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How many years can we still call a particular style “contemporary,” without it changing much? The great gift that “contemporary” worship, and what is commonly known as praise music, gave us Generation X’ers and Y’ers is the realization that there are options out there. We have found praise music (worship music led by guitar and/or a band using flowing seventies melodies) to be very liberating when we first heard them in a camp setting. It was a style of music we could call our own, and when we participated in leading that style of music while in high school and into college, it gave us a sense of connection back to that camp community. It was our brand of music. Not our parents’ (or, not all of our parents’). It was a gift that the evangelical portion of the church, particularly the Cursillio community and leaders at our camp gave us to help search for an authentic expression. We could go on singing the praises of praise music, except we can’t go on for long with much integrity.
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There came a point when we started paying close attention to what we were singing in those praise songs, and comparing the lyrics to what we were singing in our traditional hymns. It became clear that the rich metaphors and mystery found in the hymns drew us closer to a clearer understanding of the vastness of God, and a broader understanding of our relationship with God. One drawback of “contemporary” music, from our perspective, is that the theology tends to be narrowly focused (Jesus suffered, I benefit) instead of the wide variety of understandings in the relationship between God and humanity found in the story of Scripture, not to mention our full year of seasons. Another drawback is that some of the music carries undertones of unconscious/repressed sexuality. Sexuality and spirituality may go hand in hand, and we stand with the tradition of Solomon, that the sexual and romantic metaphor can be an approach to understanding the desire of our hearts, i.e. to be in communion with God. But that theme should be explored honestly and openly. Some of the lines in praise songs hint at frustrations needing to be expressed in another venue.
So, if “contemporary Christian music” is not the only way to sing to God, what do we have to offer the church instead? We have been given the gift in “contemporary” music: the opening of a door to new expressions. We have the gift of our traditional hymns, and the more recent collections published in the church. Now, what do we do with those?
Some interesting explorations are taking place at churches doing a “Jazz Mass.” In these settings the musicians will take a hymn, set it to a jazz style, and produce a new and interesting sound. At each of our ordination to the priesthood liturgies, we used the traditional “Litany of Ordinations” chant, but supported the cantor with a djembe drum to make the chant more dynamic. There are several examples of taking traditional texts such as a psalm and setting it to pop music, such as Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Many churches have explored using different instrumentation on hymns like “Open your hearts of faithful people,” set to drum and mandolin. A favorite song by many from the praise movement is “We are one in the spirit.” Recent exploration with that song using only percussion to support a capella voices, gives it a renewed, moving feel.
So, what is beyond contemporary? Perhaps it is daring to think inside the box. We have a treasury of music within our tradition which, with a little work and creativity can become new again. One of the gifts of postmodernism is the opportunity to look at all that has come before, and consider it in our new context. We have the authority to be creative with our tradition. We in the Episcopal tradition tend to sing hymns that are community focused, theologically grounded in the Trinity, incarnational, and beautiful.
This year at the Young Adult Festival during General Convention, we will continue to test the waters, wading back into the treasury of liturgy and music passed down to us, and considering how we might experience it anew in our 21st century context. We have been given these gifts, let’s dust them off and remember how wonderful they are, instead of feigning boredom and wandering off for greener pastures.
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