Re: Lyric Tweet
8 Comments Published by Camron Ware - Visual Worshiper October 27th, 2009 in Visual WorshipOk; 140 characters isn’t enough.
This is an expanded explanation of my Tweet: Why do we (Church) feel like we HAVE to ALWAYS see the lyrics?! Learn the songs! And don’t say it’s cuz the newcomers. #frustrated
I’m not talking about getting rid of projected lyrics. I’m talking about the mindset that we (Church-media-tech-artsy-worship) people are in, and if we don’t have lyrics, we are not effective. We’re getting ready for a Sunday service or conference; and we put the lyrics in the presentation software to show on the screens so we can read the lyrics and sing along…no problem with that. I’m not saying that’s wrong. What I AM saying is that there is a mentality that if we DON’T have lyrics; it’s the end of the world – and I think it’s not. If the words aren’t on the screen on time; or if something technical fails; what usually happens? Things scramble in the tech booth, and the congregation usually gets a little quieter. 
So; (and this goes along with my previous entry) I just feel that we are relying on projected lyrics SO much; that without them we panic. I know that in my home church; there are songs that the congregation knows so well (for whatever reason) that we wouldn’t have to put lyrics up. But we do; and we read the lyrics – which, again, is fine.
What did the ancient church do before the printing press?
Do big secular band projects all the lyrics to their songs during a show? (Yes I know we are not a show in worship, but that’s not the conversation right now) The fans who go to the show usually know the lyrics because they listen to the band’s songs in a car (for example) where the can’t see the lyrics on a big screen. I have heard a lot of people’s stories who listen to worship music in the car and REALLY know the lyrics; and tell me they close their eyes during the service because the lyrics actually throw them off. Truth is; for me; it’s EASIER to simply read the words on the screen instead of really set the words in my mind and heart. I’m visual; so I naturally want to see the words. But sometimes I feel like that prevents me from intentionally knowing the song and taking it with me during the week. It’s like the words stay on the screen for me to come back to next week. There’s no need for me to memorize the words! They will always be there!
What if we thoughtfully and intentionally DIDN’T put lyrics up for certain choruses or phrases; or even whole songs – for example: Amazing Grace. I think this would help people start really knowing and memorizing the words.
There are definitely times when you want ALL the lyrics up on the screens. Maybe it’s a new song that the worship pastor wrote; or the song is very wordy and complicated. But; be intentional with it! Sometimes it’s powerful to simply LISTEN. I feel like I get too focused on making sure I’m singing the right words, I forget what they mean!
All this is coming from me being involved at all these churches and events and conferences and always seeing the exact same thing. Myself, along with a handful of close friends and others are struggling with the “WHY”. That helps us understand and OWN what we are doing. We never want to do something simply because it’s always been done. There is a shift going on in the Church visually; and this is part of that.
If I’m totally off on something – sorry. But I don’t hear anyone else asking this kind of stuff.
This is something I’ve been thinking about lately. I help give leadership to an a cappella campus ministry (just voices in all our worship). We have a great tradition of amazing worship gathered around campfires, with no lyrics, computers or anything. Those times have been the best worship experiences of my life—even better the most visually and musically stimulating Hillsong Conferences and the like.
I’ve noticed that in our context, relying heavily on Propresenter and pre-planned worship gatherings, that we’ve simply do not know songs. When we do gather around campfires, we can’t sing because fires just don’t project lyrics like my mac does.
So over the past few weeks, I’ve been experimenting with intentionally cutting the lyrics out of our presentations. I haven’t gotten to the point where we go completely without lyrics just yet, but hope to get there.
Your thoughts are spot on in my opinion.
Great thoughts Cameron. Just the other day I was thinking about how U2 can get thousands of people to sing at the top of their lungs wherever they go. Obviously, their fans know their music well. While I’m not huge fan of CCM radio (which could stand for Cookie-Cutter-Music), I think there is value in our worship leaders choosing songs that people are familiar with. Or at the very least, when introducing lesser know songs, choose songs that are easy to learn and pick up on. How Great Is Our God is a perfect example of a song that took off in our church the first time we did it. Maybe it’s because it was already on the radio at the time, or maybe it’s just really easy to sing.
So I think this is a great conversation for both visual worshippers and worship leaders to have TOGETHER. Does song selection really play a role in how we project lyrics? Does the congregation really have to sing all the time? Is a lyric any less powerful if it is heard and felt in the heart rather than sung?
I think the answers are different for everyone, but these are great questions to ask.
I wonder what else we’re doing just because ‘we’ve always done it’… and maybe it would be better if we didn’t?
