I completely agree with your blog, and I am glad to be able to make a comment about it. So here's my experience: I come from a diverse church. The church, which is relatively small (130 Sunday attendees), comprises in my estimation of 45% black, 30% white, 15% Middle Eastern and about 10% Hispanic and other. Furthermore, the ages range from newborns to those in their senior years. The leadership, the elders and deacons, include blacks, whites and just recently a Middle Eastern (Praise The Lord!). However, they are all males. With this in mind, as the worship team leader, I try to include a hymn each week, since I repeatedly get positive feedback when we sing them especially from those over 50 and hymns are universal in nature. It seems as if everyone is familiar with these. Next, we sing contemporary songs which are enjoyed mostly by the younger groups including the youth and the middle aged non-blacks. Finally, my personal favorite are the gospel songs which I am striving to integrate more into our selections since our demographics have a lot of people with a background with gospel music. Old-time gospel songs have been easiest to introduce from this genre since its been song in black and white churches. However, contemporary gospel songs such as I Call You Faithful by Donnie McClurkin, have not been easy to incoporate into our list and at times I get discouraged. I wonder if the worship team is afraid that the genre would make others feel excluded or uncomfortable. Why I feel this way, I do not know but I think both blacks and whites are afraid that it will take away the diversity. Suffice it to say, my list below shows that there are some songs that have been received quite well.
Songs from the last couple of Sundays include:
Give Thanks (Hymn)How Great thou Art (Hymn)I have decided to follow Jesus (Hymn)What can wash away my sin? (Hymn) You are Good (Gospel) I want to be a Follower of Christ (Gospel)We Have Come into His House (Gospel) My Redeemer Lives (Comtemporary)Mighty to Save (Comtemporary)You are Holy (Comtemporary)How Great is our God (Comtemporary)Jesus Mesisiah (Comtemporary) Some songs are sang together in two different formats. For instance: Doxology (Hymn) *This begins in the gospel method singing it acapella then we transition to the traditional method with the full band.I Love you Lord, Today (Gospel) followed immediately by I Love You Lord (Hymn) Also, there is one song that we sing a couple of time a year in Spanish then in English. When I look closely at this list, I realize that almost all the songs are written by males regardless of genres even though most of my singers are females. Also, there are fewer gospel songs than any other type sang even though the congregation is nearly half black. This is not to say that all blacks like gospel music or come from a gospel background, but I have received several requests from blacks in the congregation for more gospel choir type songs to be sang . I would love to have a perfect balance, but honestly it has only been a year since I have taken this leadership role, so perhaps it will eventually happen. Thanks again for writing about this topic that is dear to my heart. God bless, Stephanie
Posted in: Strategies towards Multicultural Worship
Hi Dr. Hamstra,
I completely agree with your blog, and I am glad to be able to make a comment about it. So here's my experience:
I come from a diverse church. The church, which is relatively small (130 Sunday attendees), comprises in my estimation of 45% black, 30% white, 15% Middle Eastern and about 10% Hispanic and other. Furthermore, the ages range from newborns to those in their senior years. The leadership, the elders and deacons, include blacks, whites and just recently a Middle Eastern (Praise The Lord!). However, they are all males. With this in mind, as the worship team leader, I try to include a hymn each week, since I repeatedly get positive feedback when we sing them especially from those over 50 and hymns are universal in nature. It seems as if everyone is familiar with these. Next, we sing contemporary songs which are enjoyed mostly by the younger groups including the youth and the middle aged non-blacks. Finally, my personal favorite are the gospel songs which I am striving to integrate more into our selections since our demographics have a lot of people with a background with gospel music. Old-time gospel songs have been easiest to introduce from this genre since its been song in black and white churches. However, contemporary gospel songs such as I Call You Faithful by Donnie McClurkin, have not been easy to incoporate into our list and at times I get discouraged. I wonder if the worship team is afraid that the genre would make others feel excluded or uncomfortable. Why I feel this way, I do not know but I think both blacks and whites are afraid that it will take away the diversity. Suffice it to say, my list below shows that there are some songs that have been received quite well.
Songs from the last couple of Sundays include:
Give Thanks (Hymn)How Great thou Art (Hymn)I have decided to follow Jesus (Hymn)What can wash away my sin? (Hymn) You are Good (Gospel) I want to be a Follower of Christ (Gospel)We Have Come into His House (Gospel) My Redeemer Lives (Comtemporary)Mighty to Save (Comtemporary)You are Holy (Comtemporary)How Great is our God (Comtemporary)Jesus Mesisiah (Comtemporary) Some songs are sang together in two different formats. For instance:
Doxology (Hymn) *This begins in the gospel method singing it acapella then we transition to the traditional method with the full band.I Love you Lord, Today (Gospel) followed immediately by I Love You Lord (Hymn) Also, there is one song that we sing a couple of time a year in Spanish then in English. When I look closely at this list, I realize that almost all the songs are written by males regardless of genres even though most of my singers are females. Also, there are fewer gospel songs than any other type sang even though the congregation is nearly half black. This is not to say that all blacks like gospel music or come from a gospel background, but I have received several requests from blacks in the congregation for more gospel choir type songs to be sang . I would love to have a perfect balance, but honestly it has only been a year since I have taken this leadership role, so perhaps it will eventually happen. Thanks again for writing about this topic that is dear to my heart. God bless, Stephanie