I've just been having an exchange of emails regarding songs for Sunday morning, and then noticed this post from Eternal Echoes. We don't sing hymns at our cafe services, and at our most recent one we put weekend newspapers at every table and sought to discover stories where we saw evidence of God at work. It would be an interesting challenge to have a Sunday morning service where there were no hymns or songs! How would people react? Can you have a real service of worship without songs? ( I think the answer is "Yes!") Something to think about.
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When we were in Australia we were part of a very large church with very talented and professional sounding music groups, but the minister felt that although they were very skilled and a great aid to worship, the whole music teams/rotas/organisation/personalities/egos etc actually caused a lot of people involved a lot of stress so suggested a no music service. We were all unsure how it would work as music and worship were such a huge part of the service, probably more than half the service timewise was taken up in this way. Anyway, it worked very well and many people in the church who had never previously been "up front" presented different types of Arts as an aid to worship - an artist talked us through some religious paintings, there were readings and poems read aloud while photos were displayed on the power point, and mime and dance also used. There was also an extended time for prayer and silent reflection. It was a challenge at first to use these different means as a form of worship but I think many people felt blessed through the service and it was suggested that it would become a more regular thing. Anyway, just wanted to offer some positive feedback to the idea and hope that I'm well enough to come and join in!
well my answer was yes, I conducted two services with no hymns, and all was well!
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