Contemporary religious music
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- A. Historical Overview: 1. Beginnings: Charismatic Renewal and Charismatic worship
- 2. Musical Changes in the church: Move 1: 1960s – 2,000
- 3. Move 2: 2000: Diversity and Authenticity.
- B. Uniting Dynamics
- C. The Tensions Within
- A Way Forward
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CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS MUSIC DR. TAN SOOI LING
In 1967, the charismatic renewal began at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA). Students a powerful and transforming experience, which came to be known as “the baptism in the Spirit.” This later quickly spread to other campuses and regular parishes in the Catholic community. 30,000 students gathered at the Notre Dame campus in Indiana in the mid-1970s. In England, renewal swept the Anglican movement through leaders such as Harper, David Watson and David Pytches seeing the formation of groups like Soul Survivors. In 1970 the Methodist charismatics formed Dunamis Renewal Group.
In Asia, In the early 1970s in Singapore, high school students gathered for prayer at The Anglo-Chinese School clock tower at Barker Road and experienced what they described as a “move of God,” “the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,” “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” In Malaysia, my friends and I in University Malaya had this same experience. I saw drug addicts, gang members, rich kids, Hindus, Buddhists and agnostics experience God’s grace in a vibrant way. Integral in the charismatic renewal was the use of praise choruses, simple pop-styled songs, during worship services. Within a decade, aspects of this worship had penetrated into nearly every circle of the universal church body. From these simple beginnings, “charismatic” worship evolved into what is now known as contemporary worship music. Contemporary Christian music, the term I am using, includes contemporary worship music and Christian performance music. 2. Musical Changes in the church: Move 1: 1960s – 2,000 Musical Change with Bill and Dana Gaither: In the United States during the 1960s, early testimonial songs of Bill and Dana Gaither in the 1960s such as, “He touched me” and “Because He lives” touched lives and introduced people to new genre of music in church. The style was southern gospel music (mixture of country, gospel and bluegrass of white people in the south). It was down-to-earth, more folk and country.
Jesus Music: Paralleling this was the rise of the Jesus movement in the 1970s. In the United States, this was a turbulent era of protests over the Vietnam war and the developing of the civil rights movement. Protest music in the form of rock to urban folk ballads by Bob Dylan (blowing in the wind), Joe Crocker was popular. So was Woodstock. Jesus music, also known as the gospel beat music in the UK began with some hippie and street musicians in the late 1960s and early 1970s who converted to Christianity. They continued to play the same style of music they had played previously but began to write lyrics with a Christian message. Example: Barry McGuire, Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary, Andre Crouch, Keith Green. The prevalent theology of the 1960s-early 1980s was:
Calvary Chapel: In Calvary Chapel, a church in Costa Mesa, California, pastor Chuck Smith took on a young hippie named Lonnie Frisbee as a missionary to the youth in Orange County. By the middle of 1978, the church was filled with barefoot, blue-jean-wearing kids, and dozens of hippies and teenage runaways inhabited a string of communal homes like the House of Miracles and Mansion Messiah. At that time music was still traditional gospel songs and hymns. But in these communal Jesus houses, a new spontaneous musical movement was emerging. “People were making up new songs all the time.” Guitars and these homegrown songs were introduced. The new church music, which was simple, melodic, heavily reliant upon scripture for its lyrics was key to attraction. It was worship marked by simplicity and informality. An example is the song “Seek ye first.” This song was written by Karen Lafferty, a musician who left her lucrative job singing at diners to serve God. As she struggled financially, she went home after a bible study and applied a tune to the words of Matthew 6:33. This song became a major hit at Calvary Chapel and spread to Jesus people homes, coffee houses, fellowships, all across the country. By mid 1970s, it had come to mainstream evangelical congregations.
Grassroots musicians evolved into professional songwriters and worship leaders and this saw the beginning of the Christian recording industry. For example: Maranatha Music emerged out of Calvary Chapel and Hosanna-Integrity music under Don Moen featuring songs like: Give thanks (Don Moen) 1986; and Forever Grateful (Martin Nystrom) 1988.
