Does rock-n-roll belong at church services?

Nowhere Man said:

I think Catholics have the best 'holy' music but of course they had over 2000 years of refinement.

Christian rock has improved over the years from their canned cheesy sound to something that resembles a Rock n roll tune. I probably go for a Jesus Christ Superstar type sound there.

My favorite strangely enough is the old-time gospel sound. I used to hate it when I was young. Things change I guess.

The type you get from Abby the Spoon Lady for instance. One of my favorite buskers. Simple and down home.

I really like their version of the old-time gospel song, "Angels in Heaven".

It's a great song to listen to time to time while I'm on my Pittsburgh run.

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I love Jesus Christ Super Star

Riders said:

I love Jesus Christ Super Star

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Shot on location right in Israel too. Best years of my life when I was a Christian. I think the zenith of it all came when I actually saw Ted Neeley live on stage. I was like a teenager at a Beatles concert.

Nowhere Man said:

Shot on location right in Israel too. Best years of my life when I was a Christian. I think the zenith of it all came when I actually saw Ted Neeley live on stage. I was like a teenager at a Beatles concert.

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'
YAY I love that might have to visit my local United Methodist church sometime too so I can see it as well.

Evangelicalhumanist said:

What is the purpose of any music in a religious service? What is the purpose of anything at all -- words, rituals, gestures, costumes, incense, symbols, paraphernalia -- at any service? They are all about focussing attention on what message the service is about. So whatever does that would seem to me to be okay.

Instead of insisting that worshippers conform to religion's needs, why not let religion conform to worshipper's needs? Because after all, isn't it the worshipper's needs that are being attended to?

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Worship is supposed to attend to God's wishes. Can rock music praise the Lord and please the Lord?

I used to feel guilty at church for seeming to enjoy a groovy number, eg. Dem Bones, that the lady played on the piano that made me just want to dance. Was the woman playing the piano to entertain me or extol God?

Riders said:

'
YAY I love that might have to visit my local United Methodist church sometime too so I can see it as well.

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At 74 years old, still going strong....

Ted Neeley, The Star In 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' Sitting In At Danbury Sing-Along | The Newtown Bee

Jonathan Bailey said:

There have been Christian rock groups. In the 1950's and 1960's, rock music was the "devil's choir".

Many churches, especially Negro, have long accepted the "gospel" form of popular music but nor hard rock. Reverend Martin Luther King, though progressive in the civil rights movement, still did not approve of rock for Christian worship. Elvis Presley, a christian, would only perform and record devotional music in gospel form. This was far from his wild pelvis-swinging rock and roll numbers. Even the King of Rock would not desecrate the faith with rock.

I prefer more conventional and solemn "white" church music myself.

Pipe organs, hymns, choir, classical music, chants and piano.

Thundering drums, screeching voices and blaring electric guitars don't seem pious in the Lord's house.
It's apt to wake up the dead at funerals. Cause them to rise from their coffins.

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Belongs if the congregation and the preacher say it does. I don't agree, myself; I go to church for more peaceful stuff, myself, not to be entertained at a rock concert. On the other hand, it CAN be entertaining.

Just not...

hmnnn.....

Perhaps it's just that I"m not used to it and I'm too old. I want to sing in a choir that does the various Kyrie's and hymns, not dancing and screaming. (shrug)

but that's just me.

I'm old.

When it comes to liturgical music I am of the opinion that chant is the ideal. I can tolerate traditional, organ accompanied hymnody but my preference remains for unaccompanied chant.

Guitar based music, or styles based upon secular pop and rock I don't think have any place in a church. Holy Mass is a solemn occasion. Unfortunately, much of the nonsense that has been pushed onto Catholics by liturgical 'experts' since the sixties rarely reflects that solemnity.

Jonathan Bailey said:

Worship is supposed to attend to God's wishes. Can rock music praise the Lord and please the Lord?

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How do we know what kind of music pleases God? I should expect any kind of music that brings about spiritual inspiration.

Jonathan Bailey said:

I used to feel guilty at church for seeming to enjoy a groovy number, eg. Dem Bones, that the lady played on the piano that made me just want to dance. Was the woman playing the piano to entertain me or extol God?

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I would expect that God would be pleased that his children are feeling inspired in church.

To me, rock is primal, streaming from the core of one's being. Anything that can inspire and call forth such basic fervor has its place on church.

