Leadership
Why I don't want to go to a church that labels me!
Well, I'm going to try it again...this isn't going to be brilliant writing, but I've just come from a conference full of church musicians and I couldn't find one colleague who isn't disturbed about the terms I'm going to discuss. I just have to get this out of my system as I head home...
I have always thought that the terms we use to describe worship on our various church "marquees" are, at best, utilitarian, and, at worst, ill-conceived and awkward. We are naive, in my opinion, to assume that people will come to our churches because we advertise that such and such a service is traditional or contemporary, as though those were the only two meaningful words that describe our intentions for those worship services. It's sort of nonsense when you think about it. O.K., we should probably begin with the usual definitions...
contemporary |kənˈtempəˌrerē|
adjective
1 living or occurring at the same time : the event was recorded by a contemporary historian.
• dating from the same time : this series of paintings is contemporary with other works in an early style.
2 belonging to or occurring in the present : the tension and complexities of our contemporary society.
traditional |trəˈdi sh ənl|
adjective
existing in or as part of a tradition; long-established : the traditional festivities of the church year.
• adhering to past practices : a traditional fish soup.
• habitually done, used, or found : the traditional drinks in a school cafeteria.
• (of a person or group) adhering to tradition, or to a particular tradition : traditional Elgarians.
If a person, well-meaning or not, tried to label me as either "belonging to the present" or "adhering to the past," I would be perplexed—maybe downright insulted. Who gave church leaders this incredibly inadequate vocabulary to describe our celebrations of the living God. Case in point—one would hope that we all share a love of the now, for discovery, and living in the exciting present (contemporary thinking) while "adhering" to simple traditions like having Campbell's Tomato Soup on Saturday nights (oh, is that just me?). I mean, aren't all of us really both? So, I made a list...
contemporary |kənˈtempəˌrerē|people
—with it
—phat
—on top of it
—up-to-date
—fashionable
—trendy
—contemporaneous
—fashionable
—current
—hip
—of the times
traditional |trəˈdi sh ənl|people
—old-fashioned
—out of it
—recalcitrant
—habitual
—ritualistic
Is this really how we see people? These are some stereotypical assumptions that I've actually heard voiced by church leaders to describe the folks who attend one or the other of their service offerings. Shame on them! You couldn't possibly make these assumptions about human beings living in our very diverse society, or could you? I maintain that every time we put these two words in print we are, at some level, forcing people into stereotypes that have no meaning. I mean, because I go to a contemporary worship service doesn't mean I'm with it, phat, on top of it, up-to-date, fashionable, trendy, contemporaneous, fashionable, current, hip, or of the times. Conversely, if I prefer the traditional service, it doesn't mean I'm old-fashioned, out of it, recalcitrant, habitual, or cling to the past.
This is where a young pastor friend of mine interrupts my tirade and says, "Doug, you're missing the point. The labels 'contemporary' and 'traditional' just have to do with people's taste in music. Don't get yourself all riled up about this!" I wish he were right. The reality is that we actually prioritize around the basic assumptions we have about the C and T folks. In many churches I hear language that suggests that we all believe the traditionalists will die away and we're just giving them what they want until such time as they leave us from "natural causes." The truth is we may bore them to death before natural causes catch up with them!
Allow me this simple analogy. A man in his thirties goes back to his high school reunion over a lovely Fall weekend which includes among other events, the big homecoming game. He's thrilled to be returning to his alma mater and even gets a little tear in his eye during the playing and singing of its alma mater (something he never did when he was actually part of the school). He loves greeting old friends and checking himself out every time he gets near a mirror to see if he, too, is growing older.
Is it a bad thing that he feels some fairly poignant nostalgia for his old school and the rituals of his youth? Of course not! His wife even concedes that his old girlfriend is pretty and "seems like a very nice person." Later, they return home and while his wife drives he checks his emails on his smart phone. With that little hot piece of technology in his pocket you couldn't call him a sentimental traditionalist. On this Saturday evening he had one foot in one world and one foot planted firmly in another. So do we—every day!
Needless to say, I firmly believe that the last two words that might attract people to your church are "traditional" and "contemporary." Let's stop the nonsense of dividing our congregations up by musical tastes. Church growth experts are ultimately wrong about this in my opinion. Non-churched folks are NOT banging down our doors because we have learned to cater to one aspect of people's lives. Evangelism ultimately isn't about marketing—it's about being examples of Christ's love and mercy in a hurting world. Rating a church's bass player or organist is never going to save any souls.
Word out... oh, and Amen!
Doug Lawrence
(Doug consults with churches to get the words just right and the intentionality of those words connected to the worship experience. He brings 40+ years of rehearsal to the process. —Ed.)