Generational Worship- part 2

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,
Oh what a foretaste of glory divine.
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of his spirit, washed in his blood.
This is my story, this is my song;
Praising my saviour, all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song;
Praising my saviour, all the day long.

I just typed the words to the first verse of this hymn from memory, even though I have not sung it in a church service for decades. That is an illustration of the influence of the songs we sang in church as I grew up. When I was a boy, we sang many songs that people the age of my grandparents would have also sung. We sang them from songbooks which changed only once in my lifetime. The "Melodies of Praise" hymnal was replaced in my early teenage years by "Hymns of Glorious Praise" only after much consideration and discussion. It really was a really big deal to make any changes to the songs we sang. New songs were to be sung as "specials", and choruses were to be sung during extended altar times or during baptismal services. As I write this, there is no hint of a smirk or dismissive attitude, because I love the influence that those timeless songs still have on me. They are still the songs I sing in the car or when I'm alone. Although many times they were led by people of poor voice and were accompanied by a piano and organ which might be poorly played, they still, through their repetition, got into my spirit and still reside there today.

The "song service" consisted of three or four songs from the hymnal. Everyone was expected to participate, whether that person could sing well, or not. Very seldom did anyone get carried away during the song service, but it was a time of community worship in song, where no one was excluded. There would be a hymnal for everyone. You held a book in your hands and it was the same book year in and year out. It spoke of permanence; of stability; of community. Over the years, these songs were imbedded in our psyche and they remain to this day. Our services resembled very closely the services my grandparents attended; the only difference was air-conditioning and better sound systems.

But there was a problem with the hymnal style of worship. The songs could become so familiar that those who sang them sang them without internalizing the message the song conveyed. Many times the song service would just occupy the first 20 minutes of the service, serving as a spacer between the opening comments and the offering. It became possible to sing powerful messages such as "Years I spent in vanity and pride, caring not my Lord was crucified. Knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied for me. There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary" without even realizing the message that the song was conveying. The permanence which had seemed so comforting devolved into formalism and in some cases, legalism. Any attempts to change were viewed with suspicion or even hostility.

It is a shame that the younger generation did not get to bond with these songs, but the reality is that they do not connect at all with them in the manner in which they were performed. The rythmns and the phrasing just do not resonate. Popular music began to change drastically in the 60's and the baby boomers began to break with anything that spoke of their parents' music. The change in church music came several years later. If I could ask anything of the young people of today I would ask them to have some appreciation of those who preceeded them. You don't have to embrace the music they prefer, but it should not be dismissed out of hand, either. In this world where technological changes occur continually, there is something attractive about those songs that transport the older generation to the years of their spiritual formation; when they were young and sorting out the complications of marriage, career and children. Those songs, passed down to them by those who had gone on before, were an anchor in the stormy seas of life. They didn't change like the world around them, and they offer safe haven to those who love them. Maybe you could find some of these old treasures, rework the chord progressions, and give them to a new generation, while showing some love and respect for those who most likely sacrificed to pay for the church you attend today.