Contemporary worship is a form of
Christian worshipIn Christianity, worship is adoration and contemplation of God.-Overview:Throughout most of Christianity's history, corporate Christian worship has been primarily liturgical, characterized by prayers and hymns, with texts rooted in, or closely related to, the Scripture, particularly the Psalter;...
that emerged within
WesternThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
evangelicalEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
ProtestantismProtestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
in the twentieth century. It was originally confined to the
charismatic movementThe term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
, but is now found to varying extents in a wide range of churches, including many that do not subscribe to a charismatic theology. Contemporary worship is generally characterised by the use of contemporary worship music in an informal setting. Congregational singing typically comprises a greater proportion of the service than in conventional forms of worship. Where contemporary worship is practiced in churches with a
liturgicalLiturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
tradition, elements of the liturgy are frequently kept to a minimum. The terms
historic worship,
traditional worship or
liturgical worship are sometimes used to describe conventional worship forms and distinguish them from contemporary worship.
History
Historically, the contemporary worship phenomenon emerged from the
Jesus MovementThe Jesus movement was a movement in Christianity beginning on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and spreading primarily through North America and Europe, before dying out by the early 1980s. It was the major Christian element within the hippie counterculture,...
in North America in the 1960s and the “Charismatic Renewal Movement” in Australia and New Zealand during the 1970s and 80’s. The function of music in services, the style of songs, their performance, the explicit theology of the lyrics, and the theology implied by these aspects distinguish “contemporary worship” from traditional worship in practice, and theological background. Contemporary worship music takes a significant part of the service time and repetition of phrases reinforces the theological content of the service. The impact is heightened as creeds and formal prayers are seldom used. Theologically, contemporary worship music is influenced by Pentecostal and evangelical theologies. However, the phenomenon has influenced all major denominations to some degree. There is a wide variety in practice between churches.
Contemporary worship is intrinsically related to the contemporary
Christian music industryThe Christian music industry is a small part of the larger music industry, that focuses on traditional Gospel music, Southern Gospel music, Contemporary Christian music, and alternative Christian music. It is sometimes called the gospel music industry, although this designation is not a limitation...
.
Controversy
The shift towards contemporary worship has been a source of significant controversy (sometimes called 'worship wars') in many churches. Whilst some disagreements have primarily resulted from a resistance to changes to the accustomed style of worship, more substantial concerns have also been raised.
The musical style of contemporary worship is very much influenced by
popular musicPopular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
, and the use of modern instruments is commonplace. Objectors feel that this style of music is 'worldly' and associated with an immoral lifestyle. A small number of theologians oppose it based on their interpretation of the
regulative principle of worshipThe regulative principle of worship is a teaching shared by some Calvinists and Anabaptists on how the Bible orders public worship. The substance of the doctrine regarding worship is that God institutes in the Scriptures everything he requires for worship in the Church and that everything else is...
.
Additional controversy results from the lyrical content of much contemporary worship music, which differs from traditional hymnody and often reflects a charismatic theology. The increasing influence of this music is seen as introducing charismatic teachings by the back door. In addition, criticism has been made of the simple wording of many contemporary worship songs, which is felt to be banal and lacking in depth.
Finally, critics have argued that contemporary worship services are actually 'entertainment', claiming that the increased amounts of music (often played by a band) and lack of
intercessionIntercession is the act of interceding between two parties. In both Christian and Islamic religious usage, it is a prayer to God on behalf of others....
, create the atmosphere of a concert or performance.
Opposition to contemporary worship has been most vocal from the
conservative evangelicalConservative Evangelicalism is a term used in Britain to describe a theological movement found within Evangelical Protestant Christianity, and is sometimes simply synonymous with Evangelical within the United Kingdom...
wing of the church, which also opposes the
charismatic movementThe term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
.
