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March 2002 Table of Contents
Cover Story
Reaching an MTV World with an AM Radio!
By Jerry Evans
 Where are we in reaching our community with the gospel and are we as the church musician helping or hurting? Where will we be 25 years from now in church music? I wonder if there is really any way to answer these questions and do they deserve an answer.
As I sat in a fairly large church recently and participated as we sang hymns and choruses that were displayed on two very large screens, I thought that we have come a long way from the time that I stood and asked everyone to please take their hymnal and sing with me. I thought "this is the 21st century church." Then the choir began to sing and the screens went black. My immediate reaction was, "why?" The pastor came and delivered a wonderful message and here were these two beautiful (and expensive) screens sitting totally idle. I began to wonder why, if we understand the concept of visual reinforcement of what we hear with something to see, why would these aids be totally blank. Now I can't tell you that I am a proponent or even understand what is shown on MTV. I certainly don't propose that the church attempt to copy this medium. I think what prompted all this is that I watch kids the age of my grandkids watch these programs and relate, then I watch these same kids during the music and message of that which can change their lives and they seemed (at least to me) completely unattached. Now this would be bad enough, as I looked around at what I supposed to be their parents, they were just as far removed from what was taking place. Now to cap all this off, this was in one of our "seeker sensitive, contemporary," churches. The sad thing is, this church was actually trying to reach these people.
There are some subjects that this magazine does not have the right to visit, and so what happens during the pastor's sermon (even though I really think some visuals would help most sermons) will not be discussed here. What I want to discuss is what we can do to help make the choir music more relevant. In order to do this, let's look at where we came from to try to get a better idea of where we need to go.
In the 1950's we had the beginning of the paid musician in the church. There were a few before that but for argument's sake let's use this as a point of departure. In the 60's we saw the emergence of "choir programs" and what we were doing was making a significant difference and a small "Christian Music Industry" began to show it's head. During the 70's we saw the regular guy in the pews sing less and less. In the 90's we have realized we have gone astray and shifted our emphasis back to worshiping and not just performing. This would sound like we are on the track, and we are, but there will always be a time when the people will need to receive a message both in spoken word and musically (with our drama programs today, we might also say visually). If you are in the typical church you probably need to consolidate some of these. Our industry has made honest attempts to provide the church with the tools needed to support these programs and messages. Overall we have done a pretty good job but I fear that we like many of you, we have tried to stay with what we know best for too long.
Last year we saw the production of the first DVD with Acc. Trax along with a click trax in case you wanted to use it with live instrumentation for a musical. The response was tremendous and the interesting thing is that the "industry" turned it down and two ministers of music produced it. I must tell you that there are at least two new DVD projects in production right now from two of our major publishers, which begs the question: Why did it take so long? The nice thing about at least one of these projects is that not only will there be voices (split trax) on one of the trax, but will take the other four trax and put brass on one, strings and woodwinds on one and rhythm on one. The final track will be used for a click track. You can use your own instruments and add only what you need, or do your own mix. It is a giant step in the right direction.
If we understand, as MTV does, that visual expression is indeed as important as the audible production, why are we not using what we have to the best of our abilities? Why would we not use our drama dept. (if we have one) and give life to our anthems? I know it takes work but why is our "industry" not providing power point presentations with newly-released octavos? Maybe several ministers of music would like to make their own and we could set up a collection and dispersion point. I know many of you would like to see your church become more multi-media active in your services but have some in your congregation who honestly feel that the choir that sang for Paul and Silas didn't have visual aids, and yours shouldn't either. (Sound familiar?) We have now, in a large number of our churches, the ability to do more than just proclaim the gospel by more than one medium at a time. I challenge you to begin to seek ways to use this powerful tool. I challenge the industry, of which I am a part, to understand that we no longer live in the 20th century and we need tools designed for today.
As I searched for a way to end this article, I pulled out my collection of quotes that have meant something to me and not only found one that I think is a challenge but four. As you consider the things I have said, I pray that these will inspire you.
"We crucify ourselves between two thieves: Regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow." -Fulton Oursler
"There are no problems, only opportunities to be creative." -Doryl Poettger
"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; Not only plan, but also believe." -Author Unknown
"Cherish yesterday, Dream tomorrow, Live today." -Author Unknown
Jerry
Jerry.Evans@jjonline.com
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