Hi, new contributor signing in. Look at my profile if you want to find out who the hell I am! Thought I’d dive straight in to the shallow end and comment on the worship thread. I also struggle with much of what’s described as ‘worship’ in church, for some of the same reasons Richard mentioned (narrow understanding of worship, few of the songs express my understanding of God/Jesus/Good News/Kingdom etc).
I attended an ‘alternative worship’ event last week, run by a bunch of people who have been doing this stuff in Cardiff for years and are really creative and interesting. The evening was engaging, reflective and made a lot of sense to me where I’m currently at, and involved no singing at all. However, the feel was very much each person, in their own space, with their own thoughts. Surely if there is any strength in singing a bunch of songs together in a group it’s that, for once, we are at least (literally) singing from the same song sheet. How do we retain and promote this sense of ‘corporateness’ and lose some of the trash that’s become attached? Historically singing songs together has been an important way in which people experience community and share their common stories and experiences. Is there still a place for music/communal singing in the church community? What is it?