Sing it and They Will Come

The end of the worship movement

The “Worship Movement” is over. It began somewhere around the 1995, reached its peak ten years later about 2005. But today is 2010 and the air has leaked out of the movement like a month old get-well balloon. In 1995 the church growth movement was at its zenith and everything was all about “making the church more attractive to the world.” Remember, this was when Bill Hybels was famous for refusing to put a cross on the wall of his church because it might get in the way of “seekers” attending his church. The church was caught up in re-making worship to be something more comfortable for the world. In the midst of this urgency for growth the worship movement offered a promise—redesign and update your music to something “the world” would understand and people will come—a sort of field of dreams promise. Mocking the organ and traditional music they promised if we could adjust the music to something more similar to what the world listened to we’d attract “seekers” into our services—sing-it-and-they-will-come. If we dumped the “song-leader” and ignored the organ and piano, then found a keyboard, a drummer and a couple guitar-players new people would pour into our churches—because what was holding them back was out antiquated music.

And they did come. Well, not lots of “seekers” but at least we kept our own younger generations from leaving our churches and going to competing churches down the street with this updated music. Some churches even grew with the new musical menu and the movement to update music spread. Beginning with “praise courses” from the charismatic churches a whole industry arose supplying new songs or ways of doing remakes of old ones.

Churches around college campuses could pretty well be guaranteed a pack of collegians at worship if they simply offered a band, low lights and a chance to “really get into it” in worship music.

But it is no longer true that if you get your music right they will come. Cool music isn’t enough any more. This is how we know the “worship movement” has lost its steam. Sure, worship will always be important and its music will never be inconsequential. There are still plenty of people who get bent out of shape when the music doesn’t suit them (and it seldom does). But “getting the worship music right” is no longer a guarantee that younger people will come to church—even our own young people. This is especially true of the 18-22 year-old collegians I work with. They consider cool music like electric lights and rest rooms—just part of the overhead and not enough to get them to come.

So what I’m thinking about this week is what attracts collage-age young people to church today if it isn’t cool music. What are the emerging generations hungering for Sunday morning that music alone does not supply? I’ve got an idea or two myself, but what do you think?

So, what do you think?

The discussion of this column is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=161502633

Keith Drury November 16, 2010

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