Jonathan Bailey said:

There have been Christian rock groups. In the 1950's and 1960's, rock music was the "devil's choir".

Many churches, especially Negro, have long accepted the "gospel" form of popular music but nor hard rock. Reverend Martin Luther King, though progressive in the civil rights movement, still did not approve of rock for Christian worship. Elvis Presley, a christian, would only perform and record devotional music in gospel form. This was far from his wild pelvis-swinging rock and roll numbers. Even the King of Rock would not desecrate the faith with rock.

I prefer more conventional and solemn "white" church music myself.

Pipe organs, hymns, choir, classical music, chants and piano.

Thundering drums, screeching voices and blaring electric guitars don't seem pious in the Lord's house.
It's apt to wake up the dead at funerals. Cause them to rise from their coffins.

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IMV as long as it fulfills:

Psalm 150 King James Version (KJV)
150 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord

and it ministers life to the hearer that attends, then it is good.

Jonathan Bailey said:

There have been Christian rock groups. In the 1950's and 1960's, rock music was the "devil's choir".

Many churches, especially Negro, have long accepted the "gospel" form of popular music but nor hard rock. Reverend Martin Luther King, though progressive in the civil rights movement, still did not approve of rock for Christian worship. Elvis Presley, a christian, would only perform and record devotional music in gospel form. This was far from his wild pelvis-swinging rock and roll numbers. Even the King of Rock would not desecrate the faith with rock.

I prefer more conventional and solemn "white" church music myself.

Pipe organs, hymns, choir, classical music, chants and piano.

Thundering drums, screeching voices and blaring electric guitars don't seem pious in the Lord's house.
It's apt to wake up the dead at funerals. Cause them to rise from their coffins.

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I find this sort of distinction odd. Unless you're going to skip the music altogether - as some denominations do - I think any line dividing the "approved" and "rejected" styles of music is going to be arbitrary.

KenS said:

IMV as long as it fulfills:

Psalm 150 King James Version (KJV)
150 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord

and it ministers life to the hearer that attends, then it is good.

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I love organs and the bible calls for them. Guitars, pianos, harpsichords and basses are definitely stringed instruments and cymbals are large part of rock music. But where do human voices, tambourines and drums come in?

Jonathan Bailey said:

Worship is supposed to attend to God's wishes. Can rock music praise the Lord and please the Lord?

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I don't know.

And neither do you. Nowhere does God specify what sort of music he prefers.

Jonathan Bailey said:

There have been Christian rock groups. In the 1950's and 1960's, rock music was the "devil's choir".

Many churches, especially Negro, have long accepted the "gospel" form of popular music but nor hard rock. Reverend Martin Luther King, though progressive in the civil rights movement, still did not approve of rock for Christian worship. Elvis Presley, a christian, would only perform and record devotional music in gospel form. This was far from his wild pelvis-swinging rock and roll numbers. Even the King of Rock would not desecrate the faith with rock.

I prefer more conventional and solemn "white" church music myself.

Pipe organs, hymns, choir, classical music, chants and piano.

Thundering drums, screeching voices and blaring electric guitars don't seem pious in the Lord's house.
It's apt to wake up the dead at funerals. Cause them to rise from their coffins.

Click to expand...

There are rock and pop songs that would literally create converts if traditional Christianity could return to the creative roots and embrace the fullest meaning of the experience of God. For me my church music can be found in certain works of the progressive rock band Yes. I am brought to tears of ecstasy almost every time I listen to the song Awaken by Yes.

For any Christian read the lyrics to this song and apply them to your Christian faith and I think you will find a beautiful message of faith in the spirit and divine truth. Then and only then listen to the music.

The lyrics...
Yes - Awaken Lyrics | AZLyrics.com

The music...

Here is a sample of the lyrics from that song.

Workings of man
Set to ply out historical life
Reregaining the flower of the fruit of his tree
All awakening
All restoring you

Workings of man
Crying out from the fire set aflame
By his blindness to see
That the warmth of his being
Is promised for his seeing
His reaching so clearly

In this we can see how we might reflect on the story of Adam and Eve and of the metaphor of Hell as symbolic of our spiritual yearnings.

Jonathan Bailey said:

I love organs and the bible calls for them. Guitars, pianos, harpsichords and basses are definitely stringed instruments and cymbals are large part of rock music. But where do human voices, tambourines and drums come in?

