Whenever I have the opportunity to lead worship I am blessed. Mainly I am blessed because I am a worshiper and for me there is no greater joy and being a part of other people drawing near to a waiting God who is longing for us to come near. Most times when I lead I get people commenting on the "set" we played or the "songs" we sang and how they "like" our sound or whatever. Most of you have been, are in a leadership capacity and have experienced similar things. However there are times when people come up and say things that make you think about and evaluate what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you are doing it. For me this is a good thing...
After the Sunday night service this week I was approached by a young lady who wanted to talk about the music to someone, and I apparently was the most identifiable person she could find to talk to about it. She wanted to offer up some constructive criticism. She comes from a church that ironically I know very well and am friends with the lead worshipers. There musical preference for worship is mainly centered around a movement call Hillsongs, which has a young adult band called United. They are good in their own right and I listen to them. However, this is not the point. The girl I was speaking with was offering some "constructive criticism" as she called it and I was anxious to hear what she had to say since so often people only come up and say they like the singing etc. I was excited to hear someone give an honest look at ways we could improve worship so more people could connect. What the conversation boiled down to appeared to be style. She was hoping we would do more high energy, rock-styled songs, which I guess people sometimes call "praise." She observed that we are more laid back in our style more times than not at Genesis and seem to repeat a chorus or portion of a song over and over making it lag on. I guess to summarize there were two issues:
1. We don't play as many high energy - get people out of their seats clapping and worshiping/praising God openly - songs as she would like to have in a Sunday of worship
2. We tend (maybe this is me more) to repeat choruses over and over and sometimes (she said) that's great to meditate on, but other times it makes the songs "drag on."
So here are my questions: First, does the music we have in our "core" set lists reflect who we are as worshipers at Genesis and do they offer enough variation that people who attend Genesis are connecting with enough of the songs to authentically respond to God during those musical worship moments? My second question is, how do we get people to stop focusing on what we are playing whether that be style, repeating of lyrics, or song choice and focus on being ready to connect with God when they get to church? How do we help foster and develop a hunger to connect with God on an intimate level and create an atmosphere where people can respond honestly and authentically regardless of what their response is?
