Nags Head, NC

The weather is unseasonably delightful. Ordinarily, the temperatures and humidity levels are a bit higher during the first week of July. Not so this year. Air and water temperatures are nearly identical, mid-70s. Very nice.

It's been a relaxing week. Sleeping in. Reading. Listening to music. Playing music -- there was no room in the car [Lisa, me, Patrick and his friend -- Molly is in Bath, England for another week yet; she has been there for the past month] for my guitar, so I brought along my practice chanter to work on pipe tunes. Staring at the sky. Staring at the sea. Taking brisk walks.

I've completed Scheer's book. Early on Scheer states, "Contemporary worship music will not revitalize my church, contemporary worship music will not revitalize my church, contemporary worship music will not revitalize my church." Scheer goes on to encourage a solid assessment of any given congregation. His questions include: Do the people need new music? Who makes up the congregation, and are they being represented musically? Does any proposed change in music come from the people?

Scheer covers a lot of familiar ground regarding institutional change -- innovators (2%), early adopters (18%), middle adopters (60%), late adopters (18%), and never adopters (2%). He also covers well-worked ground contrasting modernism (knowledge) and postmodernism (experience). Modernity has ruled for the past two centuries, more or less. Postmodernity currently rules the roost, more or less.

Scheer is a good analyst of worship traditions. He delineates between liturgical worship, thematic worship, and experiential worship. In liturgical worship, preaching and the sacraments take front and center stage. In thematic worship, everything leads up to and flows from preaching. Experiential worship is primarily music driven where the worshipper's response is of utmost concern.

Scheer's argument for blended worship is a compelling one. He discusses Martin Luther's reviving the Roman liturgy with vernacular language and common musical styles. Scheer notes that "too much vernacular influence may allow the medium to overwhelm the message, but rigid adherence to perceived historical purity may drain worship of its lifeblood." [p.98] One of the more useful pieces of information I have taken away from Scheer's book is this: "For most churches, the wisest decision is to find a place on the spectrum that gives voice both to the people in the pews and to the saints who gave gone before, giving worship both relevance to modern culture and roots in tradition." [p.98]

Also, Scheer has a great segment in his book on informing your ear musically. As a Beatles fan -- Paul turned 64 this year -- I was thrilled to read: "If I had to recommend one band that would best train the worship leader's ear, it would be the Beatles. Over their career they explored an incredible range of styles, sonorities, form and harmonic languages. Nearly everything done in popular music today has a precursor in the output of the Beatles." [pp. 167-168]

To everyone who has left a comment, thank you. Your words inspire me to be faithful to this blog.

That's it for the moment. Peace.