The image of a brown Celtic cross on a light-green background is projected on the west wall of the sanctuary, which is in an office building converted into a church. The words "Welcome to Faith' are scrawled across the slide in calligraphic script.

     The slide later changes to a photograph of Hazel Gardner, one of the matriarchs of the church. The person operating the projector yells down, “We're going to leave your picture on there for the whole service, Hazel.” Everyone laughs, especially Hazel and her family.

     The slide then changes to a group photograph taken two Sundays before at the groundbrealdng for the congregation's new church - Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Memphis is moving east.

     Then its time for the announcements, most of which are on slides that have yellow lettering in 32-point Arial type on a medium-blue background. All of the songs for the service are on similar slides. Indeed, the entire service is presented on slides, except for the sermon and the Prayer of Confession.

    Following the announcements and the Prelude, the congregation sings two songs: a traditional hymn and a contemporary religious song stately “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”; lilting “Shine, Jesus, Shine.” Later in the service, other contemporary songs are sun& as well as other traditional hymns.

     Primarily, this blend of traditional and contemporary songs, along with the PowerPoint slide presentation, makes Faith’s worship services blended services. But all in all, Faith has a fairly traditional liturgy within its service, replete with the “Doxology,” the “Gloria Patri,” a time of silent prayer, and use of the “Apostle’s Creed.”

     To the reader, these variations in a traditional service may not seem earthshaking, but reading about a blended service is not the same as experiencing one. Some of the members at Faith like the contemporary in their services; others do not.

     It might now be best to hear from the minister who switched to a blended service at Faith less than a year ago. In a recent interview David Brown said he started this kind of service because he “felt like a blended service was more adaptable and acceptable than going to a straight contemporary service. Our church needed to address current issues in current language.”
 “It is a means,” he continued, "of trying to reach out and to make our church a comfortable place. The idea of moving encouraged it. I hope we can reach the un-churched, but this is also a means of our congregation growing in understanding. We need to make the usual members comfortable as well.

     “The music is extremely  important,” he added. “Once you get through the shock, people become more acclimated to it, and it takes on a meaning for them.

     And he sees only pluses with the slide presentation: “During the scripture reading all eyes are on the screen. Before, people looked everywhere. I felt that few were reaching down. Now all eyes are on the screen. The slide presentation is definitely a positive influence.”

     “Some in the congregation,” he added, “see it not as worship, but it unifies the congregation in singing. People sing now that didn’t sing before. That’s  extremely important. The presentation is influencing people to participate in worshiping almighty God.”

     He also stated that he would advise other congrega- tions to use a blended service if the circumstances were right - “in order to bring contemporariness to the service.“ However, he said, “There are places where traditional would be best.”

     I suppose the question is why churches should concern themselves with providing contemporary-style worship. Andy Langford in his book Transitions in Worship covers the basics: “For congregations ... that do not serve the new generations ... the future is bleak” (59). “Almost two-thirds of our society [is] unchurched” (57); “The church, as always, is only one generation away from extinction” (60).

     But why turn to Christian rock, PowerPoint presentations, praise bands, more informal services, meditation periods with background music, and the like in order to renew the Christian faith? Langford expresses it best in his observation that during the early 1980s “Western society was turning away from the printed word and bound texts toward an audio and video culture” (40).

     In other words, turning to multi-sensory worship ser- vices fits the times and can perhaps wend the number of those believing in the Christian faith. Langford: "The primary media to reach the [younger generation] include their own music, multi-sensory presentations, and personal stories that connect them to others” (54). Robert Webber in Blended Worship says much the same thing: People today “demand participation, are more...  process-oriented, and are given to learning and com- municating through the visual” (27).

     Paul Brown, Professor of Worship and Preaching at Memphis Theological Seminary, asked, “Will we die on the vine or transform in order to be God's witnesses in an increasingly secular world? There is no question we will have to.” He added, “Where does the call of the Gospel say there is one way to do things. Our core constituency needs to sacrifice in order to reach the unchurched who have never known Christian faith.”

     Webber has a similar viewpoint. He notes, “Unless pastors and people are able to get together and effect worship renewal through prayer and hard work, I fear people who want a renewed worship will simply leave their local church and find it elsewhere” (30). “With people's life experiences changing” he continues, “to include dynamic movement and more participation, a worship that does not also move in this direction will become increasingly tedious and out of step with the world people are living in” (31).

     But after all is said and done, Cumberland Presbyterian churches that have followed a traditional, Reformed liturgical service are pretty much staying with that traditional service. Indeed, only a handful of churches have seriously tried to incorporate conternporary elements into their worship services or to offer a separate, fully-contemporary service.

