I don’t think the author covered this, but one issue of age in modern worship is what style of music is singable for a congregation that is diverse in age. I have heard older Christians state that when listening to contemporary Christians music, their diminished hearing causes them to not be able to keep up with the contemporary music that is fast-paced. If the music leader is singing fast and they can’t make out what he is saying, they are left in the dust. Add to that problem the singing of fast-paced new hymns that they aren’t familiar with and it compounds the problem.
Generally speaking: Churches want to attract younger people: It’s an important demographic:
They have strength and vitality
They populate the nursery
They will serve in children’s ministries
And if you attract them while they are young, you can have them for 50 years
Often times (most often) when a church searches for a new pastor, the profile is for a younger man!
Contrarily when an S&P 500 company looks for a new CEO they look for an older man (in recent news consider Microsoft who was wooing Alan Mulally (Ford Chairman) who is 68
Editorial comment: One wonders if the word “elder” really has much meaning in our circles … who wants an “elderly” pastor. Instead we have 25 year old “youth pastors” (or non-elder elders (an oxymoronic phrase))
But while youth are sought (and hence all the emphasis on youth (youth directors, youth programs, et cetera)), when it comes to the elderly - they are valued for their financial stability: kids are out of the house, college has been paid for, the mortgage is paid off … etc
At 66 years old, I find myself as one of the worship leaders in a church made of people who are 40 years younger than I am. They haven’t asked me to retire but they won’t let me play my bass drum.
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
The author of this piece simply comes from a completely different world than I do. I appreciate his concerns, but I feel very disconnected from the issues he’s addressing! We don’t have the title of “worship leader.” The man who does the songleading in my church has been a Pastor since the late 1950s and I am profoundly happy to have him. I don’t really care about age. I learn A LOT from his experience. The man has been in ministry since before my Dad was born. Truman was President when he went to Bible College. Eisenhower was President when he went to Seminary. Kennedy took office when he took his first Pastorate.
A rush to marginalize older Christians is a mark of foolishness.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
My father was a minister of music/worship pastor for the past 40 years until he retired 3 years ago. Interestingly enough, one Baptist church let go of him about 11 years ago because the new pastor immediately desired a young, hip worship guy that could also work with the youth. But then within a few months he was hired at another Baptist Church in the area because they actually valued his wisdom that comes with age. The leadership realized that he could be a bridge between generations, utilizing a blend of worship styles and instrumentation and helping those having a difficult time with their own musical preferences mature in Christ. The first church that fired him lost almost all of their senior saints and lost many other people as well, Whereas the church that hired him where he stayed until he retired grew numerically with every generation, both young and old.
Discussion
NewYep...
That is the answer to the problem: a bigger band-aid.
NewI don't think the author
I don’t think the author covered this, but one issue of age in modern worship is what style of music is singable for a congregation that is diverse in age. I have heard older Christians state that when listening to contemporary Christians music, their diminished hearing causes them to not be able to keep up with the contemporary music that is fast-paced. If the music leader is singing fast and they can’t make out what he is saying, they are left in the dust. Add to that problem the singing of fast-paced new hymns that they aren’t familiar with and it compounds the problem.
NewOn younger people and older money
Generally speaking: Churches want to attract younger people: It’s an important demographic:
Often times (most often) when a church searches for a new pastor, the profile is for a younger man!
Contrarily when an S&P 500 company looks for a new CEO they look for an older man (in recent news consider Microsoft who was wooing Alan Mulally (Ford Chairman) who is 68
Editorial comment: One wonders if the word “elder” really has much meaning in our circles … who wants an “elderly” pastor. Instead we have 25 year old “youth pastors” (or non-elder elders (an oxymoronic phrase))
But while youth are sought (and hence all the emphasis on youth (youth directors, youth programs, et cetera)), when it comes to the elderly - they are valued for their financial stability: kids are out of the house, college has been paid for, the mortgage is paid off … etc
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Jim's Doctrinal Statement
NewI'm glad he said "some" churches
At 66 years old, I find myself as one of the worship leaders in a church made of people who are 40 years younger than I am. They haven’t asked me to retire but they won’t let me play my bass drum.
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
NewDifferent Worlds
The author of this piece simply comes from a completely different world than I do. I appreciate his concerns, but I feel very disconnected from the issues he’s addressing! We don’t have the title of “worship leader.” The man who does the songleading in my church has been a Pastor since the late 1950s and I am profoundly happy to have him. I don’t really care about age. I learn A LOT from his experience. The man has been in ministry since before my Dad was born. Truman was President when he went to Bible College. Eisenhower was President when he went to Seminary. Kennedy took office when he took his first Pastorate.
A rush to marginalize older Christians is a mark of foolishness.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
NewMy father was a minister of
My father was a minister of music/worship pastor for the past 40 years until he retired 3 years ago. Interestingly enough, one Baptist church let go of him about 11 years ago because the new pastor immediately desired a young, hip worship guy that could also work with the youth. But then within a few months he was hired at another Baptist Church in the area because they actually valued his wisdom that comes with age. The leadership realized that he could be a bridge between generations, utilizing a blend of worship styles and instrumentation and helping those having a difficult time with their own musical preferences mature in Christ. The first church that fired him lost almost all of their senior saints and lost many other people as well, Whereas the church that hired him where he stayed until he retired grew numerically with every generation, both young and old.