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Millennial Worship

So it's interesting. I have found myself thinking through these issues for a few years now so I thought I throw them down here and see what some of you think about it as well.

One of the most debated, not to mention explosive, conversations in the church today (I say today, but if you study church/worship history you find it's no new issue) has to do with worship in the church - style, approach, biblical and cultural issues, essential elements of the service, etc. Every generation carries with it a different approach to its corporate worship. Like I said, this is definitely not a new thing. In fact, we see this in the book of Ezra after the new temple was created when they were having a service of dedication of the temple. The older generation was remembering the first temple which was much greater and more elaborate than the second, and they were weeping tears of sadness in their remembrance. The young generation who had never seen the older temple was blown away at the fact that they finally were able to worship in a temple and their songs of celebration and praise were loud. In the book both are received by God as praise - although one is lament and one is celebration.

Growing up as a "Generation X-er" (although every Gen-Xer hates being labeled that way) was interesting in that our corporate worship tended, and still tends, to be very contemplative and introspective. Mine is the generation that finally begin to be honest with how they were truly feeling about life and God instead of putting the face on before going to church. Mine is the generation that began to see their parents divorced at ridiculously high percentages and wasn't exactly sure how to deal with the fact that their parents were hurting and abandoning them, leaving them as latch key kids, but didn't seem to care. Mine is the generation that began to experience a significant disillusionment with church inauthenticity and a major lack of relevance to their lives. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we're alone in the experience of these things, but these are things that heavily influenced the way this generation worshiped. Gen X-ers were intensely drawn to corporate, musical worship that was honest, lamenting and me focused ("I need this...I feel that...etc"). Many churches adopted long drawn out times of worship that facilitated hurts being dealt with and a receiving of the emotional and spiritual healing that Christ brings.

The biggest problem I have with this approach or expression of worship is the amount of me-centeredness going on. Worship is not about me, it is about God. And my heart is healed, realigned and filled when our worship is full of the truth of the person and deeds of God and I respond to that revelation. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for songs that focus on what I will do, but I believe it needs to be a smaller percentage of our corporate experience and it needs to come after we focus on who God is and what he has done. It makes so much more sense that way.

But here's what I wanted to write about tonight. For the last four years I have consistently led all generations in the church, but could probably say that I have mostly led Gen-Xers and Millennials. Ethnos Church is largely a Gen X Church (those born between 1965 & 1976), and most of the other places/events at which I lead are geared for Millennials (those born between 1977 & 1998). I have noticed the above trend relating to the way people approach our time of corporate, musical worship. But what I have noticed about the Millennials is very intriguing to me. They live in a much more negative environment than we did as GenX kids. The divorce rate has climbed. The political and economic situations have gotten worse. They are inundated with violence, sex, religious and spiritual pluralism and confusion, war, hate, etc. Hurt is all around them. YET they are so much more optimistic than we were as a generation. They are hopeful and alive, and their worship follows suit. As GenX-ers we mistrusted institutions and completely rejected rules. Millennials see a total irrelevance for institutions and they are rewriting the rules. As GenX-ers we reacted against our families and clung to our friends. Millennials cling to family and friends, seeing them both as one big family.

All of these things are so affecting their worship. I was talking to a friend about this, and he said that he thought that Millennials worship this way because they are led in ways that other generations weren't - meaning that there is more access to up-tempo worship music style, and this supposedly facilitates "up-tempo worship." But I really do believe it goes much deeper than merely music. There is something much more significant going on. What I have noticed in the context of corporate times of worship with Millennials is that it is incredibly honest, yet intensely celebratory. They love being together with each other, and they love to express themselves in celebration to a God who they believe is full of hope. They are drawn to songs about God rather than songs about "me." There are moments of pouring their hearts out to God in need and desperation, but unlike Gen-X, it is the minority. This has been incredibly refreshing for me as I have led them, and it has taught me to approach our times of corporate worship in this way. I find it interesting that when I see Boomers or Gen-Xers in those Millennial worship contexts, they are on the brink of exploding from the inside out, because they truly want to "break out" and just celebrate. But it's not natural for them and it takes work.

But I think that it is important for us to learn from each other. I think we as Boomers and GenX-ers should work at approaching our times of corporate worship with their attitudes, and let them teach us some things we need to learn. At the same time, I think the Millennials need to learn what it truly means to be able to worship from a place of lament. They are young and haven't experienced too much suffering and pain, and if we teach them how to worship from a place of pain they will have that foundation when that time in their life comes.
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And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”
And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, fold men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. ~ Ezra 3:11-13 ~
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Thoughts?

