Re-imagining Worship Music Time

Trick #1: In real time, convert the personal pronouns to plural pronouns.  

Praise music contains many personal pronouns that churches want everyone to sing along to. For example, "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord…" Devoted Christians sing these with joy. But singing them must feel hypocritical to the marginal Christian or visiting investigator, both of whom the church wants to feel welcome! 

As lead pastor, I noticed the problem and brought it up with the worship leader. We focused on finding more songs with plural pronouns. But recently, I began looking for a workaround - not for the church to implement, just for me. On the fly, I change the pronouns from singular to plural: For instance, instead of singing “Open the Eyes of my Heart, Lord…,” I sing “Open the Eyes of our hearts, Lord…” Nobody around me ever seems to notice - not even my wife, who stands beside me. Occasionally, the replacement takes more than just a word or two. 

I find that the mental process of changing pronouns helps me more deeply embrace the song’s message. And the use of plural pronouns deepens my sense of community with everyone in the room - making me especially aware of those not yet ready to sing the singular pronoun version. 

Caution: It may infringe copyright law for a church to change the lyrics projected on the screen. But worship leaders could invite people in the congregation to do the replacement, and one of the worship team members could model it for the congregation. 

So, give it a try; I’ll bet it enhances your worship as it does mine.

Trick #2: Reimagine the room’s physical structure as a musical theater.

I heard this concept decades ago, too, but never seriously tried it until recently. One of our worship team members (Lewis Wall) heard it from our keyboard player (Tammy Rainey) and passed it along to me. I decided to give it a try, and I’m finding that it significantly enhances my worship experience another notch. 

Here’s a photo of our worship center, which is quite full at about 100.

Now, imagine (visualize in your mind) the following, in sequence:

1. A congregation of 60 people faces the platform, lyric screen, and empty cross. 

2. Now, imagine sinking the platform down and out of sight, as if it were the orchestra pit in a facility built for musical dramas. The congregation can no longer see the worship team; they’re looking straight at the cross and lyric screen.

3. Next, fix your eyes on the cross, just the cross, perhaps imagining Jesus hanging on it. 

4. Finally, join in singing the song to Jesus (referring to the screen only as necessary).

Notice that Jesus is now an “Audience of One” to whom the congregation sings praise with the aid of the invisible worship team. Imagining this setup makes more theological sense than our customary worship space allows. Thank God for giving us imaginations.