WORSHIP LEADERS
BRIDGING THE GAP FOR AN OLDER CONGREGATION | Matt Miller
Hey Worship Leaders ! I think we all struggle from time to time with getting true engagement and participation from our congregations . Like mine , I ’ m sure many of your churches are a mixed bag of generations and personalities and opinions . But this isn ’ t another Worship Wars article ; this is about Bridging the Gap for an Older Congregation .
I currently serve in a church that is predominantly older , which is awesome ! Many of them are completely open to new ideas and styles of worship , but let ’ s be real - they want to feel that they can still participate ( and that it ’ s not too loud ).
That being said , I have to be considerate when planning our service sets . Personally , I was born and raised on timeless , classic hymns . My mother was the choir director at our church growing up . Sunday mornings were a traditional piano and organ with a full choir and that ’ s just what we always did . Today , I usually do somewhere around four to five songs on any given Sunday morning with a blend of contemporary music and hymns . However , we try to change it up so that the hymns aren ’ t necessarily “ hymn-like ” in the way they are accompanied . Given that this is a change even for me , I can definitely understand a little pushback from older congregants when we have a full band , because that isn ’ t what they grew up on and are accustomed to either .
So when we introduce a new song , I think it ’ s critical to give a little background of the song and why we ’ re going to sing it together corporately . The way we unpack a new song for our congregation is key . Start with just the chorus , and do some old-school
“ call & response ” with an acoustic guitar or keyboard so they can actually hear themselves sing . As worship leaders , we should create environments of participation , not isolation .
Now , what about those members of the congregation who want to sing hymns the traditional way ? Well , I have an option for you : host a quarterly Hymn Sing . We did one last month and it was awesome ! We had it in our fellowship hall ( I know , we were kickin ’ it oldschool ) with the round tables and chairs . We even used the hymnals as our centerpieces , it was all a pretty stylish affair . We began with a served dinner and then we played HYMNO ( it ’ s Bingo but with Hymns ). I put together a list of 39 hymns and made simple HYMNO cards that I printed out ( if you ’ re interested in creating your own , click here .) Whenever someone got a HYMNO , they received a gift card to Cracker
42 August 2023 Subscribe for Free ...