Camron:
I’ve really given this discussion consideration since it popped up in my twitter feed yesterday. I appreciate you starting the conversation, and Proctor fanning it on. I also appreciate your effort to ask “why” – I think this is a healthy question… one that the Church and it’s leadership need to ask more often. I do agree that sometimes we get in a rut of doing things because that’s how it’s always been done.
But, on the other hand, I don’t think it’s a good idea to stop doing something once we realize “that’s how it’s always been done.” I’m learning that for a large majority of the time, practices are instituted in the Church for good reasons by good people with good intentions. Once we learn “why” something was instituted into practice, only then can we begin to ask ourselves if remains useful and beneficial for the Church.
In the instance of projected lyrics, I’m all in favor of challenging the congregation to learn the words. To ingest them. To really cognitively engage in the singing aspect of a worship service. I’m also in favor of encouraging them to just sit and listen to a song – really let the message and music wash over them. I agree that the screen can become a crutch. A way to mentally check out of the service and just mindlessly go along with what we read.
However, in instances where we are asking a congregation to sing along, I don’t think the most beneficial approach would be to remove lyrics. I think this action would, in most churches, immediately alienate those who are less familiar with the song. It’s not just “cuz the newcomers” – it’s because there are people that attend church on Sunday who really do want to have a genuine experience with God. They really do want to participate in the service. They want to engage. But they may be in their 80s and have memory issues. They may be 6 years old and just learning to read along with those of us who are singing. They may be from another country, where English is not their first language, and they have a hard time catching up with the words that the rest of us have quickly learned.
These people are all a part of my current church, and I deeply desire to help them and serve them in worship. In my present Sunday setup, this idea would hinder more than it would help. I think a better approach would be to find creative ways to encourage the congregation to learn the words… For example, by introducing a song with the first line, then gesturing to them to complete the line:
“Give thanks to the Lord, Our God and King”
(gesture)
They say “His love endures forever”
in that moment, we’ve shown that most of them already know the song. Or, that they should join in with the rest and try to learn it.
But no one has been prevented from participating in the service.
Roughly 10 years ago, my church didn’t have a fancy projection system. Instead, they printed off the week’s lyrics on pieces of paper that went with the rest of the bulletin. I don’t have much to add to the conversation (although I am intensely interested, being the head of the presentation team at my local campus Christian group), but I do want to point out that there are alternatives to having the lyrics projected on a screen.
Interesting thoughts… it reminds me of our paster (also a musician) encouraging the other musicians to learn the music and so they can therefore get rid of the music books. -therefore the musician is ‘free-er’ – they have the skills to play the music, but they have the freedom to improvise as well as not get flustered when they can’t find the next song in the book, or the book falls off on to the floor, or hey, someone starts a song that isn’t in the schedule!
Perhaps studying the impact/nature of folk music (the kind that traveled by word of mouth without a known composer) would be helpful in this discussion. Not the style of the music so much as the crafting process. Why do so many pass through the generations without being written down? Perhaps it was the fact that the poor, then, could not read/write. So, what do we do now with an “intelligent” (if only in skills) collective with a high level of permissible ignorance culturally. We’ve been trying to make things easier and easier for people to not be “disconnected” when they come unprepared… Now we are realizing the impact of that. Like raising a child…
It seems that people find more honesty/identification with the songs of the secular world, thus they listen to them more often and with more attention… To express the feelings they have no words for by borrowing a few from whom they may consider a kindred spirit. Perhaps it’s safety by means of distraction, perhaps the words of the secular fit what is most readily on their lips. The majority of the songs we sing are repackaged scripture, or some vague “God” idea. Truth is not a substitute for honesty, but they must be companions of each other. And honesty cannot be achieved without expression (the purpose of the arts themselves). Why did a song like “I Can Only Imagine” cross INTO secular charts? It certainly wasn’t a vaguely Christian song… But it was embraced by humanity inside and outside of the church.
In any case, with the question of lyrical projection and how to be more “artistic” for masses of people posed, discounting the “show” nature of our worship services is a bit of a misrepresentation (even contextually). Obviously the enthusiasm of the audience is most important to a secular show, and they are using their environmental technologies (with higher budgets) to emphasize/create that as well. We need to accept that, figure out why/if it’s wrong (it may not be – thus a staunch defense builds more divisive walls from perceived/actual dishonestly) and go from there. The rest of this is purely symptomatic of a larger problem, which has been hinted at in the article and comments of this blog… Yet that is the real question/challenge we don’t want to face…
We had a great example of this, our yearly encounter retreat our student ministry does every year was this past weekend. The first night we were hitting all kinds of technical problems, including our projector. We made the bold decision to not project worship lyrics…. God Showed Up.Bigger than ever. we as a society (the american church) need to realize that the holy Spirit is going to move when he wants to…. and we can’t do anything to control that. GREAT POST