"We are in a Position, as Musicians, to Touch the Souls of Those who Listen."

When most people hear "Southern Baptist", they think little tiny country church with a pastor who preaches hell fire and brimstone. I'd have to stay that's a pretty bad stereotype. At my church, there are many smiling faces that love to show compassion to anyone and everyone. Music has always been an important of the church, even back in Biblical times. There's even an entire book of the Bible that is  dedicated to songs of praise (It's called Psalms in case you weren't aware of this). The Southern Baptist denomination is very large in the southeastern coast of the US, so for the most part it is not influenced by other religions. I will say most are very set in their ways though. In the traditional church I attend there were no rules. Although most people simply stand, bodily worship is never frowned upon. In more contemporary churches, the atmosphere is not as structured.

In a more traditional church, there is typically a piano and/or organ accompanying a single male voice leader. In the Baptist church that I attend, we have a hymnal of songs that we sometimes sing out of. The church today is starting to drift away from its traditional roots. In the modern church (so to say) sometimes uses a full band, meaning electric guitars, basses, drums, and electronic pianos. There are some churches that do balance these two musical experiences pretty well. At my home church occasionally had a band but a majority of the time just used a organ and piano. I have been a few little country churches that have a guitar with an organ and piano.

Now with that little bit of background of the baptist church, it's easy to understand why the current generation enjoys the more contemporary style worship. The use is still the same as before, but the aesthetics have taken turn. People enjoy that full band sound which include the distortion of an electric guitar, calming finger picking of an acoustic, drones and cool electronic sounds from a keyboard, and the different drums on a set. The most important thing of the aesthetics is that everything is musically sound. What I mean is that there are little to no wrong notes (which does mean that most praise bands do have a separate time they practice) and it sounds like some popular music but the content of the lyrics is spiritually based. Even though contemporary churches can produce this huge sound, nothing ever replaces the simplicity of a piano and a voice.

In my own personal experience, I have been both in a leadership position and in the congregation during a worship service. When I have been in a praise band, it's always neat to see the visual worship of others. I know most people in the traditional church don't use body language as a part of their worship, but I can almost always see true worship in their faces. Within the congregation, I have had all kinds of experiences from a large group of students from across the country to an intimate group of people of all ages. I'll be the first to admit that I don't always truly worship during every service. We all have our flaws but when I do, I know that the Lord is present. It's something that no one can ever put into words.  It's a connection that only you in yourself can understand and others who have experienced something similar. This video is an example.

This is a video of a church that uses a larger band of many talented people to praise the Lord. This is video shows exactly what we as Christians try to do in our worship, to come into the presence of the Savior, kneel at his feet and simply be in awe of Him. Some may say that her movements are "too much" but when you can see true adoration in someone's eyes and body movement you know they are being honest and true in their worship. I pray that any Christian reading this that is would all reflect on their worship and remember the reason why we do it at all.

Here is the link to the video (still trying to figure out how to embed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVVlMQved8k