     Jamie Lively, pastor of Greeneville Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Greeneville, Tennessee, perhaps expressed best why traditional churches don’t move to contemporary services: “It would be a shock to my congregation. It’s a dramatic change to go to a contemporary service.”

     “Its always difficult for us to give up what has ministered to us,” said Michael Qualls, pastor of Friends of His Cumberland Presbyterian Church in North Little Rock Arkansas.

     “This is my church; we've not done these weird things, sung these Jesus jingles,” Paul Brown said of the desire for stasis. And this desire for stasis is widespread, according to Brown. He noted that there is resistance to contemporary worship across the board with churches that have a highly structured liturgy. The Lutheran denomination, he said, is having a worship war, with each side accusing the other of not being Christian.

     Mike Sharpe, Executive Director of the Board of Missions, has a somewhat different view. “Most Cumberland Presbyterian ministers,” he said, “were trained when contemporary worship was not a popular form of worship. It's a new direction.”
 And, to return to the academic, Webber states: “I feel that most pastors ... have a fear of the unknown.... There is a security in doing services the same old way, and there is a certain insecurity that comes with venturing into something new and different' (29 and 30).

     So it goes with maintaining traditional, liturgical worship. But of those interviewed for this article, Sharpe expresses most succinctly the need for contemporary worship in our denomination: ”'For the unchurched, contemporary worship is a must.

    Qualls, who actively seeks to assimilate the unchurched at Friends of His, agrees with Sharpe: ”Our primary consideration is what will reach people outside the established church. Contemporary worship makes a service more accessible. It has more draw for the unchurched. It’s not a panacea, but its not an anathema either, something that is only entertainment.”

     “The whole idea,” he continued, "is to adapt the message to a medium the unchurched are familiar with. There's nothing wrong with the traditional, but its like a foreign language to the unchurched. We have to reduce their anxiety level. In order to hear the message they have to be able to accept the medium.”

     Judy Sanders, wife of Tom Sanders, who is pastor of Lakes of Springfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Rowlett, Texas, said: “Many things we can’t change, but we can change the way we present our message to people. We have to make disciples; it’s the mission of the church.”

     Paul Brown offered similar comments: “We've got to sacrifice our personal worship diet in order to feed a different diet to persons outside the church.” He remarked that a PCA minister had told him, “The need in suburbia is to reach Joe Six-pack for whom a traditional liturgy is a turn off. We need to adjust our diets to reach these people who need Jesus Christ.”

     In sum, change is coming, but the winds of change have not affected Cumberland Presbyterian churches in a tremendous way. Next month, I will introduce you to a few of our churches using the contemporary in their worship. I realize I have only dealt with one church this time around, but it is a significant church to me since I show up there on Sunday for worship.

_________________________________________________________
Reprinted by permission of The Cumberland Presbyterian, May, 2000, pages 14-15. FEATURE STORY
 

    In the first of these two articles, I introduced you to the blended worship service at Faith (CPC) in Memphis, Tennessee; then I dealt with why worship styles are fairly static in our denomination, along with why contemporary worship is sometimes a positive option. This time I will primarily tell you about three more churches in our denomination that are using contemporary elements 'in their worship services.

     Music serves as the driving force for contemporary- style worship. “One of the keys to reaching the unchurched in our time is good music,” said Michael Qualls, pastor of Friends of His (CPC) in Sherwood, Arkansas. And Qualls reaches out to the unchurched in his services, which do not have the traditional structure known to most Cumberland Presbyterian churches. He characterizes them as informal and free form.

     Services at his church begin with, what else, music, followed by prayer, announcements, a children’s sermon, and offering. Afterward, again there is music, comprised of three or four contemporary religious songs and a traditional hymn. Then comes a lay-led scripture reading. Next is special music, perhaps a solo of the contemporary variety. After the special music is the sermon, followed by a time of reflection on the morning message. This time of reflection, which finalizes the service, is undertaken as the worship team plays background music.

     The church's worship team - keyboard, bass, and a set of drums - provides all of the music for the services at Friends of His. Sometimes there is a lead guitar or a saxophone. No organ, no piano. No choir singing an anthem.

     Qualls said traditional liturgical elements are rare in his services, that they are used occasionally for specific purposes. This is in keeping with the focus of the church, which was started with the goal of reaching the unchurched. Contemporary worship elements, Qualls noted, help bring the unchurched into church: they have more draw for the unchurched. “The contemporary makes a service more accessible,” he said. But he warned that it is necessary “to do something first class.”

     He said his church currently has 110 to 115 members and that visitors stop in on a regular basis. This from a church that started only nine years ago, spending its first six years in a local YMCA before moving into its current church building.
 
