I made an arrangement of “This Is My Father’s Word/How Can We Name A Love” that was done in a pop style. My grandmother who was not too much on the pop sounds, cried when she heard the band do a hymn instead of the the popular worship music.

What matters when the hymns are “updated” in style to todays sound is that they are recognizable to older people. So good albums to listen to are the WOW Hymns and Next Door Savior. Both have taken classic hymns and made them accessible to younger generations.

What I find funny now is when you might do Keith Green or Rich Mullens songs that younger people think the songs are out dated and “old”.

What I have come to understand since leaving a worship leader position is it really is not about HOW we worship ,but WHO we are worshiping. I also feel that this is a natural process as we move from just being “fans” of Jesus to being IN Christ.

If you are concerned about a rift in the church you are in, DON’T be. It’s been my experience that the Lord will do something with this. After I left the church that I grew up in and helped to develop a “younger” worship, the church started to look at the neighborhood and is starting to come out of it’s shell. It’s a slow process since most of the people are over the age of 50.

The “worship wars” I really do believe are the symptom of a frightened people who need to know Christ. That is one of the reasons I left the Methodist church to follow Jesus.

We’ve been fighting the same type of battle for the past 10 years, and can’t seem to get past it. We’re the traditional congregation working in some ‘contemporary’ elements. If I work in too many hymns, the contemporary constituency gets mad. If I don’t work in enough hymns, the traditional constituency gets mad. The focus of selecting music for a worship service for me has shifted from worship to making sure everyone will be happy. Both sides say the other side needs to realize worship isn’t about them, but neither side realize they’re totally making about themselves.

Like you said, so many people care about how we worship for 1 hour during the week and put so much focus on that 1 hour, and don’t worry at all about how spiritual growth and development happens the other 167 hours of the week. Fighting the same battle over and over just gets tiring after awhile.

Could it be the “younger” congregation would benefit from learning the stories behind the song? For example, would “It is Well” be more powerful if the story of Horatio Spafford? He wrote the song after losing his four children who died as they were traveling across the Atlantic ocean to visit a European country that I forget at the moment?

It is an incredibly touching song about a faithfulness through difficult personal circumstances – something that most people can relate to. Perhaps it is helpful if the story is told.

And I enjoyed the song.

Glad you liked it Jason I know many did, just felt many did not at the same time.

I would say the hard balance in that is many have heard the story behind the song so many times. Is it important for the few who haven’t to hear it for the first time while many others hear it again?

I hear you Jeff, I hear you. It’s a tough battle but one worth engaging in.

I know you’re going to be shocked that I’m chiming in on this one … First of all, I noticed that we did 3 hymns and LOVED it. In this particular case, while I think the band did a great job on Sunday … It Is Well was weak. It was not piano driven, but keyboard (organ-ish) only with a bass line (from the bass player) that was too loud so that the melody was hard to hear. There could be other reasons that people were not joining in as much: not being familiar with the song and having to fight to hear the melody or because the song is one that many know and is filled with emotion for those who know the song. I stood behind the Day family … and watched them not singing as tears poured down their faces … absorbing the truth of singing it in the face of what is happening this week in their family. And as this hymn is often sung at funerals, it is one that brings back powerful memories. I think we are just part of the problem when we say it is the style of music that keeps people from singing a certain song. The message of It Is Well and the story behind it … is one that everyone should know and embrace regardless of their age because it contains powerful truth. I know my teenagers were singing along. I think the separate styles at our services has done more to encourage division in our church than anything else, and hope that you will continue to make them both blended services. Perhaps taking the time occasionally to share the story behind the hymn writer and the hymn might help a new generation connect with songs regardless of the style.

I am totally shocked

Trust me when I say the multiple formats at our church is something we discuss almost every week. There is no perfect way to do church and please everyone. And really it should be that way. If church becomes more about pleasing us we’ve probably missed the point.

Fair point on how we played the hymn. We wanted it to be vocally driven and in the 9 we had a few more instruments to carry the melody than we did in the 11.

Any advice on how worship leaders can get above the worship wars? Is there a formula that has worked for you or is it more relationship driven with people?

Yes, I do think it is good to share and re-share these stories from time to time. The worst thing that could happen is a person is reminded of an incredible faith.

I think the potential benefit of sharing the story outweighs the negatives, with the possibility of more people worshiping God in awe and wonder.

Just my two-cents.

Tyler, I’m not a worship leader, but I have played in worship teams for years. I say that because I haven’t dealt head-on with the issues that you describe, but I have been on the periphery of those discussions. My first reaction in reading your piece was: Have you (Sunset) had these discussions with the congregation as a whole? Is it something where you can say (in a fashion far gentler than I could), “Worship styles are subjectively perceived, but here’s the heart behind what we want to do on Sunday, and we hope it will lead you into a richer worship experience throughout the week.” I also love Jason’s suggestion to delve into the meaning behind the songs. All that said, I have to agree with Amy — my experience at a church that did a “traditional” service and a “contemporary” service is that it led to a fair amount of division within the body, and it took about five years before it felt like one again.

Just to clarify that last sentence, my church eventually went back to one style of service, but even then it took a while (along with some economically-driven staff changes) to get everyone on the same page.

Many people care more about how we worship than who we’re worshiping. And that’s a very sad thing.

^THIS – it’s incredible how something that’s supposed to be about God gets disengaged from because we don’t like it.

I feel that it needs more cowbell.