Why Older People Don't Enjoy Modern Church Music
Comfort Levels and a Generational Difference May Partly Explain the Problem
The discussion about music involved the hymns the congregation sang during Sunday morning worship. The feeling of one of the instrumentalists was that we had to begin to incorporate more contemporary music into the worship service because the old hymns were "old" and "not exciting" and did not appeal to the younger members of the congregation. Within the next couple of weeks, we changed to a combination of traditional and contemporary. We introduced the new songs carefully and tried to make sure that we didn't use songs that would be completely beyond the ability of the people to sing them. I don't recall hearing many complaints from members of the congregation.
My wife and I now belong to a congregation in Minneapolis that has a praise band that includes drums, guitars, an electronic keyboard, and other instruments as appropriate. The Sunday morning music combines traditional hymns with contemporary choruses and songs.
Unlike the members of the congregation in Iowa, the older members of the Minneapolis congregation have expressed their dissatisfaction many times with regard to the contemporary music.
They have two basic complaints:
They are not comfortable with the New Music. That's not surprising. When someone grows up in the church and has been part of a congregation for 50 or 60 years or more, and have sung the "good old gospel songs" for most of those years, it's not surprising that they don't feel comfortable with contemporary worship songs. If nothing else, the tunes are unfamiliar. In our congregation, the words of the songs are projected onto a screen, but not the music. Our congregation pays for the right to copy the words of contemporary songs because the songs are not in our hymnbooks. As a result, there's no way for someone to learn the tunes except by hearing them sung several times. That's not easy with some of the new songs. It's no wonder that older people-and some younger ones-don't enjoy the new songs in the same way they enjoy the traditional ones. For some of these older people, worship itself has become less satisfying or helpful.
The New Music doesn't seem to "move" anywhere. One of the complaints I've heard is how the praise team leader will have the congregation repeat the same verse or chorus several times in a row. "After I've sung it once, I'm ready to move on to another verse," is the underlying sentiment of some members. "Why do we have to keep repeating it?"
It occurred to me the other day that the difference in church music preferences may reflect a generational difference between older people and younger people that goes beyond a difference in musical tastes. The younger people seem content to worship "in the moment" or "in the NOW." Older people want a flow to their singing. If a hymn has four verses, all the verses should be sung because the verses are moving to a conclusion. To sing verses 1, 2, and 4, is to leave out an important part of the content and to destroy the progression of the song. I don't know if many older people think in terms of progression and content, but I do know that they think of "being stuck" in one place as they sing some of the modern songs.
Related to a possible generational difference is a growing disinterest in the past on the part of younger people. The past is past and whatever was important in the past is no longer important now. Older people have a strong tie to the past and its traditions that younger people do not have. The ease with which younger people move not only from congregation to congregation, but also from denomination to denomination, merely accentuates the gap between old and young. The members of a particular congregation may have less and less history and tradition to share in common.
What's the solution? First, the congregation has to be sensitive to the needs of all of its members, including the older members who have been the backbone of the congregation for many years. Combining traditional hymns with contemporary worship songs is one way to show that sensitivity. Second, older people need to accept the fact that they, as one of our older worship participants has put it, "have had their turn." Now it's time to reach out to younger people.
The bottom line is that worship is not about me or anyone else: worship is about God and about letting God be real to those in the congregation. If that means a change of music, then the music will have to change.
Published by Bible Doc
I am a (mostly) retired minister. I spent a few years teaching Bible courses in a Christian school. One of my goals is to write. I see Associated Content as a step toward fulfilling that goal. View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentUse scripture to exort:
Ps 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. (KJV)
Ps 40:3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. (KJV)
Ps 96:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song : sing unto the LORD, all the earth. (KJV)
...and many MORE - do a search for "new song" and you will find many. Then, do a search for "complaints about the new hymn letters" - you will find there is nothing new under the sun. People complained about "Just As I Am" when it was first introduced to a congregation. The Lord commands us to sing a new song unto Him!
As a former church musician who has had the pleasure of working in a variety of churches featuring both contemporary and traditional styles I would like to add my comments. The one point that seems to be missing from this discussion is the simple elementary fact that contemporary music is sometimes boring because the melody lines are often unimaginative, and there is very little harmony and when it does occur it is usually predictable or bland. Additionally, to repeat a chorus over and over that is musically weak and boring is mind-numbing not worshipful. The older generation has a point that it is hard to learn a song without any written music. I think that contemporary services should feature the words AND music on the overhead screens. I have noticed that contemporary and traditional music styles work best when they are combined in one service. Yes, the older generation needs to recognize that times have changed and the younger generation enjoys something else - BUT the younge
Great article! My father is the Music Minister at our church and we have heard every complaint you listed above--along with several others as we have implemented a blended worship service. I totally agree that both "sides" need to think about the other. There are benefits to both types of music, but as you said, it all boils down to the words. Worship is not about the music--it is about the message from the heart. I am 23 and enjoy the contemporary music as well as some of the hymns. The older generation tends to complain about the repetition in a song--they get bored apparently, but I feel the exact opposite. Repeating a phrase is a form of meditation--you are taking the time to really think about the concept rather than rushing from one topic to the next as in so many of the hymns. After singing 4 verses of a hymn, I often do not even know what I just said.
But, I still feel that it is terribly sad that Christians often seem to be more worried about arguing about the type of songs
Personally, I don't like much of the contemporary Christian music I hear. I like good, strong words that mean something, and so many of the songs I hear in church have such insipid, forgetable lyrics and inspid, forgetable tunes. And that doesn't mean I want organs or anything like that - Phil Keaggy, for example, does a ROCKIN' version of "Be Thou My Vision" that had me on my feet when I first heard it.
So much of the music I hear on Sunday reminds me of white sugar. It gives you a momentary rush if you like that sort of thing, but it won't stay with you or sustain you over the long haul. I can't hold the tunes of the "new" music in my head longer than a few minutes after hearing it; powerful lyrics, on the other hand, stay with me all day.
It's not just older worshipers who feel this way - I'm in my 30s.
We have been very blessed that our older members have been very willing to allow the contemporary music. We also have a praise band with guitars, drums, etc. We try to incorporate the hymns with the newer songs, but it is difficult to get a good blend of the two and still keep the flow of the music/worship time. I agree with your statement that it is all about GOD and not about us and what we think it should be.
I like both traditional and contemporary music. It's good when we can have music that appeals to the young teens and help keep them in church. I am catholic and some of the complaints that I hear is that the music is changing too much for a Catholic Church; too much contemporary songs and sometimes there is clapping through some songs. Some people feels it should go back to only traditional Caholic music. A good write.
Great article and a great subject. I like your analysis about the difference between progressivist thinking and the post-modern experiential thinking and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. Personally, I don't even like most 'modern' worship music - it just doesn't seem to help me scratch where I itch. Nonetheless, if it works for most people, who am I to stop them? (Plus, I don't think what does work best for me would work best for very many other people in most churches anyway, so I'm content).
Very good analysis. I think this has happened in all churches. The last paragraph says it all.
Excellent article. Very well-written. This is so true, because my wife and I have seen this happening in our church, and it is still happening today. It has been terribly frustrating, especially to people like us who enjoy both the traditional and contemporary songs. Our worship team has worked hard (and continues to do so) to provide a music program that will be a blessing to congregation members of all ages. Great work, Doc!