Block worship
Contemporary worship normally includes a number of songs sung in succession, with little or no intermediate speaking. In more traditional forms of worship, it would be normal for hymns to be interspersed with prayers, readings, liturgical items, etc. The traditional practice is sometimes referred to as a 'hymn-prayer sandwich' and the contemporary form 'block worship' or the 'praise and worship'.
Worship leader
A notable feature of contemporary worship is the worship leader. A worship leader is normally a musician (often a guitarist or pianist) with good singing ability whose role it is to lead the congregational singing. Many composers of contemporary worship songs are also worship leaders. The worship leader has a prominent role in contemporary worship services and is responsible for much of the spiritual direction of the meeting and often will choose the songs that will be sung. This can be contrasted with traditional churches, where the entire service is normally led by a member of the clergy. Also, in many cases, the worship leader is responsible for recruiting, assigning, and training other musicians to compose a worship band or team.
Worship band
The style of contemporary worship music is influenced by
popular musicPopular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
and not suitable for the traditional church organ. Most
churchesA local church is a Christian religious organization that meets in a particular location. Many are formally organized, with constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, are served by pastors or lay leaders, and, in nations where this is permissible, often seek seek non-profit corporate status...
adopting contemporary worship therefore have a
worship band or
praise band to provide music during their services. Other terms such as
worship team,
worship group,
praise team, or
music group are also used. Worship bands are most common in
evangelicalEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
denominations, but can also be found among other Christian denominations.
Most worship bands are church-based and seldom play outside their own churches. However, some
contemporary Christian musicContemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
bands also act as worship bands for events, and may label themselves as such.
Worship bands have varying compositions and use a variety of non-traditional church instruments. In the 1970s and 1980s, a
folk musicFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
style was commonplace with acoustic string or woodwind instruments being popular. Today, the influence of
rock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
is widespread and the use of electric instruments has increased.
Worship bands normally also include vocalists and a worship leader and usually lead congregational singing replacing the traditional church choir and
pipe organThe pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
, although occasionally churches use both bands and choirs. A worship band can create a contemporary sound to the worship that younger worshipers can identify with. Worship bands may also be utilized with the rationale that some non-churchgoing visitors will feel more comfortable.
Projected lyrics
The
charismatic movementThe term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
also resulted in large numbers of songs being written. It became impractical for churches to use hymn or song books, as a single book rarely contained all the material they wanted to sing, and the turnover in songs was rapid.
Hence many churches that adopt a contemporary style of worship project the words to the songs onto one or more screens. Originally, this was done using an
overhead projectorAn overhead projector is a variant of slide projector that is used to display images to an audience.-Mechanism:An overhead projector typically consists of a large box containing a very bright lamp and a fan to cool it. On top of the box is a large fresnel lens that collimates the light...
or occasionally a
slide projectorA slide projector is an opto-mechanical device to view photographic slides. Slide projectors were common in the 1950s to the 1970s as a form of entertainment; family members and friends would gather to view slide shows...
, but as video projectors fell in price and improved in performance, it became more popular to use a computerised system. Specialised software, known as worship presentation programs, was developed to generate the images for display.
Creative arts
Contemporary worship often includes other elements not found in conventional forms of worship.
DramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, typically in the form of short sketches, is sometimes used to highlight a topic of teaching.
DanceDance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
is commonplace and includes both choreographed and improvised dance as both an expression of worship and again for teaching purposes. Occasionally short videos or film clips are shown.
See also
- Contemporary worship music
- Christian worship
In Christianity, worship is adoration and contemplation of God.-Overview:Throughout most of Christianity's history, corporate Christian worship has been primarily liturgical, characterized by prayers and hymns, with texts rooted in, or closely related to, the Scripture, particularly the Psalter;...
- List of notable contemporary worship songs
- List of Christian worship music artists
- Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
- Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
- CCLI
- Worship Leader Praise Awards
The Worship Leader Praise Awards are given annually by Worship Leader Magazine. The awards were created in 2000 to recognize the achievements of worship leaders and innovations furthering Christian praise and worship.Award categories are:...
External links