Thanks again to
1. Personal Preference
Average: 38.833% Traditional 61.167% Contemporary
Median (mid-point): 37.5% Traditional, 62.5% Contemporary
Mode (most popular): 30% Traditional, 70% Contemporary
Data Points (or samples): 30
2. What my home church does
Average: 49.714% Traditional, 50.286% Contemporary
Median: 40% Traditional, 60% Contemporary
Mode: 40% Traditional, 60% Contemporary
Data Points: 28
3. What I think my home church should do
Average: 45.28% Traditional, 54.72% Contemporary
Median: 50% Traditional, 50% Contemporary
Mode: 50% Traditional, 50% Contemporary
Data Points: 25
I like to document my thoughts before hearing your great comments to these weekly worship polls. As we pondered preferences, I chose 80% contemporary and 20% traditional. Contemporary simply means “of this age.” In some circles, “contemporary” has become a bad word, when it simply means to be “up-to-date.” I personally don’t want to go back to the “horse and buggy days” nor do I want to live without in-door plumbing and telephones. So Wyane, my percentage preferences happened to be the same as yours.
Our situation at
One of our elders, Buck Dozier, reminds me that when people leave our assemblies and get into their cars to drive home, every one of the many different radio stations are being dialed up because of the eclectic tastes of our diverse membership. That humbles me as I plan worship for this varied collection of preferences. Lee Milam said, “Leading four generations of worshippers into the presence of God in one assembly can be overwhelming at times, but we find great value in the middle.”
We worship God through our own personal “heart” language -- and that varies with each unique individual. Imagine attempting to require a Chinese national to worship God in Portuguese, when the Chinese Christian doesn’t know that language.
I’m also aware of how certain songs evoke strong emotions and memories of previous experiences in our lives. For some, the “older” songs are worn out and antiquated. For others, they are fresh and brand new. Older Christians are sometimes reconnected to their life-long journey in the faith through music. Drew pointed out that it is tragic when a church chooses to completely ignore a complete generation of their membership.
And yes, I was very surprised by how many young people prefer the older songs nowadays. Golfman said, “I would surmise that it is some of our younger song leaders (25-30 yrs) who prefer to lead traditional hymns. Our older members seem to prefer the more contemporary hymns.” Wyane said that background and conditioning may account for the number of college students who prefer traditional over contemporary. Cathy pointed out that the younger generation cherishes the identity found from adopting traditions.
Yes, Brian, we should remember that all old songs were “new” at one point. My Canadian friend, Robert noted that it would have been very interesting to tie age ranges with the worship poll answers, further clarifying the results.
As Clarissa and Scott said, we should honor our heritage and honor our older people. At the same time, the seasoned believers should honor the younger Christians (“honor one another above yourselves”), and all of us should be sensitive to seekers -- as long as it does not dilute our own worship experience (we should probably discuss this topic later.) Outreach was mentioned by several of you and I realize that some churches are “watering down” their worship as a method of outreach, consequently leaving disciples hungry.
Les said that the songs he grew up with do not work for him now, which is interesting because others prefer only the songs they grew up with. Todd said that he likes worshipping with traditional but listening to contemporary. Kris stated that growing up with the traditional songs in
Jon and Lee, I love it when worship leaders breathe new life into ancient songs through enthusiasm, (as Andrew said to “rework” arrangements) and treat them with fresh respect. Joe, I love Scripture songs too! (It becomes more difficult for mankind to mess up God’s message if they are direct quotes from the Word.) I agree with Scott and Mike that “timelessness” is a quality that we should strive for in choosing songs. But Mike, if worship can reflect an individual’s heart language, what if I’m a cheesy person? 
Hal, Bret, Gary and Shane made excellent points how worship should not be planned in a cookie-cutter fashion, but selections made based upon the appropriate message/need, without regard to whether the song is old or new. Continuity is important in planning worship, James pointed out. Wes is wise in planning medleys mixing the old and new together. As Kristen shared, setting the tone is important, since the same song can sound completely different in different settings (good or bad).
Many of you commented on the problems in deciding what is “new”, realizing that early 1970’s songs are decades old now. Some mentioned 1995 and after as being new. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. I agree that there are some songs we (people in my circumstances) shouldn’t try to sing that meant a lot to the original culture who wrote and sang those songs. For example, it is improper for me to sing “hardly a comfort can afford,” when my life is filled with comforts.
Again, I am being blessed by the rich ideas shared in these comments. There is so much to learn and we only have so much time on this earth. Jeff pointed out that I’m in the “dark ages”, but hey, I’m trying to be a life-long learner! 
But thanks, Jeff, for reminding us that we should be “checking our compasses and ensuring that we are following The Way, The Truth and The Life.”