Music Ministry OR Worship Ministry...or BOTH? How We Do It @ Ethnos

This article is a quick glimpse into my philosophy of "music ministry" at Ethnos Church (the church plant I've been involved with for about 2 years now.  Check the Ethnos site out here!)  This was an article that I wrote for one of Ethnos' newsletters and it also ended up on the Ethnos forum.  It was written to the people of Ethnos, but I thought it might stir up some thoughts for you as well.

I want to assure you that I am, in no way, bashing any other worship or music ministry at any other church.  I am not presenting this as "THE" way to do music/worship ministry at your church.  It is merely my way because of what God has
put on my heart and my passions.  Your way may look completely different because of what God has put on your heart and because of what YOUR passions are...and if so, that is great!  So here goes...
I wanted to start the series off with the aspect of music at Ethnos, the music worship team and how it all works. So here we go!

I don't need to prove to you that music has been, is and will be a huge part of the worship of the church gathered and the church scattered. We see music and songs in the worship of the Israelites with Tabernacle worship, Temple worship, and in the synagogues. We see music, song, and singing in Acts and the early church, many of Paul's epistles, James, Hebrews, and all over Revelation as John describes the worship that is happening in Heaven around the throne of God. Needless to say, music is a huge part of our worship at Ethnos and will continue to be. It helps us express the deepest parts of our hearts to a God who describes our worship and prayer as sweet smelling incense to Him. Music and song help us engage holistically in our worship as our intellect, emotions, body and spirit participate in this encounter with God. I'm not implying that there is something "magical" about music in worship, however, I'm not lessening its significance either. The Psalmist says that God is "enthroned on" our praises. That is a big deal! We also see, especially in the Old Testament, that God wanted the musicians that were leading Israel's worship to be very skilled in their playing. There are many places in Scripture where God's instructions for how His people were to worship Him were elaborate, detailed and complex, so it is easy to see how much God values the "how" of our worship.

The "How" of Our Music Worship at Ethnos
Most of you have probably come from churches that set up a rotation of musicians. What I mean by that is that the worship leader/pastor decides to do a rotation where there are a number of musicians per instrument and they are rotated in based on a schedule that is set up. All of the churches that I have been a part of have done it this way. Don't get me wrong, I am not criticizing the churches that do it this way. However, we have chosen to not set up our worship music ministry this way. Rather, we have chosen to set up bands that will play together consistently. Let me explain why, and then address a few questions this may bring up. In my experience with rotations, the one real frustration I have with them is that the musicians never really gel with each other. Because of the fact that you will have a different number of people playing each instrument (such as 4 people playing drums, and only 2 people playing bass, etc) you rarely end up playing with the same band. This becomes a frustration for the musicians and the worship leader/pastor because of the fact that they have to learn the same songs over and over week in week out. Because of this they resort to just getting through the song without screwing up rather than building on what was practiced to make the music and song actually sound good. When playing with the same people week in week out you build on previous practices and end up not even having to practice certain songs and can focus on more intricacy and give more time to new songs as well. Also, the "band" approach gives the people in the band more time together and in essence it becomes a safe place where they can grow together and encourage each other towards following Christ. It also gives the worship leader/pastor more of an opportunity to develop the maturity of the band, both musically and spiritually.

This brings up a few questions...the main one being, "what about other musicians in the church? Doesn't this create a bottleneck of those who are playing?" My answer to that is "yes and no." In order to clarify this, though, I need to explain a little about my philosophy of music as it relates to a worship pastor's job. When a worship pastor gets hired at a church there ends up being a lot of hidden expectations. I have not felt these expectations from anyone at Ethnos, and that probably can be attributed to the fact that this is a church plant and there is nothing to compare anything to as well as just the fact that you people are very gracious to me! So thanks for that!  One of the main expectations, however, is that the worship leader/pastor should facilitate the playing of music for anyone who has the desire to do so within the church. In other words, it is a presumption that it is his job to make sure everyone who wants to play does. Now, there are many churches that hire people specifically for that purpose and there is nothing wrong with that, but this is not what we have done at Ethnos. My job is to lead the church in worship the best I possibly can, with music and without. I've seen worship pastors submit to that expectation, projected by the church or not, and busy themselves to the point that it becomes their focus and as a result worship gets buried in the music.