Ken Gulliksen planted the first Vineyard church in 1975 in Hollywood. John Wimber was the most famous name. Worship in the Vineyard emphasized simplicity and intimacy with God. Twenty-five years later, there are more than 1,500 Vineyard churches worldwide, 550 in the US. Vineyard introduced songs such as, “Come now is the time to worship”, “Spirit Song” (John Wimber), Change my heart O Lord. UK: Graham Kendrick, Worship Together Across the pond in the U.K. churches were embracing the music of Graham Kendrick’s recordings. Kendrick, the author of songs such as “Shine, Jesus Shine,” “Meekness and Majesty”, “The Servant King,” paved the way for other U.K. worship ministries. The entire Worship Together family of albums and artists; the music of Delirious, Passion, Matt Redman and many others all originate in the wake of Kendrick’s influence. Australia: Hillsongs Travel round the world and you will congregations singing, “Shout to the Lord” and “Mighty to Save” all songs written and recorded by Hillsong Australia. Hillsong began with 100 people meeting in a school hall and has grown to 25,000 worshippers across four campus locations and twelve extension services. As a network, Hillsong brand churches are found in London, Kiev, Cape Town, Stockholm, Paris, Moscow, NY city and Konstanz Germany. In music, Since 1988, Hillsong has recorded more than 60 albums, including live worship and kids and youth CDs. They have been distributed in 80 countries and collected more than 30 gold and platinum awards in Australia and the US. 3. Move # 2: 2000: Diversity and Authenticity. There was a move away from the “big worship” to embrace simplicity, authenticity, theological soundness in worship.
“We are a small family of artists longing to bring to God an offering that reflects His wonders and glory to the world. We are convinced that worship is much more than music. Worship is all of life. Yet in our music we want to bring all the creative energy God has deposited within us to the table, not so that people will talk about us but they will see Him more clearly and worship in vibrant color.”
B. Uniting Dynamics At this juncture let me suggest four elements that emerge as uniting dynamics. 1. CCM Worship enabled simple expression and unlocked hearts. It was a musical style that connected with people easily, with the use of simple pop-styled songs. The genre of pop music was a softer alternative to rock music and borrowed elements from other styles such as the sentimental ballad, vocal harmonies from soul and gospel, tempo from dance music, backing from electronic music, instrumentation from rock and country music and orchestration from classical music. The music structure is: verse-chorus-bridge with repeated choruses and the focus is on melodies and catchy hooks. The goal of popular music was for pleasure (bubble gum music) rather than artistry. It is also commercially recorded and marketed. (Examples of pop artistes are Osmonds aimed at preteens, country pop singers like John Denver, and adult contemporary pop music stars like Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond.) The one advantage of popular music was that it was able to express the range of human experience such as “I can’t help falling in love”, being “on top of the world,” or “country road, take me home, to the place I belong.” David Garratt explains, “We simply wanted songs directed to God…We also wanted to present the songs in a style and language that would appeal to the ordinary person.” Dave Garratt (Scripture in Song) Darlene Zschech says this of Shout to the Lord: It's “just a song that is easy for people to sing and the words reflect many people's thoughts. It's easy for people to identify with.” 2. CCM enabled honest and authentic expression. For the youth: Bands like Delirious, Soul Survivors and Joel Houston created strong rock-type songs that echoed the music of the youth. Instruments from rock bands are retained: electric bass, rhythm, lead guitars, drums and percussion kit. They strive away from consumerism towards authenticity. This is represented in the slight “rawness” of sound, intensity of performance, dressing that is informal (T-shirts, hair style), and lyrics that were honest. U2 is another example of Christian performance rock music that was decidedly Christian. Dealing with issues of theodicy: Worship songs in CWM also recognizes earthly realities and deals with issues of theodicy, suffering. Blessed be Your Name is such an example. Written in response to 9/11 disaster, the Beth and Matt Redman address the issue of suffering, walking through the wilderness, when the world’s not all “as it should be”, a road marked with suffering. This song theologizes about a God “who gives and takes away” and our response to the grief’s and heartaches that we face in this broken world with its broken realities. This interestingly counters the falsity of the “name it and claim it” beliefs and prosperity theology. These honest musical expressions enable empathetic relationships to be cultivated by listeners and enhance a common shared experience. 3. The emergence of praise as a constitutive act Walter Brueggemann posits that praise (in the book of Psalms) is not merely a responsive act but is a constitutive one and what is being constituted is a theological reality. Brueggemann elaborates that the two primary activities that take place here, are that the forces of ‘world-creating’ and ‘world-destroying’: the creation of God’s reality where God is sovereign and the destruction of the lies and fallacy that debunk that Truth. Tanya Riches, a worship leader and writer from Hillsong explains, “When we begin with a shout of praise, we really felt that it effected a change … a transformation in the atmosphere. In Darlene’s (Zchesch) language, “praise opens people’s hearts to worship and intimacy. The power of that was a reality more than anything else I knew”. In this aspect, text is important. For example, one the one hand, the low text load of simple praise choruses together with their singability enables memorization and ultimately internalization. On the other hand, the high text load of some worship songs and contemporary hymns allow for theologizing of deep truths and sustained teaching. Verses allow for expansion of doctrine or teaching of theological truth, introducing and bringing to a mature conclusion. Tanya