Bigger, Better, Louder: The Prosperity Gospel’s Impact on Contemporary Christian Worship." Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation, Vol. 24, Issue 2, pp. 186-230.

This article makes several claims about the relationship between praise and worship music and prosperity megachurches. First, it argues that the prosperity gospel has had a significant impact on contemporary worship music in America owing to its leadership in the twin rise of the megachurch and televangelism. Second, beginning in the 1990s, prosperity megachurches pioneered forms of worship music mimicking “arena rock” that capitalized on both the scale of their sanctuaries and the sophistication of their audio/visual production. The result was a progression toward music that would be a liturgy of timing, lighting, volume and performance designed for large venues. Finally, prosperity megachurches were ideally situated to benefit from this new music, both in the music industry and in their theology. Prosperity megachurches partnered with the expanding worship industry in the creation of new worship music, while the prosperity gospel theologically undergirded the affective power and performative pageantry of Christian arena rock, narrating worship music as a tool for releasing spiritual forces of prosperity. The result was a Sunday experience for the blessed that reinforced the celebration of God’s abundant blessings through music that was bigger, better, and louder.

The present article discusses what musical instruments are appropriated to adoration. General principles are presented in relation to the selection of instruments to worship and some biblical texts that may look problematic in the light of the given principles are considered. This article does not claim to be the last word. Rather it aims to stimulate respectful discussion in relation to this controversial issue.

Paul F. M. Zahl writes about “Formal-Liturgical Worship”, which he also calls Bible-based verticality. He defines the concept formal as “dignified service that is not governed by the spontaneity of the moment or the spontaneity of the officiant. It means service in a form, within a mold. It is not off the cuff or as mood would govern. Rather, it accepts the constraint of a consistent and predictable pattern.” And, liturgical means it is a “prescribed worship, service that is required for a given occasion.” He insists on the prominence of the Bible as the source for all kind of worship. It must be based on the Word. Theology has to precede the act of worship, he says.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many changes in the present socio-cultural context point to the importance of innovation in churches. A theoretical framework for understanding innovation in churches is presented, featuring 6 key elements. These elements include the cultural context of the church and the church's target audience, a culture of innovation within the church, innovations in church programs, processes, and personnel, social capital (social ties) which permits church members to navigate the changes associated with innovation, program loss (that which is lost when programs change), and progress toward the church's goals. The church's goals and the church's context determine which innovations would be most appropriate. A culture of innovation and strong social ties permit innovations to be implemented successfully. Program losses may reflect aspects of the church's goals that are neglected when innovations are implemented.

This article, appearing in vol. 32, issue 1 (2017) of the journal Liturgy, chronicles the “style periods” of contemporary worship music in the USA from 1960s to the present, showing the range of differing, sometimes conflicting beliefs and concerns communicated by musical stylistic choices. Liturgy is quarterly journal of dedicated to pastoral liturgy published by The Liturgical Conference, intended for both scholars and church leaders.

Abstract
This project will investigate the link between physical expression and emotions in music.  Since the emotive nature of music is already well known, it will focus on the following questions:
1. Is physical expression a natural result of emotions?
2. Alternatively, can emotions be induced by physical expression?
Section A will explore the answers to these questions using musicology.  After demonstrating that bodily movements both express and induce emotions, it will deal briefly with the possible danger of manipulation.  In section B, the Bible’s teaching on bodily expressions used in worship will be investigated.  After a broader framework of holistic worship has been established, it will explore some key worship terms in Hebrew and Greek.  Examples of physical gestures used in worship in the Bible will be given, followed by physical gestures used in musical worship.  In section C, musicology and the Bible will be brought into dialogue with each other.  In particular, the bi-directional nature of physical expression and emotions in music will be discussed from the perspective of both fields of study.  Practical implications for corporate worship involving music will be teased out .  Finally, it will be established that physical gestures should be used in corporate worship and concluding recommendations will be made.

