At the December Council meeting, I shared, upon their request, some thoughts about music at 1st Byron with the elders and deacons. Music is always an emotional topic and often a contentious one. I believe it was C.S. Lewis who said something like, when the devil was kicked out of heaven he ended up in the church choir. While I didn’t present this to the Council as a proposal to vote on, they generally agreed with my thoughts and wanted me to share them with you as being reflective of their perspective.
What have we been doing with music at 1st Byron?
As you know, we’ve had a blend of different types of music and instruments. On any given Sunday, one service might use more contemporary instruments with praise songs, another might use the organ with hymns, or a service might blend the two. Our balance has leaned in the favor of the traditional. For instance, from January 2007-June 2008 (1 ½ years), about 66% of our services were organ services. In four of those months the organ was used 80%, 77%, 75%, and 72% of the time. There were two months where the organ was used 54% and50% of the time.
As I plan worship, with the help of others, there are some principles that guide me:
As songs are chosen for worship, I strictly focus on the lyrics of songs, not age. This means that our criteria for singing a song has not been when it was written but what it says. I try to be very discriminatory based on lyrics.
When new songs are introduced, we have made a large effort to teach them, realizing the congregation needs to be led. I realize that new songs are sometimes hard to sing.
When we use praise teams and instruments other than the organ, our aim is for them to lead at a level just slightly above the congregation. They should not dominate but support the singing of the congregation. I value singing by the congregation!
When others help lead worship, they must lead strongly and joyfully, but also reverently and discreetly. The goal of leaders is not draw attention to themselves but help others focus on God.
As we pastorally think about 1st Byron, is this a good approach for our church?
I believe it is for the following reasons:
While we may be using some new songs or instruments at times, we’re striving to maintain the essentials of biblical, Reformed worship (confession, the law, preaching as central, dialogue, biblically-based songs, reverent and joyful worship…. The use of one instrument over another is not more biblical or Reformed or less biblical or Reformed.
Our large congregation has a wide variety of people with a wide variety of musical tastes. We’re called to try to minister to all of them.
Our adopted vision statement says that we will worship in a variety of ways, using the gifts of our members. Using a range of music allows many to use their gifts.
God has blessed this pattern. For whatever reason, God has graciously blessed us with
growth while worshipping this way. It seems that many people see us as balanced rather than unbalanced.
This approach displays a spirit of deference, sacrifice, and love for each other. We’re striving to do it God’s way instead of focusing on having it our way. The church shows itself to be the church when it’s able to defer to one another in love.
Is there a trend toward some other style of worship? Or what is the future for 1st Byron?
There is no agenda toward something quite different from what we’ve been doing for the last couple of years. The balance of music has remained quite constant for the last 2-3 years. Our congregation seems blessed by this balance or blend.
Is there a spirit that we should emphasize and teach when it comes to worship at 1st Byron?
Whenever worship is planned, discussed, or done, we should strive to put understanding above accusation, forbearance above faultfinding, and biblical unity above a demand for uniformity.
One way of summarizing my view is that I want my 90-year-old dad and my children to be able to worship together. They know songs he’ll never know and he knows songs they don’t know, but our family worships at 1st Byron where there are numerous songs they both know. We haven’t become an either/or church.
For more thoughts on our worship, see the attached Philosophy of Worship that was approved by our Council seven or eight years ago.
Your thoughts, comments, or questions are always welcome. Let’s keep talking, listening, loving, and worshipping.
Pastor Tom