Music and religion by Zelena Hull

 I’ve noticed that my domination uses music very differently than other protestant Christians. Whenever I go to a Lutheran church service, we sing only 2 to 4 hymns that are proximality two minutes each. Then, we continue with the sermon and once it reaches the 45-minute mark we all leave. I noticed other Christians in other dominations will play instruments and sing in the current popular style. Their services are also longer by far. The way I was raised was that music in the church only served as a prayer and not as entertainment. I was raised that modern Christian popular music was not good thing comparatively to the older hymns and songs like Amazing Grace. The services I went to were very barebones to the point a monk from the middle ages or Martian Luther himself would feel right at home. It seems all the Lutheran churches I’ve been to are traditional in the way they approach the sermon. The text in the songs is receptive and verse chorus structure. The songs can sometimes have accompaniment but the vocal lines tend to be monophonic. There are really no rules about the music it’s just kinda done that way. I was always raised that entertainment is almost entirely secular. In fact, we looked at modern Christian music as a mockery of what services and hymns are about. The view point was they aren’t about you there about God and the message. Services are supposed to be serious for us and a rock concert would diminish the effect. In my experience a melody is only put to the words to remember the text. The church I went to was very lax with everything else, and are beliefs don’t interfere with media we consume or what we wear. Music is not important to the way my domination worships; some services did not have any music at all. Since, I heard very little Christian music as a kid Christian music did not influence my taste at all. I might listen to Georgian chant, but not any song by a modern Christian rock band. I’ve noticed that are sermons usally preach about kindness, compassion, and do unto others that you would do to yourself. Other dominations tend to gravitate towards the negative aspects of Christianity such as hell and persecution. That also lends to the difference between the way are music expresses our beliefs. Our hymns usally are about events in the bible or prayers. I noticed that other dominations it’s a lot of Jesus is only one who can save you and convert or face the wrath of God. A lot of modern protestants are very consumed by idea of their afterlife instead their current one and this is reflected in their music. The messages our text conveys within the music is very different than that of most modern protestants.

Here's a song that sounds somewhat what we would do in church but, the guy is very melismatic. 


This is an example of what popular Christian music sounds like, which again my church kinda frowned upon. 




Comments

  1. Julia GergleyJanuary 20, 2021 at 2:07 PM

    Hi Zelena! I didn't know much about the Lutheran Church and how they view Christian music. It's very interesting how the Lutheran Church doesn't circle around the music and sometimes don't even have any music in the sermon. I agree, it's God's message that matters the most. I do see how popular Christian music today can mock the old hymns and services because a lot of the modern music is more about affection and the purpose to make you feel good rather than singing about prayers and events of the bible. Even though modern Christian music isn't traditional but it can have benefits for some people.

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    1. Zelena J HullJanuary 22, 2021 at 1:37 PM

      I've seen a few Lutheran services that had a bit more music, but it usually just adds to the message of the sermon.

      Delete
  2. Tisha is Treble January 20, 2021 at 6:14 PM

    Hi Zelena! Thank you for your insight on the Lutheran Church as I didn't know much about it and their traditions. I find it interesting you were raised to believe that modern Christian music was not a "good thing," because I was raised on listening to modern Christian music. I can understand why you would say modern Christian music can mock the traditional hymns because when I was in high school, there was a church club that only sang and played music rather than learning about the word of God. However, I think people tend to gravitate toward modern Christian music more because it's upbeat and conveys the same message about the word of God but through lyrics that can relate to the listener, just as if they were listening to a sermon but with music and lyrics.

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    1. Zelena J HullJanuary 22, 2021 at 1:44 PM

      Yeah. I'm actually from a special branch of the Lutheran denomination, I don't know the name off the top of my head. It's a very weird name to. Also some of the Lutheran books have Methodist Lutheran which I have no idea how that happened because those are suppose to be two different branches. I guess since Lutheranism is the first protestant denomination so it's bound to have a few branches of its own cause it's so old.

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  3. Aimee BoudreauJanuary 20, 2021 at 8:53 PM

    Hi Zelena! I thought that your post was really interesting because I really haven't had much experience with the Lutheran Church and it's music. I have been to services of many different types of churches (none being Lutheran, however) for gigs throughout high school, but I had never realized how strict the Lutheran Church is when it comes to music and how the music is presented. I think the idea that modern christian music can be seen as mockery is really interesting!

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    1. Zelena J HullJanuary 22, 2021 at 1:39 PM

      I've seen some lutheran churches do more songs. I'm actually from a special branch of the Lutheran denomination that's very reserved musically. I do know the specific name for it off the top of my head though. lol.

      Delete

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