Trinity United Methodist Church E-Message: "A Conversation About Contemporary Worship Music" for Friday, 29 August 2014 with Pastor Dan

Trinity United Methodist Church E-Message:  "A Conversation About Contemporary Worship Music" for Friday, 29 August 2014 with Pastor Dan
Dear Friends,  I would like to have a conversation with you, or a series of conversations over the next few weeks via these special Emessages.  Now that we've had a month of integrating contemporary Christian worship music into the 9:40, and sensing both your joy and your frustration (and believe me, I sense both of them!), I feel it's time for us to sit down together, as if over a cup of tea or coffee and have a conversation.  I hope you will feel free to use these visits as an opportunity for you to share with me your thoughts, concerns, joys.
Today's conversation, like future Emessages, will not be long, even though there are many aspects that need to be covered; but today, just an introduction, ok?
Why?  Why did the Church Council feel the need for us to move in this direction for our Church?
Lots of reasons, but here are just a couple:
Over the past several years, hundreds (this is not an exaggeration) of persons, many who are young, but not all, by any means, have come to Trinity, expecting, hoping, assuming that there would be a truly Contemporary Worship service.  Discovering that there wasn't, they never returned.  Many of our current members who are drawn by the children and youth ministries to Trinity long for a more contemporary service.  Our former District Superintendent, when she was appointed to Gainesville with her teenage sons, she told me she was eager that her family become involved in Trinity.  But she and her husband and sons were soon disappointed that we didn't have a worship service (contemporary) that connected with them, and they went somewhere else.  There are scores of these kinds of stories.
Many of us think of the 9:40 as a "contemporary" service because of Sonlight, but no visitor who has experience worshiping in a contemporary service feels this way.
The truth is that we at Trinity have three Sunday mornings worship services that are all pretty traditional, with one of them having a really neat youth choir and band.  Put rather crassly, but realistically, that's not a viable business model, nor is it a responsible "Gospel" model, when the Gospel tells us to reach out to as many persons as we can.
Contemporary Christian music has "come into its own," over the past 10 years or so.  Prior to that it wasn't of the highest quality; now much of it is.  And, don't miss this point:
Churches with vibrant Contemporary Worship styles are the ones who are growing, and many are growing rapidly - because of the music.  And Churches that are traditional, are on a plateau or are declining; they haven't kept up with emerging trends.
Our Church Council has observed this reality for several years, and is trying responsibly to address it.  The Modern Worship service in the Youth Building was an attempt, but it didn't work, in part because of the location - out back - and many felt they weren't a part of the whole church by being out there.
Now, having said all of this, I know that the change and the unfamiliarity of much of the music that we have introduced to the 9:40 has been off putting, challenging and frustrating for many of you.  I know this; it deeply concerns me.  And I want to talk with you (and listen to you) more about that in my next Emessage next week, but for now simply to say this:  we're trying to find the right combination of music that will connect with both long time Trinity members who like the music that is familiar to them, and with new folks, who are familiar with a different kind of music.  This worked beautifully two Sundays ago; you may remember it: I preached on Depression (following the death of Robin Williams), Mike introduced a brand new contemporary Christian song (which worked great!  You got it and most of you sang; we're singing it again on Sunday; it's called "Amen"), and Esther closed the service with that beautiful solo.  Everyone (long time members and new people, and those in between) loved the music that day!  We wish for that every Sunday!  And that is our goal, though sometimes we get closer than others.
Let me know your thoughts, share with me your questions, and I'll be back with another "conversation" on Tuesday. Knowing Trinity as I do, I'm confident that we all will work together in and through this, with God's direction and blessing, with our prayers and patience, to come to a beautiful place that is uniquely Trinity.  But it will take conversations, which lead to understanding.
Love and prayers, Dan
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