Traditional, Contemporary, Contemplative

exscentric
Sorry for the miscommunication. I intended to communicate the following.

Me: "CONTEMPLATIVE music. Sounds like Gregorian chant."
You: "What do you base your comment on, experience of such a service,"
Me: " It's merely an association thing*.
The most famous Gregorian choirs are made up out of monks who belong to CONTEMPLATIVE orders. "

*In my brain that is.

 

Gotcha!

Just wondered if you had been in the contemplative type services. Have been hearing little bits and pieces over past months, wondering what they were as the original poster was.

 

Contemporary gospel music is nothing more than music with a rock beat set to Christian lyrics. The world's beat mixed in with Christianity. Plain and simple.

 

I've been to nothing that was 'advertised' as such.

 

Our church has held a few services that involve
1) candles which usually symbolize being the light of the world
2) allotted time for meditation which is being still before God to hear his voice
3) the absence or minimalizing of singing in worship which may be replaced by simple instrumental songs played by one instrument (ie piano) to minimize distraction during meditation.
4) dimmed lighting and a solemn atmosphere
5) a non-traditional sermon presented as a slideshow of biblical texts mixed with thought provoking images followed by a very short verbal presentation to tie it all together.
6) recitation of the bible or sections of Christian creeds which are generally unfamiliar to our congregation (ie Westministers, London Baptist)
7) congregational response often in the form of symbolically laying something before the cross.

Some may consider those to be contemplative worship. Part of it is rediscovering elements of the rich liturgical tradition of Christian history. Part of it is seeing worship not as a formula that needs to be followed but as a creative response to God with all of our mind, body, soul and spirit.

A majority of our worship services follow a relatively set formula of praise/worship songs with a worship team (drums, guitars, piano), CCM with some hymns and a sermon that I consider to be pretty standard fare among evangelical churches, at least the ones I've visited in Southern Ontario and parts of the US.

Besides scripture, one book that has strongly influenced our pastors in worship is Worship is a Verb by Robert Weber.

[ February 05, 2006, 11:32 AM: Message edited by: Gold Dragon ]

 

But of course...so there's no doubt that the kid that got saved at our church today, didn't REALLY get saved...because there was a drum in the room.

Sheesh.

 

rbell,

no one said anything like that...

so far thats not what this thread has been about.

 

rbell

Actually the contemporary music had nothing to do with the young person being saved at all. Rather it was the preaching of the word of God and the drawing of the Holy Spirit that led to this person's choosing salvation.

This is the fallacy of modern evangelical churches bringing in contemporary music with a rock beat. They think by presenting this form of music in their church will draw more Teens into their church and so abandon the method of preaching the gospel without wordily attractions.

I read in the paper a long time ago where strippers were actually brought into a church to dance, so that more men would attend. And that's the truth! Nothing surprises me anymore.Nothing.

 

We don't call it contemplative either. It is just another service.

 

I believe one of the benefits of what seems to be stereotyped as contemplative worship in this thread is the shift in role of congregation from being passive observer/receiver to active participant/giver. I think it is also beneficial for those who may be uncomfortable with the form because of that active ingredient or simply because it is different from their cultural stereotypes of worship.

I believe another benefit is giving more time in worship for God to speak individually and corporately to people without interference from the "performers" (preacher/worship team) on the stage.

One down side may be a difficulty of those not used to the "free" nature of the meditative time to focus their thoughts on listening to God.