Oh Really?

Congregational Singing in Demise

Scene A: The congregation leaves the worship service to share some fellowship time
over a cup of tea or coffee together. The minister stands at the door and shakes hands
with the parishioners as they walk out of the hall of worship. The smiles are fulsome
and happiness is expressed at the way the worship service has been conducted. The
minister is thanked for a good message, the duty elder receives appreciative words for
the care with which he has led the congregation in prayer, and both are told about how
wonderful the singing was.

Scene B: The congregation leaves the worship service to share some fellowship time
over a cup of tea or coffee together. The minister stands at the door and shakes hands
with the parishioners as they walk out of the hall of worship. The smiles are largely
absent, polite greetings are exchanged; the minister is thanked for the message
preached.

The worship service in the first scene contained the old hymns and psalms that people
young and old could sing – and sing well. The worship service in the second scene
was done with songs that were contemporary, causing the congregation to struggle in
its effort to follow the ever-changing rhythms.

It is a sign of modernity in many churches today that contemporary songs are set
before the congregation, songs which have difficult rhythms, often changing and
given to ad lib interpretation by a praise team which is supposed to lead the
congregational singing.

The increased adoption of contemporary-styled music and screen-projected lyrics

creates some very practical difficulties for congregational singing:

1. The rhythms are, generally speaking, more complex. I have personally observed
how many members of the congregation manfully strive to start singing a song, only
to give up as they get lost in a labyrinth of convoluted rhythm turns. A lot of praise
choruses have syncopations that don’t come naturally to many people, especially
older people. Getting comfortable with those rhythms often takes more time than is
available during a worship service. The praise team takes time to practise; the
congregation is struggling in the labyrinth.

2. For the uninitiated it is well nigh impossible to guess where the song is going. A
contemporary worship song has all sorts of “bridges” and (frequently ad lib) repeats.
This unpredictability and the unexpected turns make the song a mountain with steep
climbs and hairpin bends. The hard work of striving to sing praise to God with these
leads to irritation and reduces the ability to worship God wholeheartedly.

3. Most of the instruments don’t play the tune. In a traditional worship setting, the
accompanying instrument (piano or organ) always plays the melody, and a good
accompanist will emphasize the melody above the harmony notes. In a typical praise
band, the guitars are playing chords, and the drums merely reinforce rhythm; there
may be a keyboard and/or other instrument playing the melody, but they are probably

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outnumbered (and possibly outgunned) by the guitars and drummer(s). This creates
the need for the inevitable team of vocalists, who must, of course, be miked so that
they may be heard over all of the electronic, amplified instruments. If the sound man
is not particularly judicious, the result can be a blasting contest which drowns out the
singing; if the vocalists mistake themselves for performers and start embellishing the
tune, there may still not be any pattern that the congregation can easily follow. How
far removed is this from the original intent of the Reformation which did away with
the Gregorian, Latinist chants led by the initiated few. The Reformers strove for the
entire congregation to sing to the praise of God and to mutual edification (Colossians
3, verse 16).

4. Generally, the average worshiper has no information about the songs in advance.
This makes a Berean approach impossible; yet, this is something worshippers are
exhorted to apply (Acts 17:10-11). Also, when only the words are available,
especially when those only become available when the song starts, it is nearly
impossible for an individual worshiper to familiarize himself with a new song ahead
of time. In a traditional setting with hymnals, I, who am not a musician at all, can
often do a passable job of teaching myself an unfamiliar hymn simply by looking it
over prior to the service; then, when the time comes to do the actual singing, I can
join in heartily. With contemporary songs I am at the mercy of whoever is leading the
singing and running the PowerPoint. The apology about modern technology letting us
down when the verses do not appear on time is hollow in the realm of God-focussed
worship which suffers serious detraction.

5. The songs are transmitted largely through oral tradition (radio, recordings, and
church meetings) rather than via printed materials. Praise choruses are often sung
differently from one church to the next, and even all of the people in one particular
place may not have learned it precisely the same way. The net result is often a group
of people who are singing at the same time, but not necessarily singing together. This
erodes the covenantal worship striving we are called to foster. Furthermore, for a
novice trying to learn the song, it can be confusing to try to figure out exactly whom
to follow. This is where a lot of people, especially the non-musical and/or those
unfamiliar with the song, simply give up and drop out.

6. The repetitive character of many of the songs (often emphasised by the ad-lib
approach of the vocalists) tends to take on a mantra-like nature, which reminds me of
Jesus’ warning regarding meaningless repetition, especially given the utter simplicity
of the content. These songs fall well short of the imperative set forth in Colossians
3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace
in your hearts to the Lord.” Most contemporary songs’ content would fail to meet the
bar of acceptability when checked against each of the aspects by which Paul instructs
the Church to sing.

In congregational singing, I would suggest, the music is to be in keeping with the

words; the melody is to be easy to learn and easy to sing by the whole congregation;
the musical accompaniment is to support congregational singing. Martin Luther said
something along these lines when it came to musical accompaniment in worship (and
he wrote much music and many lyrics), “God forbid that the music ever should
distract me from the words I am called to utter to the praise of God” (paraphrased).

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The congregation is to be able to sing the melody well and should be able to maintain
focus on the words that are being sung. Only in such an environment Colossians 3:16
can flourish.

With regard to the lyrics I would make a strong case for a return to the singing of the
God-given songs, the Psalms (which includes the hymns and spiritual songs as
mentioned by Paul; they are sub-sections of the Psaltery). It is not accidental that eras
of church revival inevitably were accompanied by a return to strong psalm singing.
For those who are not convinced regarding the issue of psalms only in worship, the
following criteria (to which the Psalms all measure up perfectly) are to apply in order
to ensure Biblical, God-honouring singing in worship. The lyrics are to be Biblical
(hard to check when presented with à la minute PowerPoint); God-centred, clear,
faithful to the original prose presented in Scripture, evidencing good poetry (rhyme,
structure, flow).

Not only are contemporary songs hard to participate in for the congregation, but they
also tend to theological shallowness (though not incorrectness). They fail to teach,
they fail to admonish, they fail to encourage a rich indwelling of the wisdom of
Christ; they fail to promote congregational unison in singing to the God of the
Covenant. They encourage the Christians to stay perpetually in the Kindergarten of
theology, rather than spur them to go on from milk to meat (1 Corinthians 3:2).

The late American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) said, “A poem begins in delight and
ends in wisdom.” It would be good to check congregational songs against this
statement by the great poet. Does the congregation delight in singing praises to God
and is the congregation edified as a consequence? For sure, praise and worship poetry
should have the delight and wisdom component richly present. Contemporary worship
songs by and large fail on both touch stones in the congregational worship setting.

Dr Herm Zandman
7/18/2010