In my house, I grew up an Episcopalian Christian. Everyone in my immediate family and extended family are Episcopalian as well. While I do not go to church myself much anymore, I still go on Holidays and I can remember what services were like. The music in the church is very plain sounding. We would sing basic hymns and other call-and-response like songs.
During the breaking of the bread and the communion is where we sing the most. The prayers while breaking the bread are sung and spoken. During communion, it is just hymns sung by the choir. The purpose of these songs are prayer and express the meaning of the service. The songs are sung by the choir and the congregation. If it is a call-and-response song, then the priest will begin and the congregation follows.
The performing styles are very basic and classical, nothing extreme. Occasionally, a guitarist or a band will come in to sing special hymns. The modernization of the hymns makes them much more enjoyable in my opinion. I really enjoy hearing a guitar. I think the organ sounds super cool, it is a beautiful instrument. It is just church music is not really my thing.
I definitely believe that the music affects how I feel about the whole thing. If something sounds rather boring, I am not going to enjoy it. However, my church used to offer a Contemporary Service. It had modernized christian songs, not even hymns. If I had to go to church, I would prefer that service. Eventually, they stopped having the contemporary service and just stuck with the traditional service.
Even though I am not as religious as I used to be, I still think of the Episcopal Church as a huge part of my life. I have known some of my friends there since birth or pre school.
I grew up in the same type of church (it was a little bit different, but mostly the same). I completely understand how hymns can be boring. Not that there's anything wrong with the traditional hymns, but sometimes I feel like things need to be spiced up a little. I'm a huge fan of contemporary services like you seem to be. When I took over the music part of the service at the church my dad owned, I started moving towards using more modern music. Maybe in the next few years, new churches will pop up with a more contemporary service.
ReplyDelete-Katie Edge
I did attend an Episcopalian church with a friend and it was pretty neat. I do agree that music affects how I feel about the whole thing. It's hard to stay tentative if the service is boring.
ReplyDelete-Hayley
I grew up in a baptist church and then later changed churches. I felt the same way about our baptist services. Not everyone would participate and when people did sing it would mainly be the pastor and the person playing the piano. There was some beauty in the simplicity of it, but got boring when no one else would sing. Its nice that your church has guest musicians come. My current church does that as well, so it is nice to hear different styles of music in the church!
ReplyDeleteI can understand not necessarily enjoying the traditional music that they play at church. For awhile, I also did not really like the music that they played, but when I went to other churches, they introduced me to sacred songs that really stuck with me such as gospel music.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Presbyterian/Methodist churches and the music in the traditional service could get boring because the lack of instruments. I do think that can make your outlook on church as a whole different because you want to enjoy and invest time in what you are there for and not be bored.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Episcopalian I find it interesting to learn and hear about the different types of churches. I for one grew up Pentecostal and compared to the services you described I can tell they are totally different.
ReplyDeleteI would also like going to a contemporary service as well. My church is the same way and they just offer the traditional service. I agree, it is hard to enjoy church if it is boring.
ReplyDeleteI grew up Presbyterian, and it seems that our churches operated fairly similarly. Unlike you, I actually prefer the more traditional music. It is fascinating to me to think about how much history these melodies carry. In a way, singing a traditional hymn connects you to all those who sang it before you, and also all of those who will come after you. They are a way to engage directly with history, but in a spiritual way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that music can make or break a religious experience. If I was at a church where the music was boring, I would not be inclined to go back. I think that contemporary services are a great way to bring in younger crowds and keep people engaged in the service.
ReplyDeleteMy former church had a similar setup, having both a contemporary and traditional service. I also preferred the contemporary services; if I listen to calming, plain music, it might put me to sleep, and the pumping rhythms in the contemporary services helped me stay awake and focused.
ReplyDeleteLike many people who have comment on this blog, I also have never heard of an “Episcopalian.” It was really learning more about it though. I have to agree with you when you mention how music can make something more/less interesting. I’ve been to a non-denominational church that used more contemporary style music and it was pretty neat.
ReplyDeleteI also have heard Episcopalian music and been involved in services since I am also used to a more traditional service. It is sometimes hard to stay awake and focused, but I enjoy music in a church service!
ReplyDeleteThe church I have grown up in and still attend with my family is a bible church. We sing a mixture of traditional and more modern hymns. There are several hymns out there that have beautifuls texts and beautiful tunes, and there are those that have beautiful texts that are masked by tunes that are out of date. I enjoy taking these and putting different chords under the melodies, trying to give them a more timeless feel, so that the words can be appreciated.
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