Music in Church

In the church, there tends to be two kinds of music, traditional and contemporary. Both have their merits but each type tends to have its own audience within the church, but there are many exceptions. Including me, as I like both. It’s an ongoing balance because of how important music is to worship services in the church as a whole.

Traditional tends to refer more to hymns and organ/piano-based music. It can be a slower paced, more stoic style of worship. It’s often simpler I guess you could say. The vast majority were written long ago.

Contemporary refers to the songs written far more recently. Usually, these songs utilize full bands of instruments and have many more upbeat songs. It’s more like what you’d hear on a Christian radio station. 

I, personally, find value in both forms of music. I enjoy modern, upbeat songs like I learned at camp growing up, as well as singing in church. But I also love hymns and I remember my parents singing them to me in the evening growing up, and when I was very little at church. Personal favorite hymns of mine include, Amazing Grace, and When We All Get to Heaven; favorite contemporary ones of mine are Counting Every Blessing, and Better Is One Day.

Both kinds of music have merits, and I believe both can be true worship. I don’t think it’s fair to completely dismiss either version, though not all of the tradition nor contemporary songs are great.