Memo to Worship Bands

from Tim Challies blog...

John G. Stackhouse writes a letter to worship bands asking them to turn down the volume just a little bit.

"The contrast with the Reformation is the modern-day insistence that a few people at the front be the center of attention. We do it by making six band members louder than a room full of people. But a church service isn't a concert at which an audience sings along with the real performers. Musicians--every one of them, including the singers--are accompanists to the congregation's praise. They should be mixed loudly enough only to do their job of leading and supporting the congregation."

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/february/14.50.html

Other than the comment about the Luther drinking songs, I think he nails it really well. I WANT TO HEAR THE CONGREGATION SINGING!!! Oops, sorry for shouting. ;-)

For the record, Luther did not take "bar tunes" and put biblical words to them. That legend comes from a comical misunderstanding. Someone apparently heard a music historian referring to Luther's use of the "bar form," which refers to a stanza structure, not to what drunks sing in a tavern. Luther did borrow and adapt tunes from earlier hymns, medieval chants, and contemporary composers, but a good number of his melodies were his own original compositions.

http://ruberad.wordpress.com/2006/03/10/why-cant-ccm-have-any-good-tunes/