New songs for modern missional worship, rich in Christian teaching and contextualized in modern culture. Contemporary hymns, psalms, songs of lament and praise written by members of the Louisville, KY-based Sojourn Community.
“Technology, The Music Business and Cultural Trends Affecting Worship Ministries: Where Do We Go From Here?” by Pastor Mike Cosper
Sojourn worship arts pastor Mike Cosper (pictured above) writes about the technology that has transformed the way churches do worship ministry in recent years, the cultural situation worship pastors and leaders have emerged from, and more in this concluding part to his essay begun here on sojournmusic.com:
What I want to ask is who will guide us? What will the reformation of church music education give birth to in twenty years? Will it look different, or will we simply look back in twenty years and laugh at our young foolishness? Worship leaders aren’t the only ones asking these kinds of questions. Technology has equipped us across a broad swath of society to move so fast that we lose sight of our roots. Graduates from schools studying technology, engineering, computer programming will find their high-level educations obsolete in a few short years. It’s not for lack of appreciation of the past, it’s simply the overwhelming pace of culture. Consider the dangers that exist when technology moves so fast in genetic biology, weapons technology, and connectivity. The advent of the modern train system is what enabled Nazi Germany to efficiently and easily transport millions of souls across the European landscape to their deaths. The fact that technology can be used a certain way doesn’t mean it should.
Today, we have tremendous technological resources at our fingertips as worship leaders. Powerpoint, recording software, web distribution. In a few short years it will be standard practice to have the tools available in a recording studio for pitch correction and timing edits available at the mixing desk of our churches. The fact that we can doesn’t mean we should. What does it communicate? For that matter, what does it communicate when we sit down with our pastor and he pulls an iPhone from his pocket? What does it say about commercialism? About materialism?About access? (For the record - I don’t own an iPhone, but would if I could).
I ask these questions sincerely - as one who is part of this whole situation. I’m a rock musician who was brought from the club to the platform. I am not traditionally educated in any sense of the term - though many great mentors in my life have guided me to excellent resources. But I wonder sometimes about how wise I’ve been in the directional decisions I’ve made as a pastor. Where will these decisions take me in 4, 5, 6 years?
At the end of the day, we as worship pastors need to remember that there’s a lot of truth to the clichés - we need to keep the main thing the main thing. We need to keep Jesus at the center of our worship services. We need to be ready and willing to examine and dispose of any method that would hinder that. We also need to be contented with the knowledge that this wide and diverse church, scattered about the earth, is going to have some radical diversity in regards to our styles and methods.
I hope in coming weeks to articulate what I believe is a better way than chasing the trends pumped out by the Nashville CCM machine and the technology obsessions that we believe keep us hindered. The changes in the church are not something we can go back and “fix” : They’ve happened, and this new landscape is the one that God has given to us all. How do we walk through it, honoring our congregations and leaders while simultaneously calling them to depth? In many places, with many decisions we face, there is a better path than the one we’ve been making.
to stay abreast of future blog posts on sojournmusic.com and to make sure you’re aware of new articles in Pastor Mike’s series, subscribe to this site’s RSS Feed.
Hear or download Pastor Mike’s sermon, “Music and Worship.”
Hear or download a short interview with Pastor Mike on Sojourn’s next music project.
Hear or download a short interview with Pastor Mike on the “Sacred/ Secular” debate.
Hear or download a short interview with Pastor Daniel Montgomery on his working relationship with Pastor Mike and on the qualifications of a worship arts pastor.
Hear or download a roundtable discussion with Pastor Mike, author Harold Best (“Unceasing Worship”) Terra Nova (N.Y.) pastors Ed Marcelle and Scott Womer, and Christ Church (N.M.) pastor Martin Ban on “Thoughts for Christian Artists and Musicians”