tinytim--you make some HUGE assumptions. Not everyone who PREFERS hymns believes they cannot worship if the music is P & W or CCM.
We seem to be back to the same old tired argument--that if you like CCM and insist on it you are just being hip and with it, and if you don't--well, you are judgmental and an idol worshipper. (And of course, if young people won't come if we just do hymns they ARE insisting on having their way.)
My personal opinion is that there is NO type of music that is BETTER than the other, musically speaking. Lyrically, each piece must be judged for it's content whether old or new.
And surely putting the needs and yes, plain old desires, of others first has some merit.
So it would seem to me the place to start is to actually poll the congregation and listen to what they say. Choose accordingly.
But here is what I have seen happen:
Smallish, stable, older traditional congregation needs a minister. They call one and he comes. He soon realizes 1. not gonna be any raises in pay unless the church grows. 2. there are a whole lotta lost people in the community. 3. there is not a 'hip' church around and there are a lot of younger Christians in other churches in the community.
He soon realizes that by providing the CCM music his church can attract those younger folks from the other churches. That will solve issue 1 above AND hopefully provide a good base to tackle issue 2.
So far so good. (For him, not for those other churches.)
His church begins to grow and the people support him at first. But as time passes, those with that church from the beginning begin to miss what made church church for them.
Now he faces two choices: 1. He can find a way to minister musically to ALL the people in his church or 2. He can lose some of them.
I've seen pastors chose 1 above. Some do it by having two services, one contemporary and one traditional. Some do a truly blended service (not all hymns and one chorus or all CCM except for one hymn). Some do theme services, where the first Sunday of the month is all CCM, the second hymns, etc.
This works well, the body grows, the lost are saved, and this church grows numerically.
I've also seen pastors choose to let the original base of the church know that their wants and needs don't count. Those folks soon find another place to worship, and the mudslinging begins. Why? Because often those folks were in the place in life where their tithes and offerings are at their largest. Younger folks and oldsters may have lower incomes, making their contributions lower. They cannot support the church without the hymnlovers. Those leaving are called all manner of names, and accused of not loving the Lord or not staying "where God put them." Truth is, God may put you in Amarillo but that doesn't mean you can only attend one church there. Those folks leaving are often hurting, feeling they have been victims of a church stolen out from under them.
But I have also seen something very beautiful. I have seen a young pastor, convinced the town needed the more modern or youth oriented style of church, plant one instead of "stealing" one. I am watching now as those of the traditional persuasion are doing the same thing in this town.
And it is a beautiful thing indeed to watch Christians who certainly recognize their considerable differences work together and cooperate instead of compete and complain.
I've put up with a lot of stuff on this board - but this one's over the line TIM! :laugh: (I type as I am setting my banjo aside).