Riches adds, “Songs were personal narratives and performed. As I performed it, the narrative becomes my story and could be appropriated. For example Michelle Fragar’s song, “You calm my restlessness”. “After singing that song, I could explain what God had done”. What then are some theological themes that emerge and the subsequent theological realities constituted? The following are three dominant theological themes from the top 10 songs used in worship over the last ten years (taken from CCLI over the last ten years ): a. Sovereignty and Kingship of God. In “How Great is Our God” there is strong descriptive praise of God who is King, clothed in majesty and who is sovereign even over darkness. The illumination of the nature of God expounded in these verses enable the worshipper to internalize these truths and respond to that. “Shout to the Lord” has similar themes with the chorus calling for worshippers to shout to the Lord, power and majesty, praise to the King. The use of merism – (using two contrasting concepts: high and low) Mountains bowing down, seas roaring is indicative of the overarching extent of God’s greatness. Psalm 95. This theological reality is so appropriate in a world where brokenness abounds, where senseless deaths are reported, where wars abound and where injustice dominates. b. God is personal. There is a move from the “us” to the “I”: The genius of “Shout To the Lord” is that while God is sovereign and all-powerful, God is still very personal and immanent. The verse starts off softly with a personal declaration, “My Jesus, my savior, Lord there is none like thee, My Comfort, my shelter” speaks of a Jesus who is immanent and who intervenes on our behalf and protects us. “How Deep the Father’s Love for me” also has this personal, intimate touch that the Father loves His people so much He sent Jesus to die on the cross. Most poignantly, these deep truths are sung, “It was my sin that held him there, Until it was accomplished, His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished”. Such well crafted words that speak of the deep and personal love of God that can touch the very core of a person’s being c. Centrality of the work of Jesus Christ The work of Jesus Christ described in brief (Lord, I lift your name on high) or in detail (In Christ Alone), is reminiscent of the hymn in Philippians 2. The centrality of the work of Jesus, salvation, redemption, sanctification is sung.
Getty describes his philosophy as he writes modern hymns. “It's not converting people to a hymn but confirming them to rich theological truth. That affects music, art and everything beyond it.” 4. The expectation of transcendental efficacy. Songs are sung to effect change. In other words, God by the power of the Holy Spirit is present to transform during the event of worship. Upon analyzing Hillsong texts, Riches identifies seven theological themes of transcendental efficacies: Personal Development, Supernatural Empowerment, Revival, Prosperity, evangelism, presence in suffering, social transformation. In terms of trends she notes:
C. The Tensions Within There are also underlying tensions within the CWM movement. 1. Authenticity vs. performance commercialism The beginnings of CCM, as evidenced in the Jesus movement, were marked not only by the simplicity of worship songs but by a return to a simple lifestyle and authentic communities. However, with the rise of performance bands and commercialism, the criticism of CWM is that the worship and music can be formulaic, focuses on the multisensory and emphasizes ambience (not presence). This tension between authenticity and commercialism is aptly described by Barnett, a worship leader and composer (Holy and Anointed One) from Vineyard says: “I’ve never fit into the polished, worship-leader mold … There’s a tension when it comes to writing music without pretention, yet wondering if I should be attempting to create hook-y songs for the radio. The result is always the same: I can’t pretend to be anyone other than what I am, and this is the music God’s led me to create.” 2. Being personal with God or being focused on the self. (I) Lester Ruth makes this astute comment: “many worship songs are more about us than about God. We praise God for making us feel good and impress on God how much we are singing, clapping, lifting our hands or bowing down.” (Lester Ruth, Asbury Theological Seminary)
Exclusive use of choruses tends to produce a people who have the same depth and spirituality as the music they sing. “The result is a faith, which lacks depth, is simplistic, pleasure oriented, emotionalistic, intellectually weak, undisciplined and prone to the changeability of feelings. The end result of nothing else but chorus singing is immaturity.” (Calvin Johansson in Webber: 201) A Way Forward: In light of the above, let me propose a way forward. I want to work with Constance Cherry’s suggestion of convergence worship in her book “The Worship Architect.” I have however one addition to her suggestion. For Cherry, convergence worship embraces the fullness of worship practices. It incorporates: (a) The contemporary: it values the fresh expression of worship elements appropriate for every age. (b) The historical: it incorporates the richness of worship practices throughout centuries and across denominations. This includes all the elements: prayer forms, scripture reading, sacraments, sermon, Christian fellowship, offering, observing Christian year. I wish to however add a third sector and that is: c) The cultural: This draws from and affirms a community’s cultural and contextual forms of expression. Cultural music as forms of expression include the celtic influence in the music of Keith and Krystin Getty (In Christ Alone), the use of dance and song accompanied by the pulsating rhythms African drumming, the use of Mongolian folk music and instruments in worship, or the Chinese pentatonic scale in Chinese worship songs. When the historical, contextual and contemporary combine, the possibility for the engagement of the worshipers with the presence of God is enhanced. Furthermore, meaningful intersections between these three areas will bring churches and denominations together in a rich celebration of unity in diversity. Yüklə 164,72 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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