Contemporary Worship Destroys Congregations

I left the Lutheran Church right in the midst of its “Worship Wars”–the never ending battle between advocates of the historic/ traditional Liturgy of the Western Rite and advocates of the “do-what-you-feel”, “happy-clappy”, “Everything’s gonna be OK”, “Raise your hands” type of “worship.”  I remember walking out of the church whenever the worship ensemble would start to play and figuratively dusted my shoes off at the entrance.  Sure, I was probably being rude, but I knew even at that age (I was in my late teens) that this was not worship.

While I was reading some of the other blogs out there, I came across this one from Fr. Peter’s blog, Pastoral Meanderings. This congregation, a Lutheran WELS church, did everything it was supposed to do according to the church growth movement people.  It took out the pews and put in more comfortable chairs. It replaced the organ with a contemporary worship ensemble. It put in a coffee shop. It created a casual atmosphere. The pastor was stripped of vestments and replaced with polos and khakis.  Sermons were replaced in favor of kids’ messages.  Sin was replaced with “God loves you anyway so why strive to be better.” Attendance peaked at 50 and then declined to nothing.  The church building is now for sale.

The pastor of the church is quoted as saying that this was the right move but at the wrong place and the wrong time.  If I may be so bold, it was the right move at the right time and right place, but the problem for its failure is that you didn’t keep building on the high.

Contemporary worship and contemporary music is like being addicted to a drug.  Eventually, the same old stuff on Sunday mornings just won’t get you that same “feeling” that will last for a long time.  Then, what happens?  Congregants search out for a new high, a new church that will breathe new life into their desire for more contemporary tunes, more comfortable chairs, more varieties of cappuccino, etc.  What’s worse is that the church in question realizes that congregants are leaving to “shop” around and so it is constantly retooling things so much that it cannot keep up with all the changes and the same result ensues but only delayed for a short time.

Now, I will grant that there are many churches that serve the traditional liturgy and that people may leave searching out a church that is even more traditional, that chants instead of reads, that does it in Latin versus English, where priests are decked out even more so than the last guy.   And many of these churches try to rebuild themselves as being more and more traditional.  But, this scenario is the exception that proves the rule.  I’ve seen very few traditional churches, whether in the Protestant or Catholic traditions, that try to go “more traditional” than what they are already doing. The converse situation is by far the more common and that is destroying more congregations than building new ones.  It’s a failed model, but the CCW people just don’t seem to get it.

So, you’ll forgive me if I don’t gloat a little that this church is no longer.  Some may say that because this church is gone that even those 50 people will not be hearing the Gospel.  To be honest, knowing the constructs of contemporary worship, I doubt they heard it anyway.  Contemporary worship is about pleasing oneself and doing it quickly.  When it doesn’t serve that purpose, the parishioner trots off somewhere else to get his spiritual “high.”  That’s not worship of God, but worship of self.