What If?

I'm almost through reading a book called Who Stole My Church. It's a fictional account of a church in New England struggling to move into the 21st Century. As a staff member at a church in New England, it's been astonishing to read the many similarities between this fictional church and the church I work at.

One of the issues detailed in the book highlights the internal "worship wars" many churches are entrenched in today. Typically, the disputes about worship (music) are drawn along generational lines. In the book, and in my church as well, the older folks prefer singing out of the hymnal and appreciate organ accompaniment. On the other hand, the younger generations gravitate toward "contemporary" music with varied instrumentation that includes guitars, keyboards, drums, and lead vocalists. Although some churches have successfully integrated traditional/contemporary musical styles, most churches in my opinion, remain divided along generational lines.

In my experience, however, I have witnessed how one particular tradition of worship music has transcended the generational divide. I see this happening in the music of gospel choirs. Formerly only a part of the African religious experience, gospel choirs have been embraced by Anglo and multicultural faith communities. Not only are gospel choirs blurring racial lines, they are also reconciling the generational gaps that persist in so many Christian communities.

What if more churches trying to preserve the traditional choir/hymnal musical shifted to a more gospel style of worship music? What would happen if my church's choir abandoned songs like As the Deer Panteth For the Water, and adapted to singing songs like Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus?

To give example to what I'm envisioning, here's a video of my alma mater, Seattle Pacific's gospel choir:



And just for fun, here's an old video from when U2 collaborated with a gospel choir at a church in Harlem. Kind of a low-quality video, but by far the greatest rendition of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For I've ever heard.