Church musicians: how do you cater to a congregation where some want hymns and others want contemporary songs?

Question

Many in our church want to hear hymns played in a simple, hymnlike fashion. Others want contemporary music and they want it played in a loud, out-there manner. Except for a few, both sides are willing to listen to (and participate in) the other sides' music as long as they also hear THEIR music at each service. Unfortunately, those few -- who are exclusively on the loud, out-there side -- are the ones who program the music.

Our music group consists of a pianist (myself), several really good singers (ranging from 2 to 5 on any given Sunday), one or two guitarists, and enough drummers to fill a marching band (we try to keep it to two rhythm section players per service but as you might imagine the loud, out-there people would use all of them at once if they could). I'd say the quality of our music is a solid B+ -- we're pretty good regardless of the style we play in.

Our church is smallish (~200 members), therefore multiple services are not an option.

Any ideas? THANKS!

Answer 1

If multiple services are not an option, all you can do is rotate themes, so every week you give them a different music style. Eventually, the congregation may settle on one style that they think you do best. Otherwise, hey, variety is the spice of life!

Answer 2

I wouldn't do alternating services, one week contemorary and the next traditional. I think you'll find that some people won't attend and will be selecting their attendance based on the music style. The music is actually bridging the gap between generation. You don't want to just do contemporary music and drive away the older membership that desire a more traditional approach. These members are the financial base for the church. However though, you don't want to go all traditional because that would drive away the younger adults and the youth. Without the younger demographic of the church there will be no growth or future for the church. Solution, everyone needs to understand and be willing to compromise for the greater cause. It's easy to understand why each side wants their kind of music. The question is will they be willing to give into "self" so they are not a stumbling block for another persons ability to worship. Remember it's about worshipping our God, not so much the song selection. I would tend to lean toward the contemporary as that is the future. The hymn although are the musical history of the church and deserve a role in even the most contemporary services. Try to mix in hymns in a traditional and contemporary style. Put a hymn in the the worship set or mix it up as a special. At my church we general do hymn in a contemporary style, mostly through instrumentation. We have the flexibility of having a Sunday school time specifically for our "senior saints". At this time our worship minister leads them through several traditional hymns. This gives them a worship environment that they are more comfortable with. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I am not a church musician but I am one that participates in the worship and praise.

We had a problem like this as well. The Youth Pastor that leads, now mixes hymns with the contemporary in all our services. He's a bit on the young side, so he is really into contemporary more.

Some of the newer songs are repetitious but with the hymns, words are so inspiring and uplifting. We also sing more hymns when we have communion because this is a time to reflect. Leaving church on an upswing has been done also.

The best part is our Pastor understands this and has evening praise/worship every now and then with a guitar and piano and we get to select what songs we want to sing. Many pick the old hymns simply because we hardly get to hear the songs of our youth anymore. A mixture is the best.

Answer 4

I'll tell you what you can do with that so-called feel good Christian contemporary music. O.K., so maybe I need to practice a little tolerance here. I'm sorry friend, it's just sort of a touchy subject with me.

But here's what I find so sad about all this. Most of the Protestant Churches now are catering to the "contemporary" crowd. Usually it's two contemporary services on Sunday with a quasi traditional service sandwiched in the middle, and even then at least one contemporary "hymn" is force on the congregation.

I can't believe that this is really happening at even the more fundamental denominations in the area where I live. In fact, I've got a good friend, 15 years my senior, who attends a Bible Church. Now listen to what he [let's call him Mike] tells me. Mike says that at the traditional service you're still obligated to endure the contemporary stuff. But here's the kicker. The song leader is making you stand for the contemporary songs but when it comes to singing one of the really great Christian classics like, "How Great Thou Art," or "Amazing Grace," these are sung half-heartedly on your derriere. What is up with that?

Has anybody really, I mean really taken a good look at the majestic words and true Christian themes conveyed in these priceless gems that will more than likely be carried over to eternity? They're second in praise and thankgiving only to the Psalms of the Old Testament.

Answer 5

I may be wrong but it seems that your church is forgetting one thing: "It is all about Jesus", whether it is hymns or contemporary Praise and Worship music.
There has to be a compromise, even if it means singing Amazing Grace with drums, electric guitar, all 5 singers, and piano.

Are there alot of older people in your church?

In my church the majority is the younger set. Ever so often we sing hymns that the older set wants to hear. There are older people who I don't even know if they sing during worship, they seem very reserved. BUT they are still there. So even though they might have problems with the service, they haven't let it drive them away.

Sing one or some of the hymn favorites every service with instruments of course. Sometimes all that the hymn lovers want is to hear there songs. The younger set will grow to like them and the older set will feel that their needs have been heard

Answer 6

I strongly advocate the use of classical music and old-fashioned hymns. No one likes hymns they can't sing along to comfortably, and for that reason, many people are more likely to sing the hymns of their childhood. My church is one of the few in the area that uses traditional music, and people love it. But I realize that there's a time and place for contemporary music. Perhaps consider using the contemporary music for the offertory anthem, while retaining the more traditional music for other parts of the service. You can also have contemporary music playing as people leave the sanctuary after service, like sort of an upbeat post-recessional. Services have various parts, and the music played during those parts would depend upon what denomination you belong to. In my case, I reserve the most serious and traditional music for Communion, while leaving the offertory more open to modern music.

Answer 7

Many of the churches I've gone to have a good mix of the two. They would sing one or two old hymns and then get into the good loud music. Another option would be to take the old hymns and put a little guitar and drums to it. Use the same melodies and it makes both sides happy.

I remember rocking out to Jesus Loves Me. It was awesome. The old ladies at church started jumping up and down, whooping and hollering, and running around the church. They loved it. It rocked!

Answer 8

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Answer 9

We have three services with about 4000 total people at the Contemporary "rock" service. Then we also have a "Heritage" service with hymns that about 300 people go to.

Answer 10

I would suggest you take turns playing the different kinds of songs. (You know, play a hymn, and then play an out there song?) My personal opinion, is that God doesn't care about how a song sounds like, as long as the worshipers really worship God in their hearts.