Alabama Baptists attracted to contemporary worship found an opportunity to see it modeled during the Alabama Baptist State Evangelism Conference in Tuscaloosa Jan. 26–27.
The contemporary track showcased a variety of pastors, speakers and worship leaders — all donned in casual attire.
“Contemporary worship [is] used to describe worship that is a little more praise song oriented and informal; it’s not that there is an absence of hymns,” said Teman Knight, associate in the office of evangelism of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
About 100 people attended the contemporary track, which displayed drums and guitars as part of the worship.
“The rhythm-driven band (drums, guitar, bass) is more conducive to the contemporary form of worship, but it can work in the traditional too,” said Scott Hilliker, minister of music of Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa.
Hilliker, who played acoustic guitar during the services, said, “We do blended worship at Ridgecrest.
“I think it helps us be more appealing to the below-40 population,” he said. “We had a couple joining recently and they said having both forms, not one extreme or the other, was appealing to them.”
Mike Satterfield, pastor of The Church at Shelby Crossings, Alabaster, said he was raised a traditional Southern Baptist but now leads a church with contemporary worship. “Our ministry has sought a diversity through contemporary that has crossed racial and economic barriers and enabled us to come together and be one body. We are watching God fuse us together in this.”
Charles Foster, worship minister of Valley View Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, the site of the conference, said contemporary worship has affected church growth in a positive way for Valley View.
“We started migrating toward contemporary about six years ago,” he said. “Our median age of members here is probably in the 30s and though there’s certainly nothing wrong with hymns, the traditional style is just not attractive to our membership. We are trying to reach people where they are for Christ.”
Valley View Pastor Mike Hall, who used a PowerPoint presentation and a video clip, said the purpose of the contemporary track was to challenge pastors and churches to become “impact players” in the kingdom of God.
He said Baptists need to stop making excuses and believe in what God can do rather than what they in their own power can do.
He likened external devices of worship to a ventilator, an artificial device that breathes for people in seriously threatening medical situations. “In churches we depend too much on the ventilators; the body of Christ is designed to operate by the breath of God,” he said.
Stuart Rothberg, pastor of Istrouma Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, La., said problems arise when the “form of worship dominates the function of worship.”
“We are permitted to have our likes and personal opinions, but we are not permitted to elevate those to the level of biblical authority such that we use them as clubs against those who don’t share our opinions,” he explained.
Iranian-born David Nasser of David Nasser Ministries in Birmingham, reminded pastors to not weaken or compromise the message of Christ amid the “Starbucks for Jesus” approaches.
Coffeehouses and other methods can be effective, he said, but only if Jesus’ message is full strength, which will offend many in this ‘tolerance’ touting age.
“The contemporary church is not called to tweak the message,” he said.
Along with preaching and praise and worship, Chosen, a drama team from the University of Alabama’s Baptist Campus Ministries, presented biblically based skits that targeted students using music, dialogue and acting.
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