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Adults, Music, and Preference in Church
Posted on May 12th, 2007 in Church Life by Fred McKinnon
(It amazes me the number of parents and grandparents that say they would give their own life to save their child or grandchild, yet that same parent or grandparent won’t give up their personal preference when it comes to music in church to reach that same child/grandchild!)
(from Perry Noble, Pastor of Newspring Church in Anderson, SC, blogged at PerryNoble.Com)
Hey ya’ll,
Just came in from mowing the lawn and doing all the fun, summer yard work. Sat down for a cold drink and thought I’d skim over a few blogs while relaxing. I saw this post by Perry Noble and thought it was worth quoting.
I realize there are those who a statement like that would offend … and I don’t think it would be Perry’s heart (or mine either) to suggest that we shouldn’t value our adults, senior adults, or their preferences. I try to blend a service and include a hymn, older chorus, etc. But I see wisdom in targeting “the next generation” as well … some stats say 85% of decisions to follow Christ occur before you are 18 years old.
Fred
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5 Responses to “Adults, Music, and Preference in Church”
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Yeh, this one strikes a chord with me… no pun intended. I think the actual quote is that 85% of all decisions for Christ are made before the age of 21… yet my guess is the 95% of all effort in the church is focused on those over the age of 21… I’m 49… definitely have my own generatational preferences… but its not about me… When I came to Christ, I gave up me… its all about loving Him (Christ) and others. Loving God and loving people.
Christians have become so consumer oriented… what will please me? Not, what will reach the lost. We have to refocus our priorities. By the way, I have been to Perry’s church… their whole staff gets it. They are there to reach people and evenin a small country community, they are reaching roughly around 7000 plus each weekend.
A new idea (I say new, though the practice is years old but just catching on) I have been both a part of and seen the results from a distance is Saturday night church. No theology or doctrine used to decide this, only the idea that Sunday mornings are stinkin’ hard to get up for, especially if one isn’t used to it. Both a church I used to be a part of and a local church in Brunswick tried the Saturday night service idea. The church I was at in Las Vegas did that and then had to add a second Saturday service because of the explosion of attenders. The local church here added a third service to their offerings on Saturday instead of having three on Sunday. From what I hear, it is their best attended and most fruitful service.
I believe strides like this are going to help the Church to provide a place for both believers and seekers alike to find Christ in a way outside the mold. This is one more step to breaking down the non-theological tradition that may possibly be harming us. Just like breaking free of purely traditional songs in church, breaking free of traditional meeting times and places will present the church as not stuffy and boring, but loving and caring enough to create environments where people can be loved on and become fully devoted followers of Him.
To an early 20′s family like me and my wife, it is the best idea since padded pews.
Absolutely…when we want to retain “control” of “our” church we are basically saying I don’t value you…to our youth in a sense. Maybe that’s too harsh but we must be willing to reach them by offering at list a portion of “our” domain…relinquish the grip we have. Where does this fear come from that things we’ll be destroyed some how…what? The sanctity? What is it we’re actually afraid of losing? Maybe “our” comfort zone. Thank you wonderful Lord for continually “moving”, “rearranging”, “refreshing”, oh my goodness, where would the words end…you can go on endlessly…but I’m so thankful that God is current and relative always. He’s always relevant. He’s always modern and up to date. He craves a heart of worship and that worship must be able to come forth from young hearts in young ways as well. I believe those who truly are keeping daily contact with the Holy Spirit are open to the worship and moving of the Holy Spirit in a way that is open to the “new” things God wants to share with us. Bring it on Lord Jesus. Usher us into Your presence…Your way, not “ours”.
d
I think it would be different if the “adults” in question were worshiping with total abandon and “laying their lives down” and by default being an example to the younger generations in questions.
Problem is, these adults that demand their preferences, to the exclusion of younger generations, get their way but then do nothing with it. They could at least act like they enjoyed getting there way during the services they fight so hard to retain control over.
Good to see someone who is willing to prioritize generational outreach. I’m reminded of Willie George, senior pastor of Church on the Move, who “let go” of his midweek services to pour into the lives of his teens. Out of that heart for young people emerged onEighty, one of the nations largest church ministries to teens.
Okay, so I’m just getting home from our Saturday night service and will get up early to serve at the other two tomorrow morning. All three of our services are mucho contemporary and identical in every way, with no effort to tame the 9:30 or jolt the 11:15.
I can identify with the “blended worship” model, but our fellowship has responded very well to everything that we throw at them, so we aim to be more progressive with our music style than other churches in our area might be.
Our guest speaker this weekend is a grandmother that sits every week with her husband, her daughter and her granddaughter, all of whom I would say qualify as fully engaged by a song like “Salvation is Here” by Hillsong United, as well as they would be Chris Tomlin’s “Holy is the Lord.” We haven’t brought any classics out of the vault yet, but the Passion version of Jesus Paid It All is on deck for June.
A few years back, I served as the music minister at a Southern Baptist church. I’ll never forget the day that my pastor advised me that the 50′s small group had met in secret and made a list of hymns that they recommended be played to help “retain their membership.” We made a healthy compromise and managed to somewhat reinvent some of the classics to accommodate being led on acoustic guitar instead of piano.
I suppose that is what made me value the Passion Hymn’s cd so much when it came out. It is an honor to be able to carry the torch, so to speak, by holding on to the traditional music of my grandparents. It will be a greater honor to have my grandchildren ask me if I’m tired of singing Shout to the Lord when I’m in my 70′s.