    As with Friends of His, music plays an important role at Lakes of Springfield (CPC) in Rowlett, Texas. According to Judy Sanders, wife of pastor Tom Sanders, each service at Lakes'of Springfield begins with 15 to 20 minutes of contemporary songs, an approach that is a hallmark of contemporary worship. Another praise song is sung at the end of the service, sandwiched between "The Doxology" and the benediction. Traditional hymns are used sparingly, even though the service is very traditional liturgically.

     "Our service is contemporary mostly because of the music," Sanders said. However, she added, "Tom does not wear robes, and the sermon is informal." Like Friends of His, a worship team - acoustic guitar, bass guitar, lead guitar - provides the instrumentation for the services. Again, no organ, no piano. But there is a choir that sings special music twice a month.
 
    Sanders likes the new music in her church’s services. Speaking of contemporary religious music, she said, “Think of all the songs you can remember. There’s something about the way God created us so that we are able to hear and to remember God's message and promises through music.” Even the traditional hymns aren't always the same at Sanders' church. She said that "The praise team sometimes remixes old hymns and 'bumps them up.' It’s been very well received."
 
    But Sanders' church does not really reach out to the unchurched in the manner of Friends of His. Sanders stated, perhaps surprisingly, that people from other denominations were mainly visiting the church so that people coming to the church for the first time usually have had experience with traditional services and music. She noted that the attendance at worship had nearly doubled since the church started using a blended service. Presently, 95 to 115 worshipers fill the sanctuary each Sunday at Lakes of Springfield. A new contemporary service is scheduled to begin on Sunday mornings in the fall.

    As Friends of His, Lakes of Springfield began without a church building. For their first five years, they met in an office building, a school, and a store. They moved into their church building three years ago,  and Sanders said that her church ”took on a new life with the new building.”
 
    Both of these churches are New Church Development congregations that started from scratch. Perhaps this type of church lends itself to a newer style of worship, but the long-established Elliottsville (CPC)   in Alabaster, Alabama, has begun a contemporary service that is going quite well. Chris Joiner, the  church's pastor, believes, “We have to move into the future, but some want to hang onto the past. It’s an authentic past; the trick is trying to find a way to do both.” His church is doing both with a strict, liturgical  service on Sunday mornings, complemented with the contemporary service on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Elliottsville Unplugged, as it's called, contains traditional liturgical elements, but features a good deal of contemporary music. Yes, there is a sermon, a scripture reading, Prayers of the People, Children's Time and the lack for the blue jeans and shorts-clad gathering. (Chris' preached in shorts a few Saturdays ago.)  But the emphasis is on contemporary religious music, presented through a paid acoustic guitarist, through light percussion, but mostly through vocals by an ensemble of five church members.
 
    The service begins with three or four upbeat 'contemporary songs, then shifts to a time for those present to greet one another, followed by the announcements, and then three "reflective" contemporary songs. Two other contemporary songs are sung later in the service. Music in this service is always just around the corner.
 
    But the music has stopped in these services in order to show clips from the movie The Apostle, and at another time clips from Mr. Bean Goes to Church. And there is a drama presented each month. And, yes, sometimes there is special music.

     “The really wonderful thing,” Joiner said, “is the lack of opposition to it. There were no continents that it was inauthentic worship. Some, though, thought the church should use its resources differently, such as the money spent on advertising." All in all, the service has had a positive impact on the church. The attendance runs about 50 or 60 people. Joiner noted that some younger adults, who had been attending sporadically on Sunday, have been  regularly to the Saturday service. Also, four or five new families have been coming to the service. People attend the service and go out for the evening; some of the young people go out together in groups.
 
    "If people keep the focus that it's a service for the community, then it will work," Joiner stated. "It's like a front porch; people come together and get to know each other better. It's less threatening because it's more informal. It puts the community at ease."
 
    With these three descriptions of Cumberland Presbyterian churches that are experimenting with a new kind of worship, my two articles on contemporary worship 'in our denomination pretty much come to a close. But it seems worth observing that what is currently going on with worship may herald a new era in worship for mainline churches. You know how there are eras in history, literature, music and such; how one era replaces another so that things are done differently. It may be that we are at the dawn of a new era in which a reformation of traditional worship styles will take place. Is this what is happening? There's no way to really know. It's possible.
 

    Before joining the staff of the Cumberland Presbyterian Resource Center in1997, Mark Blakeburn taught college and high school English for 15 years. He has a Master’s Degree in English from The University of Memphis and has completed his doctoral orals in Modern American Literature at The University of Mississipi. He and his wife Leslie are members of Faith (CPC).