Follow-up thoughts on worship

by Brad Isbell

After publishing this:

…some more thoughts on worship:

• Contemporary worship isn’t really new. It started in North America with the advent of Finneyite revivalism in the early 19th century, at least. Arguably, the innovations of the First Great Awakening in the 18th century should be considered “contemporary” departures from the staid worship and services common up until then. Maybe it’s best to say, “The New Measures you will always have with you.”

• The Roman church is arguably the mother of worship chaos, what with her syncretistic innovations and perversions, and her gradual accretion of novel practices (sometimes very localized). Rome may have invented contextualization.

• The worship and techniques used in evangelicalism’s weekday or “special” meetings (like “revival” services) usually find their way into the Lord’s Day liturgies of evangelicalism. The same can be said for things that would have once been found only in “children’s church” or youth settings, like puppets, skits, drama, video clips, and aggressively loud and raucous music.

• Music is always involved. Martyn Lloyd-Jones¹ and others have talked about “the devil in the singing.” A commitment to simplicity and proper proportion (not allowing singing to dominate the service) are good safeguards regardless of style.

• The commercial aspect of contemporary church music is not altogether new either. In the American South in the early to mid-20th century rural “singing schools” were vehicles to sell songbooks. Revivalism spawned a music publishing industry. Hymnals could hardly keep up with cheap “new” songbooks and sheet music vending for “specials” and (trigger warning if you grew up baptist) the dreaded CANTATAS.

  

• Contemporary worship is heavily influenced by charismatic/pentecostal practices. This goes right back to Aimee Semple McPherson² and the early 1900s. The last 30 years saw a move among evangelicals from “every head bowed and every high closed…raise your hand if you have a decision if you don’t know that you know that you know” during the invitation to everyone “praising” with all eyes squinted and every hand raised during repetitive and seemingly interminable music interludes.

  

• There is also a multicultural dimension. Improvisational instrumental “fills” from organs or keyboards often emphasize the words of preachers or play under prayer. These would have only been found in black churches until the last decade or two.³
  

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  Here’s another worship post:

1. The Welsh church culture that Lloyd-Jones knew well is strikingly similar in some ways to Southern American rural revivalist church culture.

2. Contemporary and revivalistic worship practices with male and female worship leaders and stage musicians arguably promoted egalitarianism and undermined the importance of church office. See this post for a bit about this.

3. Evangelical “invitations” often featured an organ playing softly while the preacher implored…somewhat similar.