Worship Teams

Praises from the Foul Line

I am not extremely old (at least I hope not), but I have been around enough to see fads rise and fall in the church world. I watched the advent of and, thankfully, the rapture-ing away of the "last days" emphasis in teen camp sermons. I have viewed the representational aesthetics contained within the popular concept of the "sancta-nasium" (a "practical" combination in many churches of their sanctuaries with youth centered gymnasiums) grow in my denomination. And, I must say, one has not praised the Lord in truth until one has done so in repentance at a yellow foul line. However, one trend of particular interest, which has proliferated upon the lawns of evangelical worship like happy dandelions, is the phenomenon of "The Praise Team."

For those of you in the backwaters of religious life whose churches have probably not yet installed a CD player in their surround-a-sound systems and are perhaps even still using a piano and pianist to support the annual Christmas and Easter cantatas, Praise Teams are the up and coming replacement for what was once called "choirs." They share a few qualities. They use music, and they are usually made up of amateurs, but that's where the similarities end.

Praise Teams are far more inclusive in their nature. In the old choirs, of course, anyone could participate. In fact, who among us can not recall, from the choirs of our past, the tone-deaf basses grumbling their monotones or the screeching sopranos who shattered spectacles across the first two congregational rows? However, now a group of especially gifted brothers and sisters in Christ lead the entire congregation in songs of praise. Where traditional robes once marked the choir and hid the variances in personal dress, Praise Teams dress like everyone else. . .but, of course, much better. Instead of the distant confines of the choir loft, these Teams now stand upon the foreground of the platform, inspiring us all with their hand-held mikes, beaming out towards the herd of sheepish believers, who are themselves trying to follow along with the chorus' words printed in their bulletins.

If bulletin space does not allow for all the praise songs planned, overhead projections of the words can be used, which is even better since the fellowship is not so distracted trying to look at both The Team's performance and the words. Of course, the congregation might as well not bother looking at the words anyway because the projector is usually too dim to see, out of focus or three stanzas behind the actual chorus. Besides, without notes on the screen to follow along with the words "all we like sheep go astray." Clearly The Praise Team knows these songs, but for the rest, Sunday is often a shared moment of musical revelation.

Another difference between the old and the new use of music is that Praise Teams do not draw as much attention to themselves as choirs once did. In traditional services "the anthem" of the choir was boldly marked in the order of service. Today most Praise Teams just fill up two pages of the bulletin (or include a thick insert) with their songs. And while choirs exclusively sang their "specials" in ministry to the congregation, Praise Teams have the whole assembly stand with them, to involve them through all eighteen reprises of the worship phrase "God is Good" (as well as the spontaneous sermon on God's good, good goodness given by The Team Leader). How could anyone feel left out?

Being part of the shared experience of standing through chorus after chorus, the worshiper can not doubt that the needs of each soul are being considered by the inclusive leadership of modern Praise Teams. There is no ego of the self here. When attending her church's praise worship, one dear friend of mine who suffers from early rheumatoid arthritis, dutifully and habitually remains standing, her knuckles white from gripping the pew before her, until The Team Leader feels God's direction to release the congregation to their seats. Another friend recalls the balancing act she practiced each "restful" Sabbath a few years back when--while standing in heels, with a two year old on her hip, on a slightly inclined floor--she waited to be granted God's gift of a resting place. Both of these ladies felt the need to demonstrate their willing and submissive spirit to those around them by following The Team's example. And, since The Teams are often peopled by young believers, there is a lot of stamina available to demonstrate spirituality. Furthermore, after such demonstrations of endurance, the shared breath of thankfulness which rises from a body of Christ when the Team Leader finally says "you may be seated" is beauteous in its air of praise.

Finally there can be no doubt of the theological superiority of the religious experience provided by most Praise Teams over most choirs. Obtuse imagery like this were once the staple of the average choirs' ministry in America:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made,

However, they are now being replaced with "I love you lord, love you, love you, love you." Anyone who has worked with children knows that repetition is the way to get ideas across. Furthermore complicated abstract images such as these which follow need no longer strain the Christian contemplation:

O Morning Star, how fair and bright

thou beamest forth in truth and light,

O Sovereign meek and lowly!

Thou Root of Jesse, David's Son,

my Lord and Master, thou has won

my heart to serve thee solely!

Certainly being told that "God is an awesome God" twenty or thirty times is far more effective to the modern giver of praise than comparing the Almighty to some distant star or trying to figure out the significance of various scriptural quotes being sung.

Worship Team leaders are constantly endeavoring to find the best ways to express God's infinite nature in language. That's why the nouns "I" and "We" come up so often as the subjects of many chorus phrases like "I love you Lord" and "We Praise His Name." Furthermore, in these choruses there is a complex use language. Thus, a rhetorician colleague of mine has discovered that the entire vocabulary used in his church's praise worships sessions--including articles like "the" "an" and "a"--usually totals around 26 words. Clearly contemporary Praise Team leaders are masters of the pithy phrase.

So Baby Boomers have created a worship tool which suits them. Disregarding stuffy language and obtuse abstract thinking, they worship God by following the leadership found in the performances of their best, looking their best. The modern Praise Team encourages inclusiveness since it asks fellow-worshipers to join together while gazing up at The Team members themselves rather than down in hymnals stuffed with archaic poetry and erudite scriptural quotations. If a member of the congregation is filled with jealousy, it shows a carnal heart, and the discipline of standing through fifteen choruses of "Thank You Jesus" will chastise the flesh. And although the words to choruses may sometimes be initially a mystery, no one should worry too much since the lyrics favored by modern Praise Teams are so simple and short that memorization by the believer is almost immediate. So I say "Praise the Lord!" "Thank You Jesus!" and "Awesome is as awesome does."