Now, obviously there is a balance, and that leads me back to the question above. There are two passions that have in my job at Ethnos: leading the church in worship, and raising up others to do the same. And it is in this second passion of mine (raising up others to lead worship) where I think this balance of facilitating the playing of music for others resides. Throughout the first year I slowly put together the band that is now playing consistently at the Ethnos Sunday gatherings. We practice every week on Tuesday nights, we play every Sunday at Ethnos, and we lead worship at many other events, churches, retreats, camps, conferences, etc. throughout the year. We're even starting to think missionally about how we can use our music to engage the music world of Portland and reach that sub-culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

By no means, however, does this one band have some kind of monopoly on the music worship at Ethnos. My passion and desire is that other worship leaders would be raised up, develop bands and lead the worship at Ethnos, lead other places, and maybe even approach the music culture of Portland missionally as well! When worship leaders are ready I would like to see the other musicians at Ethnos, who are ready, fall around that worship leader to create another band. This is already happening as Todd Bowder, Joel Setzer and others are looking for musicians to come around him for the purpose of leading at Ethnos and other places. But as Todd and Joel begin to think about starting to lead worship, they are also not counting on Ethnos being the only place where they will lead. While I want to raise up more leaders, the Sunday gatherings cannot be the only place where they lead. There are only so many Sundays in the month and I do want there to be some kind of stability and consistency. While there will be some opportunity on Sundays I think this is where the importance of a missional mindset comes in, and possibly other ministry opportunities.

This approach makes it possible for others to play music, but it puts the priority on raising up worship leaders at Ethnos, helping them develop a band, giving them the opportunity to lead on Sunday nights, and sending them out to minister in other places as well. I hope and pray it will create the balance mentioned above. Another cool thing is that this creates the possibility of allowing other styles of music to emerge from the people of Ethnos. Different bands will create different sounds, and that is welcomed. Right now I'm meeting with five people within Ethnos who are interested in possibly leading worship. I'm looking forward to what God is going to do in and through these people.

The reason I answered "yes and no" to the question above is because, while this approach brings more musical opportunity for others, it also takes time. So there is a sense that there is a bottleneck in opportunity because of this approach. Due to this approach, it calls for patience among those who want to play. But it also calls for prayer that God would raise up more worship leaders. So let's do that, and while you do, pray that God would continue making us the worshiping community He wants us to be!

Thoughts on Repetition in Music Worship

My friend Terry and I were discussing the issue of repetition that runs rampant in worship music today on the Ethnos Church Forum (check out the Ethnos Forum.  Here are his very thoughtful (see Terry, i'm not making fun of you) comments and my response.  Regardless of who's wrong or right, it's good to think through this kind of stuff.  Happy thinking!

 

TERRY:
hopefully this thread isnt over, i have some questions that, although not totally on topic, realte somewhat to pauls job and the role of music in...damn it get to the point terry.
so i have always had a problem with the role of music in worship because i have been to numerous places where it is (perhaps not maliciously or intentionally) used in a hyponotic or mind numbing way. repetition of sound and words, etc all lend themselves to making people hypersuggestive. if this is done before a sermon for instance, well you can put two and two together. i am not suggesting ethnos does that on purpose, but i think the structure of repetion that is dominant in worship music should be reconsidered because it does have such psychological effects on people. if you have people accepting and living by a doctrine dont you want to know they are accepting it with a sane and unadultered mind, and not because they are influenced by anything other than he concepts they are hearing?

PAUL:
Terry.
I hear what you're saying and I'm trying to think about it from all angles (which I don't think is at all possible, but I just thought I'd say it cause it makes me sound very spiritual and mature), and I think I can probably say that I agree and at the same time don't agree.

I think that if there are churches out there that are trying to simply adulterate people's minds with their music then they need to reevaluate what the heck they are doing. But I think what I hear you saying is that churches, perhaps even like Ethnos, are doing this unintentionally??? To that I would say that some worship pastors/leaders feel the pressure from the "higher--ups" to somehow "produce" a worshipful environment in their services/gatherings and "produce" a worshiping church to much so that they resort to manipulative tactics. These tactics are based on "extra-biblical", non-accurate beliefs however, and include, but aren't limited to, ridiculous amounts of repetition. There are many who believe that the recipe for "Spirit-led worship (as if there was supposed to be another kind of worship?) is crazy repetition and spontaneous times of corporate worship (where people begin to sing their own songs and prayers and cry out to the Lord while the music builds and falls, causing the prayers to do the same) among other things. This is obviously sad for many reasons, the main reason probably being that these guys/women are accepting responsibility for something they have absolutely no control over. The Holy Spirit, I believe, is truly the only one that enables our worship and the worship of our churches, so why would we as lead worshipers take that kind of pressure on?! All we can do it be faithful to a biblical perspective on worship in the church and to what we feel God has called each one of us to do.

