emerging worship

Earlier this week blogger Mike Morrell asked “what sould emergent/emerging worship look like and sound like?”

I’m sure everyone has different ideas. Jonny Baker is big into the alt.worship scene. Others like Solomon’s Porch, are big on their community of faith writing their own songs and sharing them together. Others I know could care less what the music looks or sounds like – they’re more interested in the celebration and the sharing of stories/testimonies. They admit that their mind wanders during community singing and they may start thinking about work, home or motorcycles instead.

Either way I believe our worship should be defined as “celebrating what God is doing.”

Michael points to 4 key elements (suggested by Adam Walker Cleveland) that should be a part of “emerging worship” ::

  • gender-inclusive language (esp. in our language for God)
  • a shift from a I-YOU-me & God focus, and a refocusing on the community
  • a passion for the biblical themes of social justice, peace and a desire to speak for the oppressed
  • maybe just some more songs straight from scripture (or from saints and desert fathers), letting God’s work speak for itself, instead of pressing our own interpretation onto it, and onto the congregation that will sing the song

Some may say the words to the songs don’t mean much – but I’m a big believer that they do. When I play an artist like Derek Webb, Bob Dylan or Flobots on my Zune – their lyrics move me to action (or at least increase my desire to do something). U2‘s Sunday Bloody Sunday doesn’t allow me to sit back and ignore the violence going on in the world – it calls me to action.

And likewise, as I and others have said before, when I walk into church and only sing songs about being hungry or thirsty — I’ll probably leave feeling hungry and thirsty. But if the weight of the world is on my shoulders and I can sing songs of How Great Thou Art and How Great is Our God or other songs about the strength and might and love of my God, my burden is lightened and I’m more willing to submit control of my situation to God.

Michael points out one band that is attempting meet these four keys to emerging worship, Zehnder.

I got a copy of their album and it’s definitely a mix of musical styles. A little something for everyone perhaps. (That may be something that’s missing at encounter. We tend to lean more towards the rock or the softer acoustic/unplugged rock sound.)

On Going Up, the Zehnder brothers lyrically fit the 4 points that Michael and Adam point to, while mixing in original tunes as well as a rendition of What Wondrous Love is This. Musically I wasn’t as impressed the first time I listened to the album, but upon further listening and as the words began to sink in I’ve became more and more attracted to the music.

Musically I would say several of the songs are similar in style to Simon and Garfunkle others have more of an upbeat sound with almost a choral backing, especially on the song Rise Up ::

Rise up, feel the change!
The Resurrection comes again!
Rise up, believe the change!
We’ll never be the same again!

Spirit Born seems to have it’s musical and vocal styling influenced by Sting (download the free Mp3).

You know the wind blows, wind blows where it chooses
You hear the sound of it
But you don’t know, don’t know where it comes from
Or where it goes, it goes, it goes
Yeah, you know don’t know, don’t know where it comes from
Or where it goes, it goes, it goes

Blow through me, Wind, breathe on me, Breath, make Spirit born,
All of my soul, make Spirit born, Spirit born.

And Justice Jam could be possibly be confused with a Flobots track using backing strings, a hip-hop beat and heavy social justice lyrics (listen to a sample).

For justice I bust this flow for free
Used to be blind but now I see
Through the eyes of the elders who came before me
Like Malcolm and Martin and I can’t forget Mahatma Gandhi
Take a knee, homey / Hug an old bodhi tree
Realize how to be revolutionary
Destiny is divine when aligned with the truth
That resides deep inside that g-ride of my youth
Now I got proof of insurance and a photo ID
But I choose to tell time by Mayan prophecy – Oo, Let justice roll down…

Overall I think the Zehnder brothers have created an album that challenges us to much greater themes than much of the music you’ll hear on your local “Christian radio station.” It challenges us to think about our faith and how it impacts (or doesn’t impact) our daily lives.

I’m not sure the songs are as singable in a community settings as some that Dave Andrews has written but I definitely wouldn’t object to trying them out in a community setting.

But don’t take my word for it.

Go check out the band’s website ztheband.com and then purchase their CD from CDBaby.

And while you wait for the album to arrive, check out their 2003 rendition of Song of Peace ::

Give the band a listen and let me know what you think.

Church in Eden

This is from a group in Eden in Leamington Spa (cross the pond).
Jonny Baker has this “ad” on his site.

You love God but you just can’t do Sunday morning style church?
You’re really not into singing songs all the time or you don’t believe that singing songs is the only way we can worship God?
You would like to be part of a church where you are accountable to each other and are responsible for helping each other grow?
You’re tired of professional Christianity and you just want to be church like it was with Jesus and his followers back in his human days?
You believe Church is more fluid than a building or tradition.

Sound interesting?

Liturgy

Marian Devotion
Marian Devotion | Photo by raymundopelayo

This is from Jonny Baker’s blog. A great liturgy.

Kind of hard to say when you get finished, just like singing “Blessed be the Name of the Lord

Lord God,
You spoke into darkness and chaos and then there was light;
You imagined this earth in its complexity and beauty and called it into being
You created humanity in your own image and gave us a home to live in
We believe you can do miracles
But even if you don’t, you are still God

Lord God,
You walked with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego through the fiery furnace
You shut the mouths of hungry lions and kept Daniel safe until morning
You gave Hannah a family when she despaired of ever having a child
We believe you can do miracles
But even if you don’t, you are still God

Lord God,
You changed water into wine so the wedding party could continue
You calmed a storm and your disciples with words of quiet authority
You transformed a boy’s picnic into a meal for a multitude with plenty left over
We believe you can do miracles
But even if you don’t, you are still God

Lord God,
You healed a woman from 12 years of bleeding and rejection
You asked Bartimaeus what he wanted and then restored his sight
You watched a paralysed man being lowered through the roof and helped him to his feet
We believe you can do miracles
But even if you don’t, you are still God

Lord God,
You called Lazarus from the tomb and restored him to life
You walked past the mourners at Jairus’ house and gave his daughter back to him
You suffered a horrendous crucifixion in order to defeat sin and death and give us life
We believe you can do miracles
But even if you don’t, you are still God

Lord God,
You told your disciples that they would do greater things than you had done
We hear and read stories of miracles in our world – of you healing the sick,
setting prisoners free, releasing drug addicts from their addiction,
providing the right amount of money at just the right time
We believe you can do miracles
But even if you don’t, you are still God

And yet, Lord, we don’t see many miracles happening around us
We have friends with cancer, and we pray, and they are not healed
We have friends who long for children, and we pray, and they do not conceive
Our doubt is mixed with faith
Our trust is accompanied by questions
We acknowledge the mystery of faith and prayer, and the ways in which they are connected
We acknowledge that you often do things differently to the way we would do them
We long to know you better, to understand more of your ways
And we believe you can do miracles
But even if you don’t, you are still God

Lord we believe.
Help our unbelief