A Proposal to Unplug Worship

[Moosicman]

I've been watching this thread closely but have been too busy to respond. I have a bit of feedback to give that may or may not be well received as it could be perceived to be antagonistic to those who are slighting this article. Please know in advance that such isn't the case, I love and respect each of you, but do be prepared to have your perspective criticized. I'm too busy for now but it will give you a day or two to prep! LOL Until then...

[fmckinnon]

I thought the article was well-written, personally. I tend to find agreement and disagreement on just about every point he mentions. It's all philsophy and heart, and I think what matters most is how we express and communicate it to our Body.

[MarkSnyder]

Interesting article in a lot of ways. One point he makes about instrumentation and singing that is interesting: the notion of the instruments drowning out the congregations. The discipline of leading (and writing) songs that have a nice pocket for the vocals in sometimes lost I think. Our worship arrangements we play should have that pocket that the congregation naturally needs to fill, and our leaders should lead them into filling it. If this is done well there is no need to unplug worship - the congregation becomes part of the band.

[Deuce]

Very well said!

[steensn]

I've been watching this thread closely but have been too busy to respond. I have a bit of feedback to give that may or may not be well received as it could be perceived to be antagonistic to those who are slighting this article. Please know in advance that such isn't the case, I love and respect each of you, but do be prepared to have your perspective criticized. I'm too busy for now but it will give you a day or two to prep! LOL Until then...

The anticipation is killing me! JK...

Please critisize me... I'm a free target!

[Louis]

I resigned as worship leader in January and now attend a small church that is mostly hymns on piano and organ and some acoustic/light bass and percussion. The sound of hearing the saints' voices is amazing and a real blessing to me. Not missing the loud, full band sound at all.

[Once Far Off]

I tried to listen to the heart of what was written so as to stay between the extremes. I agree with the point of the article that there is value to a setting in which the saints' voices can be heard and the overall band 'thing' is not the main flavor of the worship time. I believe that different musical settings can convey a variety of moods which can be used to God's glory in the overall worship experience of a church. To that I end, we typically do a 'reduced' version of our worship team on one Sunday a month at our church for our communion Sunday. Instrumentation is sparse, usually a male and female singer, an acoustic and keyboard, sometimes with percussion. It lends to a time of reflection and a sweet time of communion in my experience. I also try to have more celebratory times with full band and tons of singers to go to the opposite extreme. I think both have value.

[steensn]

I tried to listen to the heart of what was written so as to stay between the extremes. I agree with the point of the article that there is value to a setting in which the saints' voices can be heard and the overall band 'thing' is not the main flavor of the worship time. I believe that different musical settings can convey a variety of moods which can be used to God's glory in the overall worship experience of a church. To that I end, we typically do a 'reduced' version of our worship team on one Sunday a month at our church for our communion Sunday. Instrumentation is sparse, usually a male and female singer, an acoustic and keyboard, sometimes with percussion. It lends to a time of reflection and a sweet time of communion in my experience. I also try to have more celebratory times with full band and tons of singers to go to the opposite extreme. I think both have value.

Agreed, well said.