While I believe the above type of "repetition" is unnecessary, I also believe that repetition both musically and non-musically in the church can be a very good thing. In fact I have seen and experienced times of worship that have looked much like what I described above but that have been very God glorifying and very legitimate. I think it really depends on the motivation of those who are leading the people as well as the amount of teaching that takes place, making sure that those who are participating understand what corporate worship are all about. I have no interest in manipulating people, but I have every interest in helping people worship and encounter the living God holistically. This word, holistic, is kind of a buzzword today, but when I use it in this context, I am simply saying that I want people to engage in corporate worship spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and physically. If these four facets of our personhood and humanity come to bear in all of life, shouldn't they come to bear in our corporate worship as well? We see hints toward this when Paul says in both Colossians and Ephesians that we should be both filled with the Spirit and filled with the Word when we worship in music and songs (Eph. 5:18-19; Col. 3:16). Jesus also speaks to this in John 4 in his conversation with the woman at the well. Jesus' words in John 4 are more addressing the fact that the day had now come that the "form" of worship was not the focus. Instead, worship was to emerge from our heart of hearts and be translated to our lives. But we can still see that worship, whether individual, "life" worship or corporate, "together" worship, should involve the whole person. While I am definitely wanting to be careful about not taking advantage of people as a lead worshiper and focusing too much on "roller-coaster-ing" people's emotions intentionally, I also don't want to err too far to the other extreme of counting out the emotions in the context of corporate music worship. It's a part of who we are and should come to bear...just in balance with the other facets.

When you look at the Hebrew language that refers to worship, music and meditation, the idea of repetition is all over the place! The word the Psalmist uses many times in the context of worship is the word "meditation" (transliteration = Higgayon; the primary root is Haggah) which carries the idea of murmuring out of repetition. When the Psalmist talks about "meditating on the Word day and night" this word is used to paint a picture of the psalmist repeating truth in song and recitations over and over again. This is not only found in the Psalms, however. The Hebrew tradition is full of "murmuring out of repetition!" In fact, the Mishnah (the oral tradition) was sung much of the time. They would repeat their traditions and passages of Scripture over and over, and this is the way, in large part, it was passed on from generation to generation. This is seen today in the church by the fact that most people derive much of their theology and doctrine from the songs they sing in Church. I am not saying this is right, but it is what it is for whatever reason.

In Revelation 4-5 a picture is painted by John of the worship that is happening in Heaven, and we see repetition here in a major way! Look at the songs that the millions of angels, the elders and the four living creatures are singing. There are like four or five songs and it says "day and night they NEVER CEASE TO SING." That's a lot of repetition.

Anyways dude...this is my position:

I see a lot of churches thinking very wrongly about this issue. I'm for repetition, just not for repetition that is done with wrong motives or is done without putting ample thought into why you do it or when you do it. What I mean by that is this: If I'm going to say that I love Jesus in a worship song, that's great! But I'm tired of these "Jesus is my best girlfriend songs" that repeat that kind of thing over and over and over. I think this is an example of repetition not thought out at all. If we are going to repeat things, we need to think about what we are repeating, and if it is actually WORTHY of our repetition in worship. Think about what the angels, elders and living creatures are repeating in Rev 4-5. They are repeating that the resurrected Christ is Holy and Worthy. These two attributes are characteristics of ONLY Christ. We cannot say that anything else in the universe is truly worthy and holy, can we! So I would think that repeating something like this is definitely the right kind of repetition. As we saw with the Hebrew language, as we begin to meditate on God's holiness and his worth in our worship (singing or murmuring out of repetition), these truths or attributes of God deeply penetrate our hearts and we are changed.

Repetition needs to be done sensitively, approached with balance, preceded by education, and entered into with the correct motives. And if it is done in these ways it can be a very useful and helpful tool in our corporate worship today.

Holistic worship is worship that is full of revelation (intellectual), led by the Spirit (spiritual), engaged by our spirit (emotional), and full of the responsiveness of our whole person inside and outside the walls of church (physical).

Hope this helps. Maybe not. Let's keep discussing it!

Next Generation Worship Conference in April of 2004 sponsored in part by CBNW and Vertical Music

The Next Generation Worship Conference is coming in May of 2004!! 

God continues to expand the vision of Next Generation Minstries.  After we did the first conference in 2002, I remember telling God that I didn't want to hold on to this with a tight grip.  I had a sense that He wanted to change and morph this thing we called Next Generation Worship Conference and that He was challenging me to have eyes to see and ears to hear the evolution of it.  This meant that I needed to be praying, watching and fervantly anticipating the move of His hand. 

Not long after the last conference in April of 2003, a series of conversations with two men, completely unrelated and from two different organizations, showed me that God's hand had moved...leading these two men to Next Generation Ministries.  Luke Hendrix  with         and     Dave Lubben   with      
will be heavily involved in the next conference coming in April, 2004.  By the way...make sure to take a look at Dave's new album called A Place Called Surrender, in stores everywhere mid August 2003!

Both of them feel drawn to this ministry and are now largely involved in the visioneering process of NGWC.  I'm excited to see what God is going to do as we continue to be faithful to His calling on our lives!!

Stay tuned to this website or the Next Generation site for more updates!