i remember when i first heard 'eleanor rigby' - i was stunned by it. the strings, the harmonies, the refrain - 'ah, look at all the lonely people'. magnificent. and lots of messages in the lyrics - about writing sermons that no one will hear, no one was saved...quite a comment on those of us who say we follow christ. what are we doing for the eleanor rigbys in our churches and communities? yet the bible says we encounter christ himself when we help them. that is a missing jewel of our worship.

It's like what Paul McCartney said about the key to success... "find what it is you love and never stop doing it." Being creative should be the most naturally supernatural expression of mankind. It takes religion to make it a chore. My aren't I chatty today!

it all means we have to put some hard work in. we have to be creative.

I thought about this some more... There has been so much musical restraint and resistance in the church world over the past 50 or so years that the pure expression of creativity was forced outside the walls of the church. God's redemptive keys have had to surfaced in (pardon the expression) secular culture. at some point we had to be taught instead of being the teacher. The lines are being blurred and God will speak whether it's through Coldplay, U2 or linken Park. At some point the child must grow up, take ownership of the family business and 'man up" so to speak. I remain optimistic.

Great point Clive! As a student of history you know that a few hundred years ago the trendsetters in art, music and thought came from the church which in turn was copied by the world. At some point in the journey it inverted and we became lazy copycats (and not very good ones at that). We have prophesied from the mountaintops "new songs, new rythms, etc." There have been some shining lights here and there but for the most part the innovators have been asleep.

it seems to be left to a few influential people to decide on what the consensus is about musical styles. so for years, mainstream radio shows dictated to us what we should be listening to, and bleeped out or banned the bits we should not be listening to. so the church followed a similar path. 'well, if it's on the radio, it must be right' - that kind of mindset made us into musical sheep! so in the church, a particular sound becomes 'anointed', and everyone copies it because that's where 'the anointing' is. eric clapton said that in his cream days, he dressed and wore his hair like jimi hendrix, in a desperate bid to play like him. if we're not careful, we can be doing just the same in the christian community. so don't wear flowery shirts! :-)

This is very challenging. sometimes all it takes is the question to spark the thought process. I have thought about this since you first brought it up. If you are openly uncomfortable then it must represent hundreds who have not spoken out yet. our need to "camp out" in a comfortable place i.e. pop praise, should be an immediate warning sign. Our short sided linear thinking strikes again. By the way... Rich Hubbard says hello.

perhaps we have been so pleased with ourselves that we evangelicals supposedly 'uncovered' the mystery of God in Christ, that we have forgotten there are other mysteries about God and his universe that we have yet to explore. so the truth - as we perceive it - becomes sweetly distilled into 'pop praise' and we are all meant to be content with that.

I think that the problem stems from a mindset that is more about arrangement and tempo than message and content. If I understand the pomo mindset at all then the goal is experiencing the truth and power of God's presence not just a clever list. In my own humble experience I have found that some of my older stuff is being revived among the 20's and 30's group because of it's pure content and spirit, even with it's extremely dated recordings. My prayer for writers and lead worshippers everywhere is the word that I recieved to... "write songs that express the heart of the Father and our heart to Him in words that people haven't been able to form for themselves".

forgive me if this sounds like 'grumpy old man' talk, but we may have reached the limit to what we can do with the 'chart song' format in worship. i still see much value in that form to provoke thought and to lift us a little in our daily lives - to get God onto the radio. but at some stage we will have to sit down and talk (maybe through this web portal) and decide where we really want to go with it all. the archangel michael slaughtered demons to the sound of heavenly choirs. somehow i think 'i really really wanna wanna' might not be enough to convey this great mystery to the postmodern world. and yet, in the simplicity that we are talking about, we also find depth and reality. any suggestions anyone? my heart is impoverished with the sound of 'pop praise'!

one more thing... I agree with Noel! I have found (as of late) how rewarding it is to simply worship alone with just a keyboard. It was what we started with and it is what is the core of who we are... a worshipper.

I am jealous of the ability to go hear all these diverse types of musical expression. You are so blessed to be in a culture that not only honors but practices historical expressions as well as the cutting edge. The "Chant"... that is one of the most moving experiences I have ever heard! Simplicity is essential most of the time. However, I am amazed at how quickly our young people can quote word for word the latest rap song (after one or two listens), or how quickly we remember all the words to "Bohemian Rhapsody". Skill in writing lyrical content has alot to do with it also. Perhaps if we raise the bar a bit we might find people will surprise us.To quote a line from "Across the Universe" "Surely it's not what we do but how we do it."

I hope loads of musicians read that Clive.
Let's have worship songs that are easy to sing along with.

Let's look at the ingredients we need for communal worship: easy-to-sing melody and simple lyrics - with a basic backing so our voices aren't drowned out by guitar solos and Hendrix-style feedback (good as that is). It's common sense, really. If you're writing a worship song you want communities to sing, steer clear of tricky tunes that demand the skills of virtuoso musicians and opera singers. If I go to a concert, I expect a concert. If I go to church, I expect church - not yet another concert. I want something more than that.

Alex.....thanks for writing. Good to hear that you are not locked in to the 'soft rock' style. I made a general statement, based on the majority of what I see in a lot of churches, as I travel around. I have been enjoying leading with just an acoustic guitar in the last couple of years. However, it took a long time for me to break free of the security of having a keyboard behind me.

Musicality apart, I think there is a lot more creativity that we can expolore in our times of corporate worship. It is so easy to stay in a liturgy that we are comfortable with.

I love The Clash. There's nothing I'd like more than to sing 'London Calling' on a Sunday morning at church. It has an apocalyptic message that would delight the eschatologists among us. However, apart from such genius compositions by the late Joe Strummer, most pop songs are written with romance, not spirituality, in mind. That's why, when Elvis wanted to connect with the divine, he sang spirituals - like the ones you mentioned, Alex. Long live punk!

I'd disagree with bits of what both Noel and Clive have said.
Firstly "we" (our church) definitely are not locked into soft rock and I think the fact that Noel was able to hear Taize proves that not everyone is, even Spring Harvest often has an element of this in the 'alternative worship'.
Whilst Clive is correct in saying the pop format cannot always deliver, the fact is that no format can always deliver. As for Elvis, well, I get more from "It is no secret" and "Peace in the Valley" than any Taize I've ever heard.
Could it all be down to personal taste?

The pop song format is ideal when you want to deliver a short, sharp message. But when it comes to deeply engaging with God, the pop song format cannot always deliver. It's just not designed for that purpose. I'm sure even Elvis would have agreed with that!

I was speaking with someone the other day, who had spent a short time at the Taize community in France. He loves contemporary praise but found this approach to worship tremendous. See: http://www.taize.fr/

I was at a worship conference in Canada last year and a local Taize group led a worship time (Brian Doerksen played with them also). It was wonderful.

I think we have got locked up to the 'soft rock' band approach to modern worship. I would like to see us bring more musical colour and texture into our corporate worship times.

An album is about to hit the charts simply called 'Chant'. I have just spent ten days with the Cistercians, chanting from a psalter. There is something about the plain and simple structure of this worship style, which settles the spirit and refreshes the parts others cannot reach. So how can we restore this missing jewel to contemporary praise? Anyone got any ideas?