El Enfoque de las Guerras de Adoracin

Esconde el Verdadero Problema Sobre

Conexin con Dios
19 de Noviembre de 2002
(Ventura, CA) Las revistas han publicado artculos sobre el tema las guerras de adoracin, diciendo que hacen
estragos en las iglesias de la nacin. De acuerdo a la informacin proveniente de un nuevo estudio presentado en
Baylor University por el investigador George Barna, sin embargo, la verdadera cuestin no es la seleccin de
msica por las iglesias sino el inters en, comprensin de y el compromiso en el acto de adorar a Dios de las
personas.
Describiendo la investigacin nacional dirigida por su compaa para el Simposio Billy Ray Hearn sobre Msica
Cristiana, celebrado en Baylor University en Waco, Texas, Barna indic que la cobertura otorgada a las guerras de
adoracin ha exagerado el alcance del problema haciendo caso omiso de los problemas reales con respecto a la
adoracin. El mayor desafo, de acuerdo a Barna, no es sobre cmo utilizar la msica para facilitar la adoracin
tanto como lo es ayudar a la gente a entender la adoracin y tener una pasin intensa para conectarse con Dios.
Citando varios hallazgos de tres encuestas a escala nacional que dirigi sobre la cuestin, Barna seal que
relativamente pocas iglesias tienen batallas musicales intensas, sin embargo, la mayor parte de las iglesias tienen
pocas personas que verdaderamente conectan con Dios en el culto.
La mayora de miembros de iglesia que pelean por sus preferencias musicales lo hacen porque no entienden la
relacin entre la msica, comunicacin, Dios y adoracin. Los lderes de la iglesia fomentan el problema al
enfocarse en cmo agradar a la gente con msica o cmo ofrecer suficientes estilos de msica para satisfacer los
gustos de todos en lugar de enfrentar las cuestiones de fondo, de inters limitado en, comprensin de e inversin
en la adoracin ferviente de un Dios digno y santo. Barna tambin declar que, aunque la msica es importante en
el proceso de adoracin, a menudo se eleva sobre su lugar correcto en el esfuerzo de culto. La msica es
solamente una herramienta destinada a habilitar a la gente a expresarse a s misma hacia Dios, a pesar de todo, a
veces pasamos ms tiempo discutiendo sobre la herramienta que sobre el producto y propsito de la herramienta.
Creando Una Controversia
Sobre la base de encuestas nacionales entre asistentes de iglesias, Pastores de Iglesias Protestantes y lderes de
adoracin de estas iglesias, Barna revel que, entretanto que definitivamente hay batallas libradas entre las
iglesias Protestantes sobre la msica, la batalla no es extensa. Un cuarto (24%) de los Pastores dicen que sus
iglesias tienen tensiones relacionadas con la msica, pero solo 5% de ellos reclaman que estas tensiones sean
severas que suma solo el 1% de las congregaciones Protestantes en los Estados Unidos. Cerca de tres de cada
diez pastores en iglesias con conflictos de msica dicen que las tensiones son algo serio. Juntos, por lo tanto, solo
7% de las iglesias Protestantes tienen problemas severos o algo serios con la msica, agitando su
congregacin.
Una de las razones identificada por Barna para la gravedad limitada de las tensiones es que la mayora de los
asistentes de la iglesia aprecian el uso de la msica para el culto, pero no estn obsesionados con el estilo
utilizado. La investigacin encontr que el estilo de msica en que se basa el servicio es un asunto de gran
importancia para solo un tercio de los asistentes a la iglesia. De hecho, solo el 17% dijo que cambiara
definitivamente o probablemente su patrn de asistencia si su iglesia alterara el estilo musical del servicio al que
usualmente asiste, mientras que tres cuartos (76%) dijo que simplemente marchara con el nuevo estilo y no hara
cambios en sus hbitos de asistencia. Estas figuras sugieren que, a pesar de las controversias que rodean la
msica de la iglesia, la gente podra ser ms tolerante o flexible de lo previsto. El estudio s encontr que el

segmento de adultos con ms probabilidades de cambiar el servicio o la iglesia en lugar de aceptar un estilo de
msica que no le gustase, eran evanglicos.
