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…

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.

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?

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.