For generations, noted Lamm, most Protestant worship music came from hymnals that developed over time, shaped by denominational leaders that weighed whether these songs and anthems were “theologically sound” and familiar to most worshippers.
But traditions began changing in the 1970s. While trying to appeal to young people and the unchurched, worship leaders replaced classic, familiar hymns with hit songs from contemporary Christian radio shows and publishing houses. Hymnals disappeared, replaced by song lyrics projected with multimedia equipment — which assumed worshippers already knew the melodies and the arrangements.
In the 1980s, the big hits “might stay around for several years,” said Lamm, reached by telephone. Then songs began drifting out of popularity every few months. Today, “worship bands” — usually with drums, bass, guitars, electronic keyboards and multiple vocalists — may rotate new material into services every few weeks.
“It’s a consumer mentality,” he explained. “Worship leaders are thinking, ‘If I’m not singing the latest, greatest songs, then I’m behind, which means that our church is behind everybody else, and we need to catch up.’ “
Lamm stressed that he supports church musicians seeking excellence in everything they do, including the use of contemporary songs and technology that improve worship, as opposed to creating a “concert” environment that separates stage performers from the congregation. It’s possible, he said, to create services that — while avoiding food-court syndrome — combine classic hymns, popular modern songs and new pieces, perhaps one per service, that worshippers will need to learn.
Right now, said Lamm, worship leaders should ask this question: Are church members still singing together or have they become isolated listeners?
“It is moving to come to worship and see a family present that just lost a loved one and see them worshipping with all their might; it really encourages those around them,” he wrote, in an online reflection. “Seeing a grandmother, daughter and granddaughter standing side by side, boldly singing songs to the Lord together motivates others to worship wholeheartedly.”
Too often, he added, modern churches “transform their times of gathered worship into personal worship for the congregation at best and spectatorship at worst. … Essentially it denies the existence of the corporate body journeying together in this act of worship.”
