wfn.org | Pendulum of worship practices swinging more to middle, leaders told

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 13, 1999	News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.    10-21-71BP{373}

NOTE:  A photograph is available for use with this story.  

By Tom McAnally*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -  The pendulum of worship practices has swung to an
extreme in recent years but is now beginning to return to a more middle
position, a professor of church music told several hundred worship leaders.

The issue of what kind of music to use in worship is not a new one,
according to John Ferguson, a teacher, performer and leader of
congregational singing. He spoke July 11 to the nearly 600 participants
attending the biennial convocation of the Fellowship of United Methodists in
Music and Worship Arts.
 
"In church music, just like in a healthy diet, a little bit of sugar goes a
long, long way," he said. 

Ferguson,  professor of organ and church music at St. Olaf College,
Northfield, Minn., spoke on worship in the 21st century to the entire
assembly at West End United Methodist Church in Nashville. He also led organ
classes and directed a hymn festival, which closed the July 8-13 event.

While supporting a broader range of styles of congregational and choral song
at worship, Ferguson said he favors "blended" worship but dislikes the term.
"It makes me think of a blender (where) everything you put together ...
becomes one sort of gooey mass."

A wide variety of styles can coexist comfortably in the same worship
service, he said, provided their reason for being included is thematically
or liturgically justified. 

"I don't favor sticking one of every style in every service as a kind of
liturgical tokenism," he said. "Just because all kinds of food are offered
at a buffet doesn't mean that all should be on the same plate at the same
time." He likened the practice to serving potato chips at a Thanksgiving
dinner or baked Alaska with hot dogs.

Even though blending music and worship styles is difficult, Ferguson said he
prefers it to offering a range of styles of worship in a given congregation.
"Widely differing styles probably means that we no longer have one
congregation, one church, but a variety of churches under one roof, " he
said.

He recommends that each congregation struggle to determine "who and what it
is and then have the courage to offer worship that reflects its identity -
worship with integrity that is still welcoming."

The burden for blending usually falls upon the church musician, Ferguson
said, because music styles are at the core of the "worship wars" in mainline
Protestant congregations.  

Ferguson supports  the increased use of a variety of musical instruments in
worship but isn't ready to eliminate the organ. 

"I am convinced that the pipe organ remains the ideal, single instrument
from which one person can lead and accompany the greatest variety of styles
of congregational song," he said. "The organ provides a greater variety of
quantity of sound controllable by a single person than any other acoustic
instrument.

"I am optimistic about our future if only because God's people have always
felt the need to worship and have always sung at worship," he said. "Thus,
one way or another, God's people will want and need the ministry of
committed, skilled church musicians."

The fellowship's members include volunteers and professional staff who have
responsibility for the worship life of the church. In an interview with
United Methodist News Service, Dan Francabandiero of Jacksonville, Fla., the
new president of the 2,200-member organization, said contemporary worship is
still an evolving issue for the church and the fellowship because "it means
something different to everyone."

The real challenge underlying the discussion and debate is how to attract
young adults into the life of the church, he said.    

Brad Kisner, just completing six years on the fellowship's governing
council, said tension among the organization's members about worship and
music styles is not as great as it once was.

"Changing styles in worship is certainly a major issue, but more of us are
acknowledging that is OK to worship differently," he said. "People can
worship in contemporary or traditional styles and not look down on each
other." The real challenge for the music and worship leaders, he added, is
to meet the diverse needs of people in the congregation.

Kisner, director of music and fine arts at First United Methodist Church in
Corpus Christi, Texas, served two years on the fellowship council as
president-elect, two as president, and two as past president. Just
completing a two-year term as president is the Rev. Fred Lewis, Clear Lake,
Iowa.

"We live in an exciting time," Kisner told UMNS. "There are new
possibilities. We don't have to use just the organ." But new options can be
scary, he noted. "We must learn new technologies and see how they can best
work for us all."

The Rev. Tex Sample, recently retired from the faculty of United
Methodist-related Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., focused
his address and workshop sessions on the difficulty of planning worship for
generations that experience life differently in significant ways.  The
older, literate generation depends on meaning and words, he said, while the
under-50 group is much more attuned to experience and aesthetics.

Sample expressed concern that many congregations do not touch people's
passion. This passion or desire, he said, is structured not like a language
but with perceptual memories. 

When asked how music and worship leaders can get older members to provide
for a different approach to worship, Sample urged an "add on" rather than
"replacement" approach, giving full attention to the variety of ways people
practice worship. "People are profoundly shaped by practices," he said. He
also suggested appealing to the older people to give permission for the
church to reach out to their children and grandchildren, many of whom are
unrelated to the church.

During a public worship service at Nashville's historic Downtown
Presbyterian Church, Sample stressed the importance of "practicing" the
faith and worship. He challenged the idea that an individual can hold an
ultimate belief apart from the practice of it. "Without practice you will
never know, feel (or) be profoundly committed to anything," he declared.

For example, he said, "God transforms us in the practice of praying for our
enemies." Sample also mused about what kind of a culture he would be living
in today if all the churches were teaching the "practices of nonviolence."

"We worship a God who calls us to the practice of faithfulness and meets us
there and transforms us," he said. "To practice hope is to put yourself in a
place that you would not be if you did not believe in the promises of God." 

Chairwoman of the committee that planned the convocation was Debi Tyree,
music editor at Abingdon Press, an imprint of the United Methodist
Publishing House in Nashville.   

# # #

*McAnally is director of United Methodist News Service, headquartered in
Nashville, Tenn., with offices in New York and Washington.

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