The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher
Religion Columnist

Heard this true story about a pastor and church member in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This Methodist church was offering two Sunday morning services, one traditional at 11 a.m. and a contemporary at 9:30 a.m. They had just recently converted the 9:30 a.m. service to the contemporary format.

One of the members, who had been attending regularly the 9:30 traditional service, went to the pastor, his dear friend, to express his dissatisfaction with the change to contemporary at the 9:30 service (hang in with me as I tell this story).

Upon finding the source of his dissatisfaction, the pastor suggested the man change his attendance to the 11 a.m. traditional service. The man explained to the pastor that for 10 years he has maintained a standing tee time at the golf course for 12 noon.

The pastor asked him if he would be willing to change the time he worshiped to 11 a.m. and push his tee time to 12:15 p.m. for the sake of the church being able to reach more people for Christ. “Wouldn't you be willing to do that?” the pastor asked.

The member responded, “Hell, no!”

I fear that's the response on the part of many of our seasoned (older) Christians as the church tries to use new methods and strategies to reach our pluralistic culture. This Ft. Lauderdale church was not asking members to accept different doctrine or a different interpretation of Scripture. Just a different time and a different style of worship.

This is serious stuff. Churches throughout the land are dividing into camps and getting ready for war over the issue of style of worship. Although churches which were started in the last 10-20 years find a contemporary approach easily accepted and are enjoying the benefits of a “new song,” the older, more established churches, are having fits over this issue.

A little history: the Protestant Reformation ushered into the church a whole new and exciting genre of songs called hymns, many of which were carried along by popular tunes which one could hear at the local pub. Martin Luther's A Mighty Fortress is our God is an example. The tune was a top 20 tune in Germany. The words were Scripturally sound. The people loved it. Yet, we've been singing the same hymns for 500 years.

I did a survey once and discovered that the average age of the hymns in the Baptist hymnbook is over 125 years. Friends, the top 20 tune list is a little different today.

There's a fresh, new spiritual renewal blowing around the world. It may have more impact than the Reformation. It's bringing a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It has a heavy emphasis on prayer and praise worship. It believes one can truly connect personally with God.

Now, the old wineskins (the way we've always done it) must be replaced with new ones or the old ones will burst as this new spiritual brew is poured. I believe it's God's way of revealing what we count most in worship: what we want or what God wants.

Selah!

The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in Fayetteville.

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