A History of Contemporary Praise and Worship
Understanding the Ideas That Reshaped the Protestant Church
By Lester Ruth and Lim Swee Hong
Baker Academic, 368 pages, $42
With few exceptions, most worshipers in the later 20th century saw changes in their worship services — at least in the music. Others have seen more radical change, formal liturgies set aside, and informal structures set in place. For many in younger generations, the current forms are all they have ever known.
In A History of Contemporary Praise and Worship, Lester Ruth and Lim Swee Hong explore how these changes came to pass. The authors posit two major streams in the development of modern worship. Their book’s title is a clever combination of these two themes. The phrases “Praise and Worship” and “Contemporary Worship” have a great deal of explanatory power for understanding large swathes of the modern church.
The praise and worship tributary (the river analogy is apt, as worship can be seen as a large river with many sources coming together) describes what is actually a very old influence. Ruth and Hong make the point that a particular moment, namely the mid-1940s, was especially pivotal. Pentecostalism provides a key background for the praise and worship thread. Since its beginning in the Azusa Street Revival in 1906, Pentecostalism spread rapidly. By the mid-1940s, there were already well-established Pentecostal organizations and denominations.
With this foundation, a particular man in a particular place faced a ministry crisis. Reg Layzell, a Pentecostal minister, was charged with leading services at a church in Abottsford, British Columbia. It did not begin well. In desperation, he returned to a core biblical passage in Psalm 22:3 (“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel,” KJV). Layzell first concentrated on God’s holiness and confessed as many sins as he could remember. His view radically changed when he focused on the second part of the verse.
Layzell’s subsequent emphasis on praise became the core element in his ministry. It is important to note two fundamental components. First, praise must come before emotion. Layzell insisted that the worshiper must offer praise regardless of feelings. Second, Layzell believed that God had promised to be present if the congregation offered praise. While God is already present, the praise effectively breaches a wall between his presence and our perception.
This twofold punch turned out to be dynamite. The desire to experience God’s presence has fed the corresponding need to praise him. Ruth and Hong trace the influence from Layzell’s continuing ministry to Canada’s Later Rain movement, to the living room of Chuck Smith in Southern California, to house groups and megachurches — not just in North America but across the world.
Ruth and Hong dig into this history. They describe the development of theory in the praise and worship stream, such as the knitting together of praise and worship from a topological understanding of the design of the Temple with its outer court, inner court, and Holy of Holies. They consider King David an exemplar in worshiping God.
It is in the evolution of worship music that praise and worship find their greatest influence. Very early in this history, people involved with praise and worship began to develop new music. The desire was for music that created a sense of God’s presence in praise. The music would often move from more energetic and physically demonstrative toward a quieter, more intense style. This was often called moving from praise into worship.
The importance of this experience in music led to a growing importance of a music leader. This person, often not the more senior clergy, had responsibility for choosing music, deciding on the flow during singing, and therefore became a central figure in worship. This also led to sharing new music, periodicals that shared resources, and organizations that allowed scattered congregations to share copyrighted music under licensing agreements.
While this branch of the river was growing, a second was making an appearance. While the praise and worship theme tended to have strong, individual theological roots, the desire to experience God, and a somewhat more conservative perspective, the second tributary had a broader appeal across the theological spectrum. The idea of contemporary worship is rooted in the idea that the church and culture had drifted apart. The church is called to reach the world, and so works to close the gap. The movement might well claim Paul’s admonition to be “all things to all people.”
Contemporary worship found a natural ally in the church growth movement. With a very pragmatic approach, both wanted to bring more people into church, especially worship. Contemporary worship helped create a path to newer models of church structures, which were designed to bridge the gap between church and culture.
This is a useful book for anyone who wants to understand current trends in church worship. A congregation may not embrace the fullness of contemporary praise and worship, but very few have been left untouched. Everything from additional Sunday services to worship bulletins can be seen as having roots in the movement. Many churches have at least dipped their toes in the stream of new music from these worlds.
In many liturgical places, the move toward contemporary praise and worship has ignited what has often been called worship wars. People who desire numerical growth in their church would have benefitted from an analysis of why these conflicts arose, and would be helped to see how the desires that are at the core of contemporary praise and worship (experiencing God and closing the gap with culture) could be met without rancor.
Also missing from this book is an intentional look at how contemporary praise and worship have affected Roman Catholic churches. The twin themes of praise and worship and contemporary practice can be seen clearly in a movement like Cursillo. The Catholic world has known extensive interaction with the Pentecostal elements that feed into praise and worship through her experience of charismatic renewal.
Church leadership and church musicians will benefit from this book. The desire to bring people into the experience of God’s presence in worship while bridging the gap between the church and the world is a worthy goal. This book may ignite conversations about these goals.