Como confirmacin de la importancia limitada de la controversia de las guerras de adoracin, la investigacin
seal que solo tres de cada diez adultos dicen que la msica del culto es el factor nico y ms importante en su
eleccin sobre qu iglesia asistir. Las personas con mayor probabilidad a enlistar la msica como factor clave fueron
negros, personas de 56 aos o ms, adultos que asisten a iglesias con 500 o ms asistentes, mujeres, y cristianos
nacidos de nuevo.
Msica que Domina
Hay bastantes oportunidades para que las personas adquieran exposicin al estilo de msica que prefieren. Tres
cuartos de las iglesias Protestantes (73%) tienen servicios de adoracin mltiples. En total, 27% tiene solo un
servicio, 32% ofrece dos servicios, 33% proveen tres opciones y 8% tienen cuatro o ms servicios distintos.
El estilo de msica utilizado en los servicios religiosos vara tremendamente. Cerca de la mitad de todas las iglesias
Protestantes (46%) ofrecen, por lo menos, un servicio con msica tradicional de adoracin himnos y otras
melodas utilizando un coro, un rgano o canto congregacional de esa msica. As de prolfico es el nmero de
iglesias (43%) que utiliza msica blended una combinacin de dos o tres estilos de msica diferentes dentro del
mismo servicio. Los estilos menos comunes utilizados incluyen rock o Cristiana contempornea (utilizado en 24%
de iglesias), alabanza y adoracin (en 8% de iglesias) y gspel (en 7% de las iglesias).
El perfil se ve un poco diferente si las cifras se basan en el nmero de servicios de adoracin ms que en el nmero
de iglesias utilizando un estilo dado. Vistas desde ese ngulo, la informacin indica que 35% de todos los servicios
de adoracin Protestantes, incluyendo aquellos celebrados durante los domingos de noche y durante la semana,
utilizan msica tradicional; 30% son blended; 16% son rock o Cristiano contemporneo; 7% son gspel; 6% son
alabanza y adoracin; 4% son acapella; y 2% no utilizan msica en absoluto. (El porcentaje de iglesias utilizando
un estilo musical es diferente que el porcentaje de servicios en el que el estilo es utilizado porque muchas iglesias
tienen mltiples servicios de adoracin, causando que el nmero base de servicios sea ms grande que el nmero
de iglesias Protestantes. Adems, algunas iglesias pueden tener ms de un servicio de adoracin que utiliza el
mismo tipo de estilo musical.)
Hacia qu tipo de msica de adoracin gravitan los feligreses? Si el servicio al que se asiste es algn indicador, el
servicio de adoracin tradicional todava predomina, aunque una minora de asistentes adultos lo experimenta.
Ahora, 40% de adultos dice que asiste a un servicio que utiliza msica tradicional (ej., un coro, himnos, rgano). A
continuacin, los estilos ms comunes son msica blended (utilizado en los servicios frecuentados por 12% de los
adultos); gspel (11%); alabanza y adoracin (10%); y cristiano Contemporneo (CCM, por sus siglas en ingls) o
rock Cristiano (9%). Uno de cada ocho asistentes (13%) dice que no conocen qu estilo de msica se practica en
sus servicios.
Las Verdaderas Cuestiones
El estudio de Barna descubri que, entre las cuestiones claves de adoracin est, que los adultos que asisten a la
iglesia y los Pastores no comparten una percepcin comn del resultado ms importante de la adoracin. Los
congregantes eran ms propensos a entender el culto como una actividad realizada para su beneficio personal
(47%) mientras que los Pastores describen el propsito del culto como conectar con Dios (41%) o experimentar Su
presencia (30%). Solo tres de cada diez asistentes adultos de la iglesia (29%) indic que vean el culto como algo
que est enfocado principalmente en Dios. Uno de cada cinco asistentes admite que no tiene idea de cul sea el
resultado ms importante del culto.
