Is Cutting Edge Worship Necessary?
Aug 5, 2008 Uncategorized
Posted by
Russell Martin
I got the unexpected privilege of leading worship at a camp this week. A camp full of 8th grade graduates. I initially came and brought my guitar because 1) it was camp, and 2) they said they might do a beginner guitar course, and 3) they might need some help with worship. Well 10 minutes before the first worship service, the buck was passed to me to lead worship. There was no ace sound tech. The songs had been pre-selected for the worship services each night of the camp (and most of the songs were to be played on a CD). I did not have a direct box, chord charts on hard copy, or any of the worship stuff I normally take when I am leading. I had to “steal” a guitar amp from a guy who had planned on playing, but asked me to step in instead. (Side note: Any time a worship leader carries a guitar somewhere, if possible, he should take his direct boxes, a stash of cables and connectors, a laptop and a printer, all just in case! These items would have saved me later in the week!) The worship was on Power Point (that corresponded with the CD songs the camp curriculum had set up, so I was glued to the order in which the slides were set up. Also, we had a student from the camp who decided earlier in the day he could and would play drums. So, with no real sound check or run through, an unrehearsed rhythm section, we pulled off a hodge-podge of worship classics. Aside from “How Great is Our God”, the set was all standards from late 80s and early 90s. Almost all of the songs have been published in a hymnal already. But the most amazing thing happened. With mediocre playing, zero rehearsal time, no fancy worship software, and transitions with such awkward dead air that would make anyone uncomfortable, God showed up. You see, amidst our less-than-polished music set, the kids brought a powerful drama and some did a sign language set to a recorded song. At the end of the night, people could not quit talking about how powerful the worship was, and even how great the worship set was. It was evident that a full band was a luxury that was fairly new to the worshipers, let alone new songs that were less than 20 years old.
So my question is this? How contemporary is contemporary? Do we miss the forest for the trees sometimes in an effort to do the latest great worship songs, or use the latest great worship software program with the latest images and moving backgrounds? Or, is this strictly dependent on our audience? I believe 100% that in a changing technological world we should stay culturally relevant. In order to lead others to the throne of God, we have to be able to get their attention, right? And, as Kerri mentioned in an earlier post, it is not our job to make God show up. He just does it, in spite of our lacking. So where is the balance? What are your thoughts?
Contributed by Jason Huffman
Related Posts
- Youth Worship: Worshipping without a band
- How To – Youth Worship in a Small Church
- Youth Worship: Making Your Job Easier
- Older Songs Still Resonate
- Working With Youth Worship Bands: Back to Basics
Tags: Background, band, camp, CD, drums, guitar, jason huffman, rehearsal, Songs, Thoughts, Worship, Worship Leader
Leave a Reply