This article aims to further the ethnomusicological study of pilgrimage by examining the role of music in two US evangelical Christian conferences. Through congregational singing, participants imagine the conference gathering to be an embodiment of the heavenly community, bringing heaven to earth through song. Examining lyrics, musical style, and social organization as forms of eschatological discourse reveals several crucial differences in how social relationships in heaven are imagined, which carries strong implications for how the religious community on earth is formed. Examining music in conference pilgrimage shows how twenty-first century evangelicals understand community, negotiate difference, and construct a religious imaginary.

An examination of how Spurgeon used and highlighted the benefits of lament psalms in congregational worship in the book, Finding Lost Words: The Church’s Right to Lament. Edited by G. G. Harper and K. Barker. Australian College of Theology Monograph Series. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2017. The full book can be purchased here:
http://wipfandstock.com/finding-lost-words.html

THE HOUR IS COMING AND IS NOW HERE”: THE DOCTRINE OF INAUGURATED ESCHATOLOGY IN CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICAL WORSHIP MUSIC Matthew David Westerholm, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2016 Chair: Dr. Esther R. Crookshank This dissertation critically evaluates the portrayal of the doctrine of inaugurated eschatology in an identified core repertory, the most-used contemporary congregational worship songs in churches in the United States from 2000 through 2015. Chapter 2 explores views on the role of congregational singing as it relates to the presence of God and the spiritual formation of the believer. It compares Edith Humphries’ concept of the worship service as “entrance” with Ryan Lister’s view that God’s presence is both a goal and a means of accomplishing his purposes. Then, using the work of James K. A. Smith and Monique Ingalls, chapter 2 explores the role congregational song plays in forming the identity of churches and believers. The chapter concludes by suggesting...

This book is written by a self-described former "foot soldier" in the movement to drive traditional churches to accept contemporary Christian music (CCM) in their worship. He now rejects the use of CCM in evangelical churches and has written this book to expose the dangers of its uncritical acceptance. He summarizes the reasons for his departure, as follows, "Our key premises were that music is amoral; God accepts all music styles; and no one should judge another's preferences or tastes. As I dug into the Bible to prove them right, instead I saw that they were man-centered, illogical, and misrepresentations of basic biblical principles" (34). The author outlines his theological and philosophical objections to the use of CCM. He begins by questioning the wisdom of using contemporary music in order to meet the felt needs of or to appeal to the human worshippers. He calls this the lie of "God accepts us as we are." He makes the serious charge that CCM presents dangers of immorality (by use of secular music), divisiveness (splitting churches between traditionalists and CCM proponents over worship styles), and deception. Among his comments: "Our acceptance of CCM into our worship services has hurt an entire generation of older Christians, has led to church splits, and has created a breeding ground for immorality, selfishness and divisive attitudes in younger generations" (46). Central to Lucarini's argument is the idea that musical style is not morally neutral (amoral) or merely a matter of tastes and preferences. On the contrary, he argues that CCM is based on rock music which "is clearly and unequivocally associated with immorality, especially promiscuous and adulterous sex, glorification of drugs, and rebellion against authority" (91). He thereby raises a question that is seldom heard even in our doctrinally conservative churches: "With what moral dimension is my favourite music associated?" (91). In the closing chapters of the book, the author anticipates and answers typical arguments that are raised for acceptance of CCM. These include the question of whether the use of CCM is justified in order to reach people. Lucarini concludes: "We should not accept just any worldly method to reach the lost. Instead we must discern carefully what methods are acceptable for use in the kingdom of God" (100). Based on the research of John Makujina (Measuring the Music), Lucarini also debunks as evangelical myth the frequently used argument that CCM is justified because past luminaries like Luther and Wesley adapted secular tunes to gospel use. The author further derides the use of blended services and separate services (traditional and contemporary) as a "slippery slope" that inevitably leads to "blurring" that "is almost always towards contemporary shades" (123). In conclusion, I believe that Lucarini's book deserves to be read and discussed by those who lead worship in local churches. Lucarini's report is anecdotal and personal and is certainly not an exhaustive Biblical and theological treatment of this subject. It does, however, raise courageous questions in a direct but not mean-spirited manner about the evangelical church's sometimes uncritical rush to jump on the CCM bandwagon. We would do well to consider prayerfully whether or not the church has been aided or hindered in its faithfulness by making use of worldly musical styles in its services of worship.