Remember when all praise and worship teams looked like this?
Hosanna!
Is the woman off to the right in the band or not? Is that a microphone in front of her mouth?
The guy in the red shirt in being moved by the spirit.
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thats what it was like when i first met the Lord in 1990. and i STILL took the leap!
Heck yeah, I remember. Like it was . . . yesterday? No, I mean, really. I think it was yesterday.
In some churches that’s a necessary step to move away from the pipe organ. 😉
Jason is right on the money…we still have an organ. And our worship team is a little less…old…than those pics.
You know, Third Day used to look like that: http://yfrog.com/2pwxfj
When I moved to Nashville my wife and I went on the Church hunt. Let me tell you, many churches still look like this. Also, to many other churches these pictures are progressive. One church we visited was especially bad. It was like a lounge act worship service. I was surprised we weren’t reminded to tip our usher.
Are these pics really from the “old days” or do many churches still have worship “bands” that look like this? The first two pics look like small traditional churches who are transitioning to a more contemporary worship style. The third pic looks like a church that is a little bit further along the continuum of a church moving from hymns to a praise and worship format. Is the dude in the red shirt just turning to look at the singer or is he a pastor who stepped onto the stage before the song was over? Hmmmmm
@Greg: I know lots of churches look like this. I miss it.
@Adam: That Third Day picture is AWESOME. Thank you for that.
God, I love the pipe organ. My biggest whine about worship teams is the age-old argument passed down by my forefathers, only my forefathers used a lot more theological nonsense to back up one simple truth: they suck.
There’s something less genuine about taking ancient philosophical disciplines passed down orally for centuries in light of the coercive violence of countless dictatorial evils, and abstracting them to the same knuckle-dragger rhythms as Nickelback’s “Rockstar.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah — I know, I know… the rebuttal is “But it brings in the lost!”
Honestly, though, I don’t think it does. I think it sends a message of Christianity’s current need for cultural acceptance, a need so powerful that genuinely talented modern artists like Derek Webb struggle for years against a current that calls him “controversial” or just plain evil, while we Pimp Our Jesus Ride to cheesy almost-rock or Jesus-rap.
And no, I’m not on my period. 😛
My church’s worship band STILL looks like this. 😉 I love small neighborhood churches!
@MPT – Hmmm…Interesting conversation starter. This will be fun to watch.
We just started a new service at the church I serve at and I have been blessed enough to be Called to lead the team. We still look like this – http://thehonnolds.com/TheWatersEdge/?p=1019. I love it! It’s not about flash\lighting\smoke\looking like a rock band – it’s about serving the people in our community with authentic worship that praises our Creator.
Don’t get me wrong – I love visiting a church like Buckhead or 707 (in our area) where they have all that. But try and put that in the small farming community that I serve in and it would die a quick and expensive death.
@John – remember that when the Pipe Organ was introduced it was considered the “devil’s trumpet” and many were destroyed in the early churches. At the time the introduction of the pipe organ was EXACTLY what you are saying that praise teams are today – a way to bring in the lost.
I love the sound of a well played pipe orgran. But ultimately it’s not about the instruments used, but the heart of those playing, singing and ensuring that all are worshiping our Savior, Lord, Redeemer and Creator.
I find it so funny how divisive the subject of church worship can be.
When I was an elementary student, my church had a large choir every Sunday; complete with organ and piano. They gradually added a small “orchestra.”
When I married in the early ’90s my husband and I lived in Seattle and they seemed to have a low-profile simple worship team of mostly college kids and a single guitar. It was folksy; it was simple; it was beautiful.
Late 90’s and I’m back in CA in a church of 700 that once again had a choir, only with no choir robes and they typically sang choruses.
Present day: I’m in a smaller church; can’t be much over 400 and we’re in what resembles a darkened auditorium, with a full band and a dynamic worship leader (who once was part of a “real” secular band) We sing current Christian worship songs a person would hear on christian radio.
I love it…. but sometimes it seems so performance oriented. The singers have such a beautiful voice, and when the worship leader stops singing so the girl sings only, I’ve noticed nearly everyone stops singing just to listen. It’s unclear if this is performance time or worship time. My husband says that in our silence it is worship too, but I find myself often not singing and thinking it’s more of a performance.
I don’t really care what the music is; to me the message, the love a church has for each other and those that don’t know him, and our community is more important than what “worship style” we adopt.
It’s all good.
You know, we Eastern Orthodox have a hard time knowing how to interpret posts like this.
🙂
Jesus didn’t need a slide projector or an amp.
But on the other hand, He did create Jimi Hendrix…
Ahhh, the good ol’ Sunday School Attendance/Offering board (picture #2).
My sunday school class used to compete with another class on who could make either total increase for that week. I know, I know.
If Parlaiment Funkadelic can have an organ, so can churches. Though, I enjoy Hillsong-ish groups the most.
@Jeff:
I understand what you’re saying. In fact, I’ve used that argument to explain the necessity of many changes in both mainstream Christian doctrines and ideals.
Having said that, the instruments themselves aren’t the issue. Got rock musicians? Bring them up front! The more the merrier! The problem is that our musical tradition has about as much depth as a Britney Spears song– as much in terms of the musical talent displayed, as the depth of the compositions written.
I’m 20 years old. I listen to so much metal and hip hop, my speakers are capable of blasting a hole through solid asphalt. My favorite bands have little to nothing to do with traditionalist Christianity, and most of their frontmen are diametrically opposed to it. So when I brag on the pipe organ, I’m making a statement about the truthfulness of certain musical traditions.
For instance, I visited a Reform Temple during Rosh Hashanah, and got the pleasure of worshipping alongside my Jewish brothers and sisters in the Abrahamic tradition. Was the music relevant to my cultural aesthetic? Absolutely not–in any way, shape, or form! What was it, then? It was real. It was genuine. It was born out of a social and creative tapestry that made sense to the people actually making the music happen.
The biggest problem with the type of music that I, at least, am hearing from 99% of “praise teams” is that it doesn’t really make sense to them. All the rock beats & all the guitar riffs are ripped from popular music, but apart from those very basic comparisons, the people typically making the music don’t understand the genre they’re using to “spread the gospel.” Without an intrinsic understanding of the aesthetic being employed, how on earth do they expect to best communicate their ends?
I WISH our church’s praise team looked like one of these. At least they all have live music…we’re not there yet…