verse4today: "I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you" (Exodus 23:20).
Posted on 2012-02-10 via Twitter
Interestingly, I did not read those words in a book on contemporary Christian worship. "Don't Mess With The Organ" formed the header of an article in the November 10 issue of the Chicago Tribune, an article about the Chicago Black Hawks, one of the “original six” teams in the National Hockey League.
The heart of the article dealt with the sites and sounds of a National Hockey League game at the United Center. One of the sub-titles of the article read "Hawks pump up the volume on game time tunes and entertainment to attract younger fans - and pipe up the organ again, after irking some traditionalists." If you are at all familiar with me, you understand why those words caught my attention. They could have come out of an article about any number of worship services I have planned and led over the years.
Here are some excerpts from the article: “Chicago is an organ town,” said Peter Hassen, senior director of marketing and advertising for the Hawks. Even so, the team decided to tinker with the role off the organ during its games. “It wasn’t phased out,” Hassen said. “We were kind of catering to a younger crowd, and we were looking at different things… The experiment, however, was short-lived and we learned something…. (We learned that Hawk fans) “really, really like their organ.” So the Hawks made room for the organ and the fans are happy.
For some reason, and I haven't really figured it out, it is nice to know that traditional Christian congregations are not the only ones wrestling with the role of the organ, that church folk are not the only ones concerned about the diminishing role of the organ, and that, at least, one person describes Chicago as an “Organ Town.”
And while I have not yet been able to idenitfy why those thoughts warm my heart, I take something away from the article. Here it is: I don’t think too many Chicago Black Hawk fans listen to organ music while driving around town. It’s not their favorite style of music. Apparently, however, those who listen to every-thing but organ music while driving to the United Center still expect to hear an organ during the hockey game. That reality makes me think twice before crafting an argument for the removal of the organ, or any other instrument, from Christian worship based on the music worshipers listen to during the week. After all, the popularity of a particular instrument or style of music doesn't seem to influence the expectations of Hawks fans who anticipate hootin' (praising) and hollerin' (worshiping) to the sounds of an organ - and who can't envision a hockey game without it.
Good call. And timely, as I’m going to my first Blackhawks game tonight!
There is something to be said for tradition. Every Christmas, I expect to eat arroz con dulce and drink some coquito (traditional Puerto Rican treats). I don’t want them all the time, but without them, it’s just not right. I imagine it’s the same way for fans, or for congregants. The music is a part of the DNA of the church, and if something is stripped away, there will be those who miss it, and those who will be missing out by the lack of it.
I say keep the organ. It’s got a million octave range and is way louder than any drum kit I’ve ever heard.
I’m most amazed by the incongruence here. The Hawks ‘pump up the volume on game time tunes and entertainment to attract younger fans - and pipe up the organ again, after irking some traditionalists.’
At the game, the younger people are looking for the organ, but many are perfectly comfortable without one in church. In many churches, many older worshippers feel most comfortable with an organ, but dont’ require it as part of a good sporting event.
Isn’t it great to know we serve a Great God, whose love for us doesn’t change for us over time? Changeless across generations! All he asks for is our adoration and worship.... in any style… with any instrument!