The so-called “worship wars” that hinged mostly on the style of music found in Protestant services may have reached their peak or were never as big a deal as many church leaders once thought, a researcher claims.
One in six churchgoing adults said in a Barna Research Group poll released at a recent music conference that they would change services or churches over music issues. But the vast majority — 76 percent — said if the music changed, they could live with it.
“I know there are some churches that have these struggles, but I think analytically all of that has been blown out of proportion,” said pollster George Barna in an interview Oct. 15. “I don’t think it’s nearly as widespread as we’ve been led to believe.”
Though there is clearly a divide over whether certain kinds of music have enough “spiritual depth,” Barna and experts who have recently hosted conferences on Christian music and worship say the overarching problem is not so much a conflict over music styles but a misunderstanding about the meaning of worship.
“Most people think that worship is something that we do for ourselves, not something that we do for God,” Barna said.
His research group found that about half of Protestant churches use traditional worship music elements including hymns, choir or organ.
Almost as many use blended worship music, incorporating two or more music styles in a service, and about one-fourth use rock or other contemporary Christian music.
Randall Bradley, professor of church music and director of Baylor University’s Center for Christian Music Studies, said the results of the poll, commissioned by a symposium held at his school Oct. 7–9, should encourage music leaders to foster education about worship.
Jim Cordell, who held a conference on worship for mostly Southern Baptist churches in Kentucky just days after the Baylor event, agreed.
“I think the reason church leaders are frustrated today is they have attending their congregations members that from one Sunday to the next have had absolutely no walk with the Lord — no Bible study, no prayer, no ministry, no witness,” he said.
“And then they come wanting the staff to induce from the outside … celebrative worship when in reality worship is not just an event, it’s a relationship.”
The conferences held in Waco, Texas, and Bowling Green, Ky., highlighted the range of music that can be used within Sunday worship services.
The Baylor symposium was established by Billy Ray Hearn, president and CEO of EMI Christian Music Group.
More than 500 participants ranging from church organists to contemporary Christian musicians to academics attended the symposium to talk about bridging divides in the world of religious music.
Bradley said he thinks Barna’s research may prove that congregations are already doing that.
“I believe there’s a broader acceptance of differences in our society and I wonder if that acceptance in our culture is affecting our being willing to be more accepting of differences in the worship of our congregations,” he said.
But Bradley said the survey also showed that a majority of churches still use hymnals and organs.
“We’ve been saying for nearly 20 years that the organ is dying,” he said.
“That doesn’t seem to be the case when you look at the statistics.”
Barna found that two out of three churches use organs; a similar percentage use choirs.
His research also found that nine out of 10 churches use hymnals, while four out of 10 churches put song words in a program.
The “Journey Into Worship” conference in Kentucky featured about 1,000 participants and several different worship services.
The services represented the traditional, blended and contemporary styles found in congregations across the state.
“I have visited over 70 different churches … and I’ve seen all three of these [worship styles] done well and I’ve seen all three of them done poorly,” said Cordell, director of church music for the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
“To me, it’s really not a style issue. It’s a content issue. Does worship help people connect to God?”
Cordell said he finds the decision to blend styles of music within one service only becomes a battle when there’s not enough grassroots support for it.
“If it is truly a church vision, then the people really do buy into it,” he said. “If it’s a staff vision, I think they’re meeting with more resistance.”
Barna found that three out of four churches surveyed had multiple worship services.
“It’s possible that a lot of churches have gotten around this alleged worship war thing by having different services, each with a different style of worship,” he said. (RNS)
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