Have you noticed the visuals associated with 'worship' in a traditional church vs. an evangelical church?
The imagery someone in a traditional church (like catholic for instance) associates with 'worship' would most likely be:
- Bread and Wine
- Holy Bible
- Lighted candles
- Some one with joined hands & eyes closed
- A cathedral or some similar looking building
- Priests in....well 'priestly' attire and so on
- Dude/dudess in jeans & tees looking upward with hands lifted up
Flip the pages of any edition of worship leader magazine and we get a good idea of the worship imagery associated with the modern church:
- Dude/dudess in jeans & tees with an acoustic guitar in hand
- Rock band on stage bathed in multi-colored lighting
- Musical instruments
- PowerPoint screen with Christian song lyrics on it
- An emotional looking crowd in various postures like clapping, lifting hands, eyes closed etc.
I am not getting into a which-imagery-is-more-appropriate debate, but I can't help observing that it does beg the question: has contemporary worship compromised on substance for the sake of style?
What are your best practices to ensure worship becomes more than just a Christian music concert?