Otro hallazgo relevante de la investigacin fue que la mayora de pastores no da prioridad al culto como un objetivo
principal del ministerio de su iglesia. Cuando se les pidi que enlistaran dos o tres prioridades principales de su
iglesia, la encuesta revel que la adoracin se incluy en esa lista por solo uno de cada cuatro pastores (26%).
Otras prioridades principales incluyeron el evangelismo (listado como una de las tres prioridades principales por
41%), predicar/ensear (34%), ministrar por jvenes y nios (25%), y discipulado (19%).

Algunas Seales Mezcladas

Si cambios importantes se realizarn en la adoracin, no espere que sean dirigidos por los laicos. En la mayor
parte, la gente est satisfecha con las experiencias de adoracin que actualmente tienen. Cuatro de cada cinco
individuos (83%) dicen que salen de los servicios sintindose aceptados o completamente amados por Dios todas
las veces o la mayora de veces. Dos de cada tres adultos (69%) generalmente sale sintindose inspirado. Tres
de cada cinco (62%) dicen que tpicamente sienten que han conectado con Dios o han estado en Su presencia en la
mayora de casos. La mitad de los congregantes (50%) frecuentemente sale sintindose desafiado a cambiar.
Relativamente un nmero reducido de personas dicen que, por lo general se sienten culpables o decepcionados de
s mismos (10%), o frustrados porque sus necesidades no se satisficieron (8%).
Los adultos estn satisfechos tpicamente con la calidad de la msica, el sermn y la oracin en sus servicios.
Cuatro de cada diez estn completamente satisfechos con la msica y con los sermones, y la mitad estn
completamente satisfechos con la oracin. Gran parte del resto de los adultos dijo que estaban mayormente
satisfechos con cada uno de esos elementos.
Sin embargo, Barna seal que los asistentes a la iglesia y los pastores tienen nociones conflictivas sobre qu se
considera necesario a fin de adorar efectivamente. De los diez factores de facilitacin estudiados, los feligreses y
pastores difirieron substancialmente en la importancia de seis de estos tems.
Las areas de coincidencia se relacionaron a la oracin, donde nueve de cada diez pastores y feligreses dijeron que
era muy importante para facilitar una adoracin efectiva; tener comunin (Santa Cena; mencionada por dos tercios
de cada grupo); dar dinero (mencionado por un poco ms de la mitad de ambos grupos); y tener un tiempo para
voltear y saludar (mencionado por la mitad de cada grupo).
Entre los factores de divergencia estaban, tener tiempo para reflexin en silencio durante el servicio, considerado
muy importante por dos tercios de todos los adultos el doble de la proporcin medida entre los pastores. La
mitad de todos los congregantes dijeron que tener tiempo para la confesin privada era muy importante, pero solo
uno de cada tres pastores convino. Un gran sorprendente nmero de personas (38%) expres la importancia de
recitar credos, que era ms del doble del porcentaje de los pastores que estuvieron de acuerdo (14%). Por otro
lado, los pastores fueron considerados ms propensos a asignar importancia al sermn, la lectura pblica de la
Escritura y el uso de msica que los congregados.
Ms de cuatro de cada cinco pastores (84%) dijo que la msica es muy importante para facilitar la adoracin
efectiva. Sin embargo, apenas la mitad de los congregantes (55%) convino. De hecho, en la evaluacin de la
importancia de los diez elementos de la adoracin estudiados, los pastores clasificaron a la msica en segundo
lugar en relacin a la oracin y la empataron con el sermn en importancia. Los congregantes, no obstante, la
evaluaron en empate por el quinto lugar, despus de la oracin, el sermn, la comunin y el tiempo de reflexin. La
msica fue considerada no ms importante que la lectura pblica de la Escritura, confesin, las ofrendas y el
momento de saludo. De hecho, la msica fue ms importante que solo uno de los diez elementos evaluados:
recitar credos y las lecturas responsoriales.
Si las personas en las bancas va impulsar cambios, esas transiciones podran relacionarse a la substancia de los
cantos que cantan y a ser capaces de cantar cantos que conocen ms seguido. En conjunto, casi la mitad de todos
los asistentes al culto dicen que las palabras en los cantos populares de alabanza y adoracin actuales carecen de
la profundidad espiritual de los himnos tradicionales, mientras que tres de cada diez adultos seal que se estn
introduciendo demasiados cantos nuevos de adoracin a sus servicios.
