Contemporary Worship - Some Pitfalls
by Chad Hall

There is a lot of talk going around these days about being 'contemporary.' Literally, 'contemporary' is a great word (meaning with the times) and a fantastic description for what every worship service and church should be. Churches who want to reach today's population must use methods that touch people where they are. But there are pitfalls with some mis-understandings of contemporary. Now these are my opinions, so don't go haywire if you disagree. There seem to be at least three common pitfalls that I see folks falling into when it comes to contemporary.

1. Contemporary as a worship style rather than a philosophy. I just hate it when I hear the word contemporary used in the same way that "liturgical" or "Southern Gospel" is used. What happens is that some people have mistakenly labeled one manifestation of contemporary worship with what it means to be contemporary. Contemporary is not a style as much as it is a philosophy for doing worship (and other ministries as well, see #3). When you tell me that you "do contemporary worship," that means absolutely nothing. Contemporary worship can and should look very different according to each setting, because the "contemporary" philosophy is that a church does whatever it takes to connect its community to the gospel.

2. A worship that doesn't really reflect the needs/tastes of the environment. It makes no sense for the pastor of a church in the hills of West Virginia to wear floral shirts and no socks. Give me a break. The false assumption is that to be contemporary you've got to be like Saddleback (or some other effective church). When this happens, church leaders have simply traded one stagnate style for another. The reason Saddleback is so effective is that they appropriately reflect their surrounding culture. Contemporary worship can take on a variety of styles, from jazz to rock to bluegrass to (heaven forbid!) country-western. For me, a worship service that used country music would be closer to hell than heaven, but it's exactly what is needed for some folks. The pitfall is thinking that 'contemporary' always equals Rick Muchow style music. There are lots of ways to be with the times - there are even some contemporary services based on ancient Celtic liturgies, which promotes a reflective/contemplative atmosphere rather than a teaching/celebratory atmosphere. Others have abandoned sermons in favor of "truth nuggets" that are interspersed throughout the service. These nuggets come in the form of media clips, short commentaries, and short reflections projected onto a screen. When it comes to being contemporary, the possibilities are endless. This means that you need to look at every aspect of your worship service, including: style of music, length and type of sermon, order and flow of the service, incorporating other worship elements (drama, dance, multi-media), smells, lighting, dress, how music is led (praise teams are usually not the best option), etc. I know it's a lot of work, but it's really best to not just copy what someone else is doing. Instead, think through it and understand what the totally unique solution is for your totally unique situation.

3. A worship service that doesn't correspond with the rest of the church. Let me just say it: an upbeat worship style does not make a church contemporary. Even in this article, I have practically fallen into the common trap of equating "contemporary worship" with "contemporary church." A church is "with the times" when it looks at all aspects of its ministry and strives to make structures, events, organization, staff, etc. all correspond to what is effective in its culture. There's no use luring folks in with a cool worship service and then stifling them with an outdated educational/discipleship program or a banal means of making corporate decisions. The whole church needs to get with it.

To be honest, although 'contemporary' is a great word, it has been effectively robbed of its true meaning. Words only mean what we think they mean, and it's unfortunate that folks have fallen into these (and similar) pitfalls to the point that 'contemporary' is no longer the best word to use. For now, I'm opting for 'innovative' over 'contemporary' not because it's a better word, but because it carries less negative baggage.