{"id":1099,"date":"2018-03-22T13:20:43","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T18:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/?p=1099"},"modified":"2018-03-22T13:21:53","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T18:21:53","slug":"what-is-performance-and-what-is-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/2018\/03\/22\/what-is-performance-and-what-is-worship\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u00a0Is Performance and What Is Worship?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0few\u00a0members have commented about the contemporary service\u00a0being\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cPerformance\u201d or \u201cProduction\u201d\u00a0rather than\u00a0\u201creal\u201d\u00a0worship.\u00a0\u00a0If you\u00a0visit\u00a0an\u00a0auditorium style church, you\u2019ll see a true performance, with\u00a0great production values.\u00a0\u00a0They have\u00a0concert hall\u00a0seating, refreshments, huge projection screens, slick production\u00a0values\u00a0by\u00a0video\u00a0crews, pyrotechnics, dancers,\u00a0and\u00a0professional musicians with sophisticated rock\u00a0concert sound\u00a0equipment.\u00a0 Many\u00a0even\u00a0have\u00a0synchronized \u2018click\u2019 tones in earpieces for perfect timing\u00a0for\u00a0playing and singing of\u00a0songs.\u00a0\u00a0And\u00a0they may have\u00a0a service leader who\u2019s part game show host, part evangelist and perhaps even part faith healer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you go to their you tube\u00a0channel,\u00a0you\u2019ll see slickly made videos every bit as good as those made by rock stars.\u00a0 To those churches, it is indeed a performance\u00a0and production\u2014they believe it\u2019s the best way to reach those that attend their services.\u00a0\u00a0There are young church goers\u00a0who\u00a0are\u00a0eager to be entertained\u00a0in that manner.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s what they are used to seeing on their phones and tablets\u2014and\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0concerts they attend.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The performance style is the extreme opposite of\u00a0a\u00a0traditional service.\u00a0 So where does that place\u00a0our contemporary worship service?\u00a0 Almost in between, but\u00a0much\u00a0closer to traditional than performance.\u00a0 Our contemporary worship keeps the best of Lutheran worship and theology while providing current and relevant worship music for those seeking an alternative to\u00a0the\u00a0traditional worship styles.\u00a0 Martin Luther took tunes from\u00a0\u201cYe Old Tavern\u201d\u00a0(Bar tunes) and replaced the words with Lutheran theological worship\u00a0lyrics.\u00a0\u00a0Thus, he created\u00a0new contemporary style of songs, for the times.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While our contemporary service has more songs and they are not from the green hymnal, it\u2019s not performance art.\u00a0 Our singers and musicians have a passion for Lutheran worship\u2014and contemporary Christian music.\u00a0 Our service still has readings, it still has communion, the same prayers, sermon, etc.\u00a0\u00a0 We keep a confession, prayer of the day, offering prayer,\u00a0Apostles\u2019\u00a0creed but in song format and we even sing the Lord\u2019s prayer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s just presented in a different way\u2014an\u00a0upbeat way\u00a0that some seek\u2014than a traditional service.\u00a0 It\u2019s done that way\u00a0to help attract younger people and families to\u00a0church.\u00a0\u00a0Did you know that when\u00a0Beethoven\u00a0was playing music in the churches, he attracted people to the church to hear his\u00a0music?\u00a0 His music was contemporary then but today it is\u00a0not,\u00a0and\u00a0not even traditional.\u00a0 It could be more considered at this time, classical.\u00a0 The age of the music and those who\u00a0listen to\u00a0it, helps determine, contemporary, traditional or classical.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also heard,\u00a0\u201cwe\u2019re Lutherans and we just don\u2019t do worship that way.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The reality is,\u00a0Lutheran\u00a0churches\u00a0are\u00a0offering\u00a0contemporary services, in ever growing numbers.\u00a0\u00a0And some newer ELCA churches do not have any\u00a0fully\u00a0traditional service at all.\u00a0 They offer a\u00a0\u2018classic\u2019 service\u00a0(blended service leaning towards contemporary), and a full contemporary service.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not\u00a0only our\u00a0church\u00a0wrestling with change\u2014just about every\u00a0denomination\u00a0that has long been traditionally based\u00a0is facing the same issue.\u00a0 Many are meeting\u00a0the\u00a0challenge of change and being\u00a0VERY successful.\u00a0\u00a0We can endure our sufferings as we change.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFor we, through this severe suffering and endurance, shall have the prize of virtue and shall be with God, on whose account we suffer\u201d\u00a0(4 Mac 9:8\u00a0NRSV)\u00a0\u00a0But it takes time, perseverance\u00a0and faith.\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\u2026\u00a0we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;\u00a0<\/span>\u202f<\/span>perseverance, character; and character, hope.\u00a0\u202f<\/span>And hope does not put us to shame, because God\u2019s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.\u201d\u00a0(Ro 5:3\u20135 NIV)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0It is not easy to change\u00a0but we can do it!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like many\u00a0churches, First Lutheran depends on its older members for so much.\u00a0 We (hey, I\u2019m 65, after all, so I count myself in the \u2018We\u2019 group) volunteer for more things and attend church regularly.\u00a0 We tend to give more of our time, donations and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But we ARE getting older.\u00a0 And for our church to survive\u00a0after we leave,\u00a0perhaps in retirement or\u00a0eventually\u00a0to meet our friends in heaven\u00a0we need to reach out to surrounding communities, our friends and neighbors and be the best disciples and ministers we can be.\u00a0\u00a0And embrace change.\u00a0 Right now!\u00a0 We cannot keep doing what we have always done but we must do something different.\u00a0 We must do something that encourages others to be part of God\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 We need to provide something that meets people where they are at, so they can hear the gospel, now, rather than later.\u00a0 Thereby making disciples of all nations.\u00a0 Discipleship leads to membership, not the other way around.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To\u00a0bring\u00a0a\u00a0new generation of\u00a0people into our church,\u00a0we need to offer them the best worship experience we can\u2014and in more ways than just the traditional.\u00a0 We won\u2019t give them \u201cPerformance\u201d art in a huge, impersonal auditorium.\u00a0 But we WILL give them two choices of meaningful worship services, richly steeped in Lutheran theology and practices\u2026and let them decide which is right for THEM.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

J.R. Reider, Contemporary Music Leader\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0few\u00a0members have commented about the contemporary service\u00a0being\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cPerformance\u201d or \u201cProduction\u201d\u00a0rather than\u00a0\u201creal\u201d\u00a0worship.\u00a0\u00a0If you\u00a0visit\u00a0an\u00a0auditorium style church, you\u2019ll see a true performance, with\u00a0great production values.\u00a0\u00a0They have\u00a0concert hall\u00a0seating, refreshments, huge projection screens, slick production\u00a0values\u00a0by\u00a0video\u00a0crews, pyrotechnics, dancers,\u00a0and\u00a0professional musicians with sophisticated rock\u00a0concert sound\u00a0equipment.\u00a0 Many\u00a0even\u00a0have\u00a0synchronized \u2018click\u2019 tones in earpieces for perfect timing\u00a0for\u00a0playing and singing of\u00a0songs.\u00a0\u00a0And\u00a0they may have\u00a0a service leader who\u2019s part game show […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,33,20,9,52,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemporary","category-lutheran","category-reflection","category-tradition","category-traditional","category-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8agoY-hJ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1099"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1101,"href":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099\/revisions\/1101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flcssc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}