Oportunidades de Crecimiento
Barna expres su gratitud a Baylor University por patrocinar el estudio y expres la esperanza de que la
informacin pueda ayudar ms a los pastores y congregantes a llegar a la misma pgina acerca de la adoracin. El
estudio no minimiza el hecho que algunas iglesias estn soportando divisiones dolorosas referentes a la msica de
adoracin. La buena notica, sin embargo, es que esas tensiones son menos comunes de lo que las ancdotas y las
exageraciones periodsticas han sugerido. El estudio de Baylor pone la controversia en perspectiva y coloca la
nocin de las guerras de adoracin en la categora de mito.

Basado en la informacin de los estudios, Barna cit dos patrones de comportamiento importantes. Noten que las
iglesias que son ms propensas a tener problemas relacionados con la adoracin son aquellas que utilizan msica
blended, lo que es un intento cuestionable por complacer a todos de una sola vez. Parece que el uso de msica
blended simplemente les recuerda a las personas el hecho que tienen que compartir el espacio musical con otros
que no pueden tolerar sus propias preferencias tal como ellos no pueden tolerar aquellas de otros. La
dependencia de la msica blended parece alimentar en lugar de atenuar los fuegos de la discordia. Otro estudio
reciente que hemos dirigido an muestra que las personas tienen menos probabilidades de sentirse conectadas con
Dios en un servicio blended que en uno que se utiliza un solo estilo de msica.
Regresando a su tema principal de la investigacin, Barna anim a los lderes de la iglesia a volver a lo bsico.
Muchos asistentes de la iglesia se pelean por la msica porque no han entendido an el propsito de la msica en
el proceso de adoracin. La carencia de conocimiento les causa que se enfoquen y peleen por su propio sonido
preferido, instrumentos, tcnicas de presentacin o su deseado orden de servicio. A menudo, los lderes de la
iglesia se quedan atrapados en el lo.
Estas batallas son distracciones impropias del ministerio significativo y discipulado fructfero. Los cristianos
necesitan ser ms celosos y devotos a la adoracin a Dios. La Iglesia necesita seguir adelante y enfocarse en el
nico digno de adoracin y en el deseo de Su corazn que es el de ser adorado con intensidad y pasin por Su
pueblo en vez de enfocarse en las herramientas utilizadas para facilitar nuestras expresiones de amor y gratitud.
Acceso a la Informacin
La investigacin sobre adoracin y unas series de presentaciones relacionadas con la adoracin fueron patrocinadas
por el Simposio Bill Ray Hearn sobre Msica Cristiana, en asociacin con Baylor University. Interviniendo tambin
en el reciente simposio en el campus de Baylor en Waco, Texas estuvo el Pastor Jack Hayford, el artista musical
Cristiano Charlie Peacock, el telogo Robert Webber, el lder de adoracin Louie Giglio y otros individuos
involucrados en la msica y adoracin Cristiana. El reporte de la investigacin de Barna, junto con las
presentaciones de los expositores del simposio, estarn disponibles en un libro, titulado Msica y la Iglesia:
Relevancia en una Cultura Cambiante (Music and the Church: Relevance in a Changing Culture), que ser
publicado por Baylor University en la primavera de 2003.
Metodologa de la Investigacin
La informacin de la investigacin fue generada a travs de tres encuestas separadas. Utilizando una encuesta
general nacional dirigida en abril de 2002 por el Grupo de Investigacin de Barna, 1007 adultos seleccionados al
azar fueron encuestados, de los cuales 727 se describieron a s mismos como Cristianos que asistan a una iglesia
cristiana. En abril y mayo de 2002, 601 Pastores de iglesias Protestantes fueron entrevistados. Muchas de las
cuestiones preguntadas para cada poblacin fueron idnticas, a fin de permitir comparaciones directas para
muchos factores importantes bajo escrutinio.
Todos los que respondieron a la encuesta se obtuvieron de muestras aleatorias de individuos calificados viