The great music debate

Young Mennonites weigh in on decades-old church controversy

May 8, 2014 | Young Voices
Rachel Bergen | Young Voices Co-editor

There is great debate over church music these days. What was once a fight over traditional versus contemporary tunes and how they are played has blossomed into something more. It’s no longer a simple traditional versus contemporary dichotomy.

Many Mennonite churches have begun projecting hymns using PowerPoint, singing from the more contemporary Sing the Story and Sing the Journey supplements to Hymnal: A Worship Book, and singing contemporary praise and worship songs that have traditional melodies.

According to some young Mennonites involved in worship planning, it might be a problem simply resolved by being intentional about involving young people of varying skill and experience levels in worship.

The music debate certainly isn’t a problem at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Ont.  According to music director Brandon Leis, 34, music at Sunday morning worship services is generally 90 percent hymns from the blue Hymnal or its two recent supplements. The other 10 percent is newly composed music from people within the congregation, camp songs and anything from more contemporary sources.

The young people like it that way.

“Our youth and young adults want traditional four-part hymns and choral music,” Leis says. According to him, youth and young adults are very active in facilitating worship music and planning the services. When they participate in local events with youth from other Mennonite churches, the music is primarily contemporary praise and worship.

“Our youth have named those ‘cross-cultural experiences,’” he says with a laugh.

Leis says he has seen the debate surface when people objectify the music by making it about their style preferences and perfect performances, rather than using music as a vehicle for worship.

“When you objectify music like that, it becomes something that can be divisive,” he says. “Where music has become contentious in my experience is when it is turned into an object of worship as opposed to being a vehicle through which we can worship.”

Leis says fostering an environment of inclusivity, where the worship music isn’t about showcasing talent but about allowing people to participate in planning and leading the community of faith, is important. On any given Sunday, a worship service at the church will have about 15 people involved, he says, noting, “Our church is very open to many different styles and genres of music.”

Tasha Janzen, 19, is a music leader at Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C., and sits on the worship committee there.

An average worship service at Janzen’s church has six or seven songs: half hymns and half contemporary worship songs; she says she personally prefers hymns for the nostalgia they inspire. She says many of her peers at church prefer them as well for similar reasons.

Although she prefers hymns, she thinks contemporary music has a place in the church. “It is a form of connection for [people]—especially if they are new to the church—if they hear the music and it is a style that they are familiar with,” she says.

Cheryl Woelk, 32, is an accompanist and song leader at Wildwood Mennonite Church in Saskatoon.

Her first memories of church music include singing from the red hymnal with accompaniment from a piano and organ. Once in a while during special youth services, they would sing songs they learned at camp.

These days Woelk doesn’t necessarily resonate with one or the other. “I really like good music,” she says. “I’m more interested in music that has integrity musically, in terms of melodies, harmonies, rhythms, whether that’s traditional or contemporary. I like music that has depth to it. Words that have depth to it. Something that connects to our faith community, to how we articulate our faith.”

The music Woelk chooses to lead others in doesn’t fit into the narrow field of either traditional or contemporary either. “I think within any congregation, we don’t all have the exact same faith,” she says. “We have individual experiences that are different. We’re a part of this community and we bring all of that with us. We have stories that don’t always line up with each other, either.”

Woelk wonders if the debate was ever just about music. “I think the issue has more to do with church dynamics and hearing different voices from different generations,” she says, “not just musical voices, making space in leadership for people in younger generations [while] respecting the older generations.”

“We need to listen to each other more and put aside some of our senses of entitlement or what we think is right and wrong,” Woelk says, concluding that the music debate is “more of a kind of flag pointing to this bigger issue of the church.”

--Posted May 7, 2014

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