Philosophy Of Music In Praise-And-Worship Tradition

Praise music emerged from the revival atmosphere of the Jesus Movement and the charismatic movement of the mid-1960s. Its purpose is to make singing relevant to the worship experience of the believers. It is designed to express the renewed spiritual fervor of those who are rediscovering their personal faith in a personal God.

Throughout church history, theologians, pastors, and church musicians have struggled to achieve and maintain a balance between revealing the awesomely transcendent nature of God in the worship of the church while at the same time conveying God's relevancy, or his desire for a personal relationship with those who have fully accepted his plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. This struggle becomes particularly apparent in church history during the times of spiritual revival, restoration, and/or reformation, when the need for a personal revelation and relationship with God comes into emphasis. Even in Scripture, the theme of God's transcendence (e.g., Psalm 104) is often juxtaposed to and always contrasted with the theme of God's relevancy to his creation (e.g., Psalm 103). Music of the Great Revivals in the Church Since the worship life of a community is a major means by which it communicates with its Creator, its style of worship during times of renewal takes on a strong character of relevancy and intimacy. During the German Reformation in the early sixteenth century, congregational singing was reestablished after having been discontinued in the church following the Council of Laodicea in a.d. 367. To make the singing relevant to the worship experience of those reformed believers, newly authored texts and Scripture versifications, all in the vernacular of the people, were set to often already familiar, and in some cases, popular melodies. Singing these texts to familiar melodies created a relevancy to the corporate worship of these Christians and helped to engender and nurture their personal faith. During the Great Awakening, the great evangelical revival of the mid-1700s, the newly composed hymnody took on a much more personal quality than the previously authored post-Reformation hymns. The most prolific writers of the day, Charles and John Wesley, often used in their hymnody the concept of personally experiencing the Lord's redeeming love while maintaining worshipful themes and poetic beauty. Later in the mid-1800s another revival broke out, primarily in Great Britain and the United States. This Second Great Awakening, as it is sometimes called, was characterized by an evangelical fervor that found its greatest musical expression in the gospel song. The gospel song can be described as a musically and textually simple song that expresses the Christian experience and salvation. Because of their simplicity and experiential relevance, these songs became widely popular in such settings as revival services, Sunday school meetings, and camp meetings. The gospel song tradition was also utilized with the Pentecostal revival at the turn of the century. The Revival of the 1960s With the advent of the charismatic movement and the Jesus movement in the early to mid-1960s, the need again arose for a new type of music to express the renewed spiritual fervor that was experienced by those who were discovering or rediscovering their personal faith in a personal God. Many worshipers wanted to combine musical styles of the prominent pop culture with words that were of a sacred, worshipful nature, resulting in a culturally relevant yet sanctified genre. A type of worship music, which we will call "praise music," emerged. It was, and continues to be, characterized by generally easy-to-learn and sometimes colloquial texts and fairly simple melodies set to contemporary musical styles. Often Scriptures have been used as texts in praise songs, so the truth and beauty of the Word of God may be confessed as the singer sings. In liturgical churches, parts of the liturgy are sometimes set in a praise-music style to add a contemporary aesthetic relevancy to the text. In recent years, praise music has become extremely popular in congregations of all denominations and has utilized almost all popular music idioms as well as some classical styles. Even many of the hymns and gospel songs in the Christian tradition are being reworked musically with contemporary stylizations. Cultural Relevancy Every revival or spiritual awakening in church history has been accompanied by a development of music that reflects the spiritual intimacy (through nurturing a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ) and cultural relevancy of the movement. In each case there eventually is also a rediscovery of the need to emphasize the awesomeness, transcendence, and majesty of God. Much praise music that is being written currently proclaims the glory of God while still using contemporary musical styles. As praise music tends to nurture the simple intimacy and sonship of our relationship with God, so hymns tend to help us reestablish our historical and doctrinal foundations of faith. Care must be given by pastors/priests, musicians, and congregations to embrace the intimacy nurtured by praise music while embracing also the timeless heritage of hymns and gospel songs.