Doxologist ContentWhy We Don’t Use Mainstream Songs
As one of the seven current worship music leaders, I often wrestle with this question. Of the seven, I’m one of the few with a long history of leading music in the church. In the past, I’ve used many contemporary praise & worship songs and yet today I’m one of the most consistent songwriters at Mars Hill. I can explain why I stopped looking to contemporary church culture for praise songs.
At Mars Hill we chose to not use mainstream contemporary Christian music for three main reasons. The first reason is their theological content is often pretty minimal. Of course, there are exceptions, but generally this is true. For the ones that do contain good theology, there’s a second obstacle we have to pay to use them (due to publishing laws). Since we live in a place where songwriters and creative people abound, we’ve simply not considered paying for worship music a viable option. Instead, we opt to write our own music and rearrange old hymns.
We rearrange the old-school hymns because their content is rich, the imagery is vivid, and the theology elevates Christ magnificently. Plus, they are in the public domain, which means we don’t have to pay to use them. The original arrangements are artifacts of the era in which they were writtenoften times very difficult to singbut because the content is so rich, they beg to be rearranged in a way that makes sense in Seattle. And so we rearrange.
We author original tunes in response to what Christ is doing in our midst as we express our worship to Jesus as a community. God has gifted us with songwriters and creative people who offer their skill as a sacrifice. The songs tend to resonate with the people in Seattle. We have oversight over the theological content, and thus accountability is maintained. But one of the most significant reasons is that we value originality, creativity and authenticity much more than the ease and accessibility of the existing musical commodities which are purchased from publishers in Nashville.
This is not to say that there are not any good songs out there. There are. Sometimes they funnel into our repertoire. The song “Gloria” is an example of this. But the song has also been seriously tweaked from its original form. If we were ever to adopt existing contemporary content, I would think it would happen this way.
That’s great, but what happens if the song is unfamiliar to me and I can’t sing along?
I think it’s important to remember that even the songs that are popular across the country were at one point unfamiliar to everybody but the author and God. Somehow they found our ears. They were introduced in a local church or on a recording which was published. Our songs may be unfamiliar at first, but that is always the case with every song, everywhere.
For further info on the why’s and why nots of corporate worship at Mars Hill, take a minute to peruse our FAQ.
Thank you so much Joe,
You’ve given me the fundamental reasoning
to explain why MH does the corporate praise/worship the way it does. I do plan on giving a thorough and well thought out reply but it will take a few days to compose the response. You explained yourself clearly and I really appreciate this website for allowing this kind of dialogue. It is interesting that you mentioned “Gloria” because it is probably my favorite comtemporary song performed at MH.
Thanks so much for that refreshing article! It’s so revitalizing to see people who are conscious about how they praise God.
Do you have any suggestions for churchs who have limited musical talent? I help lead worship for a small church who are committed to the beauty of spiritual and theological depth in music. However, (at this point) we don’t have the resources to create very much original music.
How can we cultivate a Church culture of musical creativity?
Looking forward to your response Bruce!
Johnathan,
That’s a great question…I don’t know if I have a great answer for it. But here’s a picture of my experience.
I came from a small church where I authored many of the songs that are used at Mars Hill today. I was given the freedom to write songs and encouraged to do so by pastoral staff because the congregation seemed to respond very positively toward fresh material.
Secondly, I broadened my musical inspiration. The CCM catalog is small and I realized that being a good songwriter would require a broader range of influence. The particular thing I began to pay attention to was language: how do my favorite bands express longing? joy? gratitude? What can I take from these bands? How can I use language and music to express worship to Jesus? And of course, how can I write in a language that’s native to me, so the delivery of the song is believable?
And then I wrote…
What I find amusing within the debate raging within churches regarding musical styles is that as each new generation either builds on or challenges the previous established musical tradition, the essence of what is being said basically stays the same. This is why I think it might be worth having a place somewhere on this blog to post and review music on a per song basis.
I see many great songs being overlooked because somehow they belong to “this” camp or “that” generation and therefore are broadswiped out of the running when in all fairness they need to be considered on their own merit.
Another question that comes to mind is, Who really are the “people in Seattle” that songs resonate with. Arent’ we really talking 3 separate and unique tribes of Seattleites, namely Ballard, Shoreline, and West Seattle. I have a sneaking suspicion that “Seattle” is being seen through Ballard colored glasses. I have lived in West Seattle for 14 years and I can tell you that West Seattle ain’t Ballard. West Seattle is demographically wider and culturally probably more akin to Shoreline than Ballard. I think that West Seattle will be finding it’s identity as the months and years go by.
