As Millennials become the dominant generation in the United States population, some churches are changing worship in an effort to reach them. However, Alabama Baptists seem more focused on improving the quality of worship rather than changing how it is done.
Millennials, those born roughly between 1980 and 2000, are often stereotyped as either abandoning faith altogether or as drawn only to the hyper-contemporary worship model of the megachurch movement.
But Todd Wilson, pastor of Grace Covenant Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, sees something different.
“In young people today, I see a hunger and thirst to be more biblical in every element of the worship service,” Wilson said. “They are more serious about the preaching of the Word, more serious about the Lord’s Supper and baptism.”
Many churches still address the question of worship styles primarily in terms of music, using words like contemporary, traditional and blended to describe the song selections for each service. The terms gained prominence a decade or so ago as churches saw both a need for multiple services to accommodate congregants and a desire to offer variation in their services.
Such was the case at First Baptist Church, Opelika, in Tuskegee Lee Baptist Association, which began a contemporary service about 12 years ago. The church now has three morning worship services, one contemporary service and two blended services. While there is a mix of age groups represented in each service, the contemporary service attracts primarily young adults, college students and younger families and usually has the highest attendance, according to a church official.
In contrast, First Baptist Church, Demopolis, in Bethel Baptist Association holds a single morning worship service, which Pastor Carl Williams called a “traditional service, with a blended style.”
Williams said changes like singing choruses in addition to hymns and incorporating instruments like flute and guitar have come more slowly to the church, many of whose members grew up there. Many young adults tell him they enjoy singing the traditional hymns of their youth, even as they enjoy contemporary selections like those they hear on the radio. The blended approach seems to work, he said.
Song choice
“The goal is not to have 50 percent contemporary and 50 percent traditional every Sunday,” Williams said. “We want to choose the best songs for worship.”
Thom S. Ranier, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources and co-author with his son, Jess, of “The Millenials,” asserts that in the future, terms like traditional, contemporary and blended will become less and less important to millennials.
In a blog post titled “The Question about Worship Style,” Rainer said that after nearly three decades of “worship wars,” millennials prefer to focus on quality over style.
“They (Millennials) will walk away from congregations that are still fighting about style of music, hymnals or screen projections, or choirs or praise teams. Those are not essential issues to Millennials, and they don’t desire to waste their time hearing Christians fight about such matters,” Rainer wrote.
Instead he wrote, “their focus is on theologically rich music, authenticity and quality that reflects adequate preparation in time and prayer.”
As a result, some millennials are drawn to denominations or churches where formal liturgies and observance of the Lord’s Supper are practiced regularly as part of worship.
For example, Open Door Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, in Tuscaloosa Baptist Association observes Communion monthly. KJ Pugh, associate pastor of education and missions at Open Door Baptist, believes Millennials, the church’s best-represented age group, respond to the ordinances as powerful reminders of Christ’s gospel.
Gospel-reminders
“Corporate worship is meant to refresh our faith in the gospel, and many Millennials want these gospel-reminders built into the natural rhythm of their lives,” Pugh said. “As a consequence we are seeing more and more congregations increase how frequently they partake of the Lord’s Supper, with many churches opting to do it every week.”
Though some argue that weekly observance of Communion or liturgical readings can become ritualistic, Wilson believes that any element of worship can become ritualistic.
“Ultimately worship comes down to the heart of the person,” he said.
Worship also is not about the staging of the platform, the construction of the pulpit or the clothes people wear, Williams said. At First, Demopolis, changes in the sanctuary were made to help people feel more relaxed. Those changes have led to a different atmosphere during worship, one that appeals to millennials and baby boomers alike, Williams said.
“We are not a contemporary church by my definition and we may never be,” Williams said. “But where we are headed now is really something that our church appreciates and is helping us reach a broader group in the community.”
Travis Collins, director of missions advancement for Fresh Expressions, a Virginia Baptist Mission Board program that helps churches navigate the challenges posed by a postmodern culture, envisions a time when churches will be unable to put terms like “contemporary” or “traditional” on marquees because they won’t mean anything to most Christians.
“I think the days of what we presently know as contemporary worship will soon be behind us,” he said. “I don’t think the answer is going to be what we now call traditional worship. I believe the answer is going to be something that we have not quite figured out.”
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