We don't hear much about the worship wars these days. At their most intense a couple of decades ago, the church was rent asunder by contentious debate about worship style, worship components, worship decorum, and practically everything else that goes on in our Sunday morning get-togethers. Every church seemed to be choosing between opposites–organ versus praise band, historic liturgy versus rock liturgies (think Chicago folk service, Marty Haugen), contemporary songs versus historic hymns–and the fallout was ugly. Voting assemblies erupted in dissonance; members on the losing side transferred out.
But now, the voices have calmed and the dust has settled. Why? It's true that some pastors declared a separate peace of sorts by establishing rival worship services: one for the traditionalists, one for the moderns. Others went the blended worship route, which, while leaving everybody a little dissatisfied—mixing pipe organs with electric guitars will do that—included enough elements from both styles to at least keep the group together.
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