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The Messiah is the "chief singer". Jarrett Lawrence Emanuel's father was a drummer in a rock band. And then there is the prophecy of the "drummer boy" who was in the marching band at Blair middle school. The voice from Heaven said, "Wake up Maggie" and then the song by Rod Stewart played on the radio. That was on Mother's Day, Sunday morning, May 13, 1984.

Jonathan Bailey said:

I love organs and the bible calls for them.

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Pipe organs didn't exist until the late medieval period... The word translated in the KJV as "organ" is actually "pipe" or "flute". The KJV is by no means the best translation.

David1967 said:

I play guitar in a Rock band and I attend church services. IMHO I don't like to mix the two. Don't ask me to justify my feelings about it because they are just that, my personal conviction.

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I grew up in a conservative, fundamentalist Christian church. I also played guitar. So every Christmas we'd put on a play and show, and I would play guitar through some of it. One time we were having rehearsals and we took a break. The rest of the group all went downstairs for snacks, but I stayed up on the stage. You see, they had some pretty cool speakers and I wanted to see how my guitar sounded on them. So I turned up the volume and hit a G chord.

Within seconds the preacher came running up the stairs, waiving her arms, and yelling "THIS IS THE HOUSE OF THE LORD!! THIS IS THE HOUSE OF THE LORD!!" I just looked at her and was like....."Huh? What did I do?" She yelled "THIS IS THE HOUSE OF THE LORD AND WE WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH BLASPHEMY!!" I pointed out that I just strummed a G chord, the same chord I'd been playing in rehearsals all morning, just that this time was a little louder. All she could muster was to repeat "THIS IS THE HOUSE OF THE LORD!!!" and pull the plug on the amps.

So I guess the difference between "Godly music" and "blasphemous music" isn't the music itself, but the volume it's played at?

Fundamentalists sure are entertaining.

sealchan said:

There are rock and pop songs that would literally create converts if traditional Christianity could return to the creative roots and embrace the fullest meaning of the experience of God. For me my church music can be found in certain works of the progressive rock band Yes. I am brought to tears of ecstasy almost every time I listen to the song Awaken by Yes.

For any Christian read the lyrics to this song and apply them to your Christian faith and I think you will find a beautiful message of faith in the spirit and divine truth. Then and only then listen to the music.

The lyrics...
Yes - Awaken Lyrics | AZLyrics.com

The music...

Here is a sample of the lyrics from that song.

Workings of man
Set to ply out historical life
Reregaining the flower of the fruit of his tree
All awakening
All restoring you

Workings of man
Crying out from the fire set aflame
By his blindness to see
That the warmth of his being
Is promised for his seeing
His reaching so clearly

In this we can see how we might reflect on the story of Adam and Eve and of the metaphor of Hell as symbolic of our spiritual yearnings.

Click to expand...

Contemporary Christian rock/pop music & co. have their place in the car, on the street, at home, in the park, in bars, etc., sure. But not in church. It's music of the world, for the world.

Jonathan Bailey said:

There have been Christian rock groups. In the 1950's and 1960's, rock music was the "devil's choir".

Many churches, especially Negro, have long accepted the "gospel" form of popular music but nor hard rock. Reverend Martin Luther King, though progressive in the civil rights movement, still did not approve of rock for Christian worship. Elvis Presley, a christian, would only perform and record devotional music in gospel form. This was far from his wild pelvis-swinging rock and roll numbers. Even the King of Rock would not desecrate the faith with rock.

I prefer more conventional and solemn "white" church music myself.

Pipe organs, hymns, choir, classical music, chants and piano.

Thundering drums, screeching voices and blaring electric guitars don't seem pious in the Lord's house.
It's apt to wake up the dead at funerals. Cause them to rise from their coffins.

Click to expand...

I would respect conscience and recognize a variety of styles on that one.
However one should look at the goal. In the church music is part of putting words of truth with human voices. It should be God centered and truth drenched in general.

If it's merely entertainment or providing a feel or noastalgic I would not be a fan. But a range of styles are fine if it's truth centered and worshipful. I am also not a fan of over repetition or drowning out the congregation with a 'worship band' where you can only hear them.

Music ideally helps tie the service together and even helps memorize scripture and truths.