As far as having to pay for songs “not being a viable option” please send me the bill. Remember a workman is worth his wages and in Nehemiah the temple musicians were paid for their services.
I agree with Mars Hill’s take on reformed theology but feel there is a rigid interpretive framework when applied to what’s considered acceptable music. Basically, it is a singular focus on “deep and rich theology” regarding lyrical content. I totally agree with your assessment of some of the hymns as, “content is rich, the imagery is vivid, and the theology elevates Christ magnificently”. Who in his right mind would challenge that. I think the issue should primarily be concerned with whether a song is “theologically sound” whether rich or simple.
I think one of the most simple yet profoundly beautiful metaphors of worship in all of scripture is of Mary pouring expensive perfume on Jesus feet and then wiping them with her hair. It is a wonderful expression of the heart of a true worshipper. I don’t see that heart of simple songs of adoration sung directly to Jesus being expressed in any songs presently being performed at Mars Hill.
So on to the more fundamental question which is… What is the purpose of corporate praise/worship music? Answering this question will really help determine all the why’s behind the what of worship as it relates to Mars Hill.
Joe-
So what would a guy have to do to be able to incorporate some of the original songs from Mars Hill in his own worship service? I suppose if I was in any way talented I could just listen to them and figure out how to play them, but if I was that talented I could probably just write my own. Do you have a resource for the ungifted to be able to use your songs? Jon
Great Question Jon. The answer is…I have no idea! I’ll check and then post an answer here shortly. If nothing else, I can work out a way to deliver the songs directly to you. Stay tuned.
Joe
Hey Joe, I also am curious about using a few of Mars Hill’s worship songs at my church (Newport Covenant,Bellevue), and also some of the arrangments you all have made of hymns. I have listened and figured out almost all of the songs I want to use and the band that i lead has learned them, but I don’t know how to go about getting permission to use them. A post on “how to use our songs” would be great.
Thanks,
Chad
Hi Joe,
I would love to know how many original MH songs there are that all the teams use in their repertoire. Would it be possible to ever have one place on your web site where I could download them all with lyrics attached. I’m also real curious to know how each team determines their particular song rotation of the various songs they use from week to week. I would love to be able to e-mail Shelley directly as I am in the West Seattle campus where she primarily plays. Summer and I relate with her sensibilities as far as song choices and worship styles probably the best but I didn’t see her name on the Doxologist site.
Thanks,
Bruce
Here are some of the songs but not all.
http://marshillchurch.org/songsheets/SongArchive.htm
Hi there.
I absolutely love your modern arrangements of hymns, as well as your original songs. I’ve been posting some reviews of the hymns over at my blog.
What’s the position with getting permission to use the original songs? I see someone has linked above to some song sheets - are they available freely for anyone to use? I’d love to use some at my church in Sydney, Australia but don’t want to go breaching any copyright laws.
If any of the other original ones are available too I’d be very interested. I’m really enjoying “Christ Is Risen” but it’s not in the song archive list linked to above.
Look forward to your thoughts (and continued outpout of quality worship music!).
cheers,
Andy M.
Hey Joe,
I wanted to echo what Jon Kauffman said. Is there a way I could get the arrangements to some of your songs?
http://marshillchurch.org/songsheets/SongArchive.htm
The above link doesn’t contain many of the songs you guys have written.
Joe,
I appreciate the article. Have a question though… for the songs that we write internally how are these songs theologically checked prior to being used in service? I ask as, in the past (2+ years ago) there were a number of songs (which I don’t think I have seen in a while) which had somewhat interesting potential interpretations… some that I didn’t fully feel comfortable with. As a result, to this day when we have new songs I feel I have to read and understand them before singing with them. On one or two songs I don’t feel able to sing along due to content (this might just be me on this one). Anyway, how are the songs checked and approved for their applicability to our church?
Hey all,
Somehow I’ve missed many of the posts on this topic from the last 6 months. Many of you are asking for resources on how to use our songs. We’re working on moving Doxologist.org into a better position to be able to do this. In the meantime, feel free to use them, be sure to credit the author. If you have any questions, just email me.
Casey, great question. There’s a long answer, and perhaps that should become another blog post by itself. The short answer is before we had more than 4 bands it was easy for Pastor Tim to keep tabs on this. We now have 16 bands with more on the way and this is a big question. Right now it’s still rather informal, but new songs are approved by me, Pastor Matt, or Pastor Tim before they are played on a Sunday. I’ll elaborate on the process in a later post.