Fostering unity in congregational worship
Have we lost the “corporate” in corporate worship? Not long ago, the voices of the people were the predominant sounds during church worship. Today the sound coming from the platform has all but silenced the congregation’s voice, leaving many feeling like irrelevant, passive spectators.
How did we get here? We must first realize this is not a new problem. Worship ministries strategist Kenny Lamm notes how history is repeating itself in our modern-day worship. In Nine Reasons People Aren’t Singing in Worship, Kenny Lamm writes, “Simply put, we are breeding a culture of spectators in our churches, changing what should be a participative worship environment to a concert event. Worship is moving to its pre-Reformation mess.”
Lamm is referring to the Catholic Church in Medieval Europe in the years AD 476–1500 where church practices were known to be inaccessible. It was in this pre-Reformation era that worship music was performed for the congregation by professional singers, and only in Latin, a language unfamiliar to the congregants. Establishing a hierarchical structure, the clergy controlled all aspects of worship. It was out of this time that one of the most pivotal eras in Western history was born – the Protestant Reformation of 1517–1648.
This movement, championed by German monk and theologian Martin Luther, was meant to reform the faulty practices of the Church. One of Luther’s first reforms was the restoration of congregational singing. After centuries of silence, the people now participated in worship with simple melodies and solid scriptural texts translated by Luther from Latin into German – the language of the people.
After centuries of silence, the people now participated in worship with simple melodies and solid scriptural texts.
Following the biblical model of corporate worship where everyone sang praises to God, Luther gave the congregation back their voice in worship. Corporate worship to Luther was like a penetrating flame. “At home, in my own house, there is no warmth or vigour in me,” he is quoted saying. “But in the church when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart, and it breaks its way through.”
The fire Luther references echoes the outcome of the united corporate worship we see in 2 Chronicles 5:13–14. “The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: ‘He is good; His love endures forever.’ Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, and … the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God” (emphasis added).
Our congregations would benefit from regaining this model of everyone praising and thanking God with one voice. In a blog post titled An Open Letter to Praise Bands, Canadian philosopher-theologian James K. A. Smith writes, “Christian worship is a collective, communal, congregational practice – and the gathered sound and harmony of a congregation singing as one is integral to the practice of worship. It is a way of ‘performing’ the reality that, in Christ, we are one body.”
To be truly one body, we as congregants must reclaim our communion with one another. We must appeal to our church leadership for greater communal worship. As worship leaders, our desire for a perfectly polished gathering must not eclipse the importance of the imperfect worshipping voices of the people.
By eradicating the practices that hinder participation – such as complex melodies and rhythms, uncomfortable keys or blaring volumes – the Church will sing again. When we reclaim corporate worship and with one voice offer God our unified praise, we fulfill God’s intention for His gathered Church – to worship together in unity and together experience His glory.
Melissa Davis is a concert soloist, music professor, choral conductor, worship leader, clinician and head of vocal performance at York University in Toronto. Read more at FaithToday.ca/HistoryLesson. Engraving of Martin Luther: Public Domain