Of course it’s being together as a community of faith, and not the style of worship, that matters. But does one type of worship inspire you more than the other? Does the traditional liturgy and its music resonate with you, or does a contemporary setting have the voice that you often like to hear?
I have never been so amazed at how we as a people of faith can find diversity in the midst of what seems to be a rather homogeneous culture. Growing up in the Midwest we have always had traditional worship, and having an Organist as a mother meant that I had a strong respect for traditional worship. Now after going to college, and then seminary, and while I wait for a call have come back home, I have discovered that worship is different. More contemporary songs, the liturgy is replaced or missing, and what used to be a way of being has changed to something else. The experience leaves me wanting. Wanting not for tradition but for substance, a substance that reminds me of how when we worship it is about the work we do, not the warm fuzzy it gives us. I have also been doing pulpit supply around the area and that has also given me a unique perspective on worship, from very traditional to if the sign outside did not say Lutheran you would think you were in a non-denomination church. The reality is we are all different; God made us with different tastes and ideas, diversity is the spice of life. However, contemporary worship is the thing we were not doing before. Whether it was organ and now it is piano, or guitar, or drums, or we have started using something other than LBW setting 2. I have to sit back and ask one big question, and that is why? Why are we changing? Why do we think this is what God wants us to do? What is the hope behind this change? I know that for most of us we are faced with falling church attendance, dwindling budgets, and a population of parishioners that is over 50, and I see the hope that if we change our worship they will come. Like some great sanctuary of dreams, as if changing our worship style would suddenly make us more welcoming, or allow the next generation to feel like they have a part to play in the services, or seeing beyond our selves to the community and actually asking what are they looking for would be the answer. Worship is a sacred act. It is our work and conversation with God. Contemporary or traditional is not the answer, but rather how can we use the gifts and talents of others to enhance the worship we do, and play with new ideas and new concepts that allow entry points for the diverse people we are. I know for myself that the most meaningful worship is one that opens us up to different things, that has substance, meat and potatoes, as well as all sorts of fun. But above all something that feels genuine. Something that comes from the heart, and reminds me that God is all-around us, Christ is lifting us up to God, and the Spirit is taking up and leading us where we need to go.
I have no theological problems with contemporary worship, but I have major aesthetic issues with it, though I fully acknowledge that those are personal.
I'm a freshman student at a Lutheran university and can say that I experience both traditional and contemporary worship on a weekly basis. I, as Peter has stated, do not have "theological problems with contemporary worship, but have major aesthetic issues with it,..." Traditional worship, in my opinion, is much richer in doctrine and is much more reverent overall. Along with John, contemporary worship leaves me wanting, and perhaps that is just me, but I just do not resonate with contemporary worship at all. I know that others do like it very well, but having grown up in a different denomination it was the richness of the liturgy, the reverence, and the real presence of God that drew me to the Lutheran church. Now I fear that contemporary worship is taking some of that substance away. In the end, I pray that the ultimate purpose (in any setting - traditional or contemporary) will be to have us worship the One, Holy, and Triune God.