The Casualties of Contemporary Worship

A list explained

By Brad Isbell

On X I posted:

Casualties of contemporary worship:

1. congregational singing

2. prayer

3. elder leadership

4. extended/multiple scripture readings

5. evening/second worship services

Now, to expand and explain. The context, of course, is the conservative, confessional presbyterian and Reformed denominations, some of which have not significantly changed their worship from that which has been common among such denominations for the last five centuries. The above list concerns those that have seen significant changes in worship in the last century.

CONGREGATIONAL SINGING

To be fair, congregational singing has been under assault for a century or more. The “contemporary” worship of 100 years ago in some P&R churches already suffered from invasive species propagated by the Oxford Movement’s high-church, Anglo-Catholic tendencies. Low churches got high. Organs grew (and their volume increased) like the kudzu on a Georgia bank. Soloists and ensembles delighted upwardly mobile Protestant pew-sitters. Professionals sang at the people; choirs drowned them out under the pretense of leading them. Such was late 19th- and early 20th-century contemporary music in the respectable, tall-steepled P&R churches and many besides, including baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal. American religion became bland and predictable. The ministers’ and choirs’ robes and the liturgies performed were nearly interchangeable, except that the Episcopalians were always highest of all. Simplicity and psalms suffered together.

Concurrently, revivalism saw music as the great draw, and what was once normal for a protracted meeting became standard for Sundays: the first-half “song service” followed by preaching. The presbyterians, many subject to New School and revivalist influence, went for choir “specials” and soloists, ostensibly to set up the preaching or to draw crowds to hear that preaching. The singing suffered. Church became a theater where specialists on stage (or sometimes in balconies) took care of the music.

Choirs are mostly gone today, replaced by bands or praise teams. These, too, ostensibly lead “worship” (read: the music portion of the service) but often drown out the congregations, which are sometimes reduced to sing-along participants. The lyrics sung are simple, but the tunes and arrangements are made for the radio—pitched and timed for professionals. This sometimes makes the sing-along more like a hum-along. The standard for congregational singing is an accessible commonality, full participation, and the ability to hear one’s fellow congregants “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.” Much contemporary music (and the way it is led) fails this standard, as did the blaring organs and dominating choirs of earlier decades.

Across the PCA, for instance, it’s easy to identify Anglican, revivalist, and even charismatic influences—sometimes all three in one church. It’s complicated, but simple, heartfelt, audible congregational singing of quality texts is simply not what it could be…or what it has been among our P&R ancestors.

PRAYER

Quantifiably and quite obviously, contemporary worship has cut down on prayer. “Pastoral” prayers of some length (traditionally 5-10 minutes) led by ordained men have become increasingly rare. Reformed liturgies that once included five or more prayers often include only two or three. It may be that such prayers are thought to interrupt the “flow” or pace of modern worship services or that 21st-century church members lack patience for them. Or it may be that the array of unordained church members and church staff (or band) members who lead what prayer there is are rightly considered incapable of leading such prayers, so prayer is scaled down. If that is the case, participation has been prioritized above piety; “representation” has robbed Reformed worship of its power.

ELDER LEADERSHIP

The more contemporary the service, the more it often depends on professionals and staff. And since music is led by such people, it is often convenient for them to lead other elements of the service. This tends to minimize leadership role of the elders (in PCA parlance, both ruling and teaching) in worship. Sure, pastors still preach and give the benediction in almost every case, but the principles of representation and variety participation reduce the role of elders (who are chosen by the people—not hired or appointed) in leading those people on the Lord’s Day.

EXTENDED/MULTIPLE SCRIPTURE READINGS

Reformed worship has historically featured two or more Scripture readings, often of some length. Why? Because of biblical examples: “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ,” and the Pauline command to give attention “to the public reading of Scripture,” not to mention Old Testament examples of public reading. Contemporary worship has generally shortened or reduced such reading, and arguably, by handing this important task to unordained persons (see previous point), has deemphasized the need for care, understanding, and training to carry it out properly.

EVENING/SECOND WORSHIP SERVICES

Contemporary worship services are often elaborate productions, sometimes carefully crafted for climactic effect. When that final chord is played, what more can be done? One big service is enough. Besides, getting the band and techs back together a second time on the Lord’s Day for more preaching, prayer, and praise is a tall order. And would not a service without all the vibe of Sunday morning be a downer in the evening? A letdown? A superfluity? Some sessions seem to think so. Recent studies suggest that no more than 15% of PCA churches have evening or second services. Participation, representation, and maybe aural volume have never been higher, while the number of sermons and time for the communion of the saints in the public worship of God has never been lower.

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Not every P&R church whose worship smacks of the contemporary is guilty of all the deficits I have listed. Every church is different. There are still those who seek to worship in spirit and truth. Despite the eclecticism of many churches, the liturgies of P&R churches, in general, have never been better. The question is this: Do the tendencies, ethos, and underlying assumptions of contemporary worship make worship in spirit and truth, according to Scripture, that builds up believers in the Reformed faith more or less likely than earlier ways of Reformed worship? Whatever its utility, popularity, and charm, I doubt that it does, and I believe the changes wrought in the last century demonstrate this. This post is provocative, but I hope it will also be promotive of serious reflection on the ways we worship now.

Listen to our audio podcast on this subject here.