Search this site
IRONSTRIKES
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Beliefs
  • Formation
  • For Women
  • Meetings & Events

Good music grows churches:  Truth or Fiction?

8/15/2013

3 Comments

 
Picture
I used to think that really good music grows a church. Get the hottest band and singers in town and the people will come.

I don't think that anymore.

Now that I'm free from the weekly grind of the music director's life I've been able to visit a lot of churches. 

I've been to huge megachurches with thousands of people and so-so, bland music. 
I've been to tiny, struggling churches with superb, cutting edge-music. 

Recently in LA I was at a faaaamous church that had one of the worst, off pitch background praise singers ever. Another LA megachurch had the most horrible worship flow of any church I've ever attended. Sing a song. Stop cold. Sing another, random song. Stop cold. Sing another. What??

I've also been to huge churches with great blended music and huge churches with superb, cutting edge music.

Great music, huge churches. Lousy music, huge churches.

Small churches, great music. Small churches, lousy music.

Great music sure won't hurt a church, but my worship algorithms are telling me that it ISN'T the music that's primarily growing churches. It's the PREACHING. Gasp.

If the preacher is theoretical, boring, irrelevant and clinical, the hottest music in town isn't going to help draw a crowd.

If the preacher is relevant, personable and preaching on spiritual issues that matter to the common man, the lousiest music in the world won't keep the throngs away. They'll put up with anything to hear the Word speak into their lives.

So just what does music accomplish? It simply sets the tone and flavor of your church.

Your music style will attract a certain style of crowd. It's no different from a radio station. Think of the different crowds associated with these music styles: Country. Heavy Metal. Classical. Can you picture what someone looks like who would listen to each style? How about: Cowboy hats. Long hair and tattoos. Suit & tie.

I see blended, orchestral churches attracting a "churchy" bunch in suits & ties and Sunday dresses.

Churches with cool rock bands and cutting-edge music are attracting the 20-30s.

The typical WillowCreek-esque church with 90's praise band (which, I believe, is currently the mainstream of churches) is attracting younger baby boomers who are bored by the blended stuff, plus young families. I suspect the young families probably would prefer the cutting edge music church but those churches, attracting younger people with no money, generally have weak children's programs. So young families put up with the baby boomer music style since they have the funds to afford nice nurseries and youth activities.

Different styles attract different looking people, but there's another element to put into the mix: personality types.

One personality type revels in the mediocre; the other loves quality.

Ministries with a low standard of quality, no matter what the style, will attract people who have a low standard of quality. If the church allows off-pitch people to sing on the praise team, they'll attract people who like to hear off-pitch singing. Believe it or not, there are actually people in this world who thrill to hear off pitch singing on mic. These same people also enjoy karaoke.

This mindset would prefer to see a bunch of people who wanted to sing in a constant rotation so they can use their "gifts," no matter how bad things sound, rather than see the talented few leading week after week.

Call me spritual or something, but I really don't care who's up there as I go into my own personal world of worship. What gets me out of that world is the jarring effect of hearing someone yelping the wrong notes.

A church, contemporary or traditional, who insists on a high standard of quality generally attracts people who like quality.

The two personality types don't mix. If you're trying to build a quality music ministry, have you ever experienced this phenomena: an off-pitch singer demands to sing in church, you won't let them and they throw a tantrum... threaten to leave the church... etc.

I know of a case where a talented vocalist found themselves in a low-quality church. This person is a dream vocalist you'd give your left leg to have in your ministry—and spiritually minded to boot. This person was rarely asked to sing and was baffled. I've heard the same story over and over.

I found an answer to these mysteries from Oprah, of all people. For some reason I flipped on the TV one day and watched her for five minutes. In that span she said something that rocked my world: "Mediocrity hates quality."

Worship leader, have you been banging your head against the wall? Now you know why. Maybe you're the right type of person in the wrong type of church.  



This post was written by Don Chapman.  You can find the original post here:  http://www.churchleaders.com/worship/worship-articles/139971-music-growth.html


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

3 Comments
Martin
8/15/2013 15:17:00

I wonder if Don is related to Dan...

Reply
Dale V. Wayman
8/15/2013 15:26:49

Dunno...

Reply
Andy Doerksen
3/2/2020 16:13:06

The WORD grows churches ... but the Word can be conveyed through music.

"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another _with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs_, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Col. 3:16)

Here music is explicitly referred to as a teaching tool. But again, it's the WORD doing it, not the music per se.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Rules for commenting:

    1.  Be respectful  
    2.  Refer to rule #1

    All comments may not be approved.

    Note that many identifying details about individuals in these posts are not accurate.  Their identity is protected, except for those individuals who are being honored or are public figures.

    RSS Feed

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Categories

    All
    Abortion
    Abraham
    Abstinence
    Abuse
    Accountability
    Adam
    Adam Yauch
    Addictions
    Admiration
    Adultery
    Affair
    Amos
    Angels
    Anger
    Anniversary
    Anoint
    Anonymous
    Anxiety
    Atheism
    Avoidant
    Bad Boy
    Battle
    Beastie Boys
    Beautiful
    Bestiality
    Betrayal
    Bird
    Blame
    Bobby Petrino
    Bondage
    Book Review
    Brian Head Welch
    Brothel
    B.T. Roberts
    Camping
    Cancer
    Challenge
    Change
    Chaotic
    Character
    Children
    Choice
    Christmas
    Church
    Church Camp
    Closed Door
    Compulsions
    Confession
    Confident
    Control
    Courage
    Covenant
    Creator
    Crown
    Crucifixion
    Darkness
    Death
    Deception
    Decision
    Demons
    Depression
    Detachment
    Devotions
    Dez Bryant
    Differences
    Dilemma
    Dirty
    Discipleship
    Disgusting
    Divorce
    Domestic Violence
    Domination
    Doubt
    Dreams
    Dr Hart8bb80a7b00
    Dwayne Allen
    Dysfunction
    Easter
    Eden
    Ego
    Eleazar
    Elitism
    Empty
    Envy
    Ephesians
    Equality
    Erectile Dysfunction
    Esau
    Eternity
    Euthanasia
    Evil
    Exhibitionism
    Eyes
    Facebook
    Faithfulness
    Fantasy
    Fasting
    Father
    Favorites
    Fear
    Fellatio
    Fighting
    Fishing
    Flashing
    Flattery
    Flesh
    Force
    Forgiveness
    Gentleman
    Girls Gone Wild
    G.K. Chesteron
    Goals
    God
    Good Friday
    Grace
    Gratitude
    Greek
    Guard
    Guilt
    Heart
    Heaven
    Hebrew
    Hell
    Henri Nouwen
    Histrionic
    Hogging
    Holiness
    Hollow
    Honesty
    Honor
    Hope
    Humility
    Humor
    Ichabod
    Idols
    Impurity
    Individuality
    Input
    Insane Clown Posse
    Integrity
    Intent
    Intimacy
    Isaac
    Islam
    Jack Schaap
    Jamaica
    Jealousy
    Jimmy Needham
    Job
    Joy
    J.R.R. Tolkien
    Judgmentalism
    Justice
    Kindness
    King David
    Kittens
    Komboloib7e292a311
    Korn
    Larry Norman
    Leave It To Beaver
    Lies
    Light
    Listening
    Loneliness
    Love
    Lust
    Lying
    Macho
    Manners
    Marriage
    Masculinity
    Masturbation
    Maturity
    Mca
    Meditation
    Messianic
    Meticulous
    Mighty
    Missions
    Money
    Monogamy
    Moses
    Motivations
    Movies
    Music
    Normal
    Obedience
    Obscenity
    Open Door
    Parenting
    Passiveaggressive2ed940c88b
    Pastor
    Path
    Perfection
    Personality Disorders
    P.O.D.
    Politics
    Pornography
    Pornograpy
    Power
    Practical
    Prayer
    Predator
    Prejudice
    Premature Ejaculaton
    Preparation
    Pride
    Problems
    Promises
    Protection
    Providence
    Purity
    Quechua
    Quiz
    Racism
    Regret
    Religious
    Repentance
    Reputation
    Research
    Respect
    Responsibility
    Rest
    Resurrection
    Revival
    Righteousness
    Robots
    Roughhousing
    Routine
    Rules
    Rut
    Sabbath
    Sacrifice
    Sadism
    Salvation
    Sanctification
    Satisfaction
    Selfishness
    Self Love
    Self-love
    Service
    Sex
    Sexism
    Sexuality
    Sexual Response
    Sexual Response
    Shame
    Sin
    Singing
    Snobbery
    Soldier
    Sovereignty
    Stalking
    Stephen Hawking
    Step-parenting
    Strong
    Success
    Succubus
    Suicide
    Swearing
    Sword
    Teenagers
    Temper
    Temptation
    Tenth Ave North
    Testing
    Theology
    Thinking
    Thomas Cogswell Upham
    Tim Tebow
    Tournament Male
    Tradition
    Trafficking
    Trapped
    Trauma
    Triggers
    Trust
    Truth
    U2
    Uncle Buddy
    Unity
    Violence
    Virtue
    Vulnerability
    Warrior
    Watchman Nee
    Waywardness
    What Is A Man
    Women
    Worry
    Worship
    Wussification
    Year In Review
    Zombies

    Archives

    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

IRONSTRIKES

Men Forging Men