In many of our churches there are now 5 distinct generations gathered to worship in the same room. In other words, there's no longer A generation gap, there are MULTIPLE generation gaps.
And sometimes these gaps become massive, gaping holes, over which wars are fought.
Brothers and sisters, this should not be.
One of the things I've started to notice more and more often is how each generation is looking for ways to express the same life-changing truths in ever-changing ways.
This jumped out at me once again recently. On that particular Sunday morning we sang Chris Tomlin's latest "hit," Jesus Loves Me. In order to introduce it to our very inter-generational congregation I paired it with a beautiful congregational setting of the old-school, timeless "Jesus Loves Me." It went really well.
But that's not the part that struck me. The first time I sang Tomlin's new song, I was overcome by the profound nature of the simple phrase, "He is for me." Honestly, overcome isn't strong enough. I was undone. To think that the God who slung stars into space is for me...well, it just astounds me.
And then in a recent Sunday evening service we sang the old hymn, "Have Faith in God." And there it was: "He's on your side."
Same biblical truth. Different generation.
This is part of the beauty and the challenge of cross-generational worship. Every generation wants to learn, know, experience, remember, celebrate, and proclaim Biblical truth in their own way.
And on any given Sunday morning, we have 4 or 5 generations in a service.
What to do?
I don't have all the answers. In fact, I don't have most of the answers. But here are 5 things that have really served our folks well.
1) Repackage hymns. If the melody is singable and the text is accessible, update the harmonies and add modern sounds. We do a repackaged hymn in 90% of our services. This often helps all generations sing in their heart language at the same time. (Click here to read a previous post on the subject, including specific song suggestions.)
2) Use modern hymns. Keith Getty, Stuart Townend, Bob Kauflin and others have been crafting amazing hymns for the modern church. They tend to work well with a rhythm section or a full orchestra. More importantly, they tend to connect with multiple generations.
3) Have multiple generations on the platform leading. When I am standing by a teenager and a grandmother and we lead worship together, we are modeling for the congregation that we can--and should--worship together.
4) Learn new songs. In other words, don't just sing new songs. Help the congregation get familiar enough with the newer songs you introduce that they feel like they can sing it without trying to figure it out. You can't give away what you don't have. If you don't have a song in your mind and heart (by knowing it) then you can't give it to God as an act of worship.
5) Know those you lead. Remember, you are leading people not songs. Pay attention to the way they engage. Do more of what engages them and less of what doesn't. Keep looking for the best songs for YOUR people, which may be different from the songs that are best for MOST people. In our church we sing half a dozen songs that I'm pretty sure very few churches know. But our folks connect their hearts with the heart of God every time we sing them.
One more thought. Let those you are shepherding in on what you're doing. It doesn't have to be a lecture, but with a phrase or a well timed comment, talk about the need each of us has to "own" our faith. Use your own testimony and the testimony of others to describe how that happens with and without singing. One of the lingering learnings I have from a seminary prof seemed like an off-hand comment at the time: "a great teacher's favorite phrase is in other words." So lovingly serve and teach those whom you lead to sing their faith in other words.
I'm curious. What other things do you do that help the generations sing together?
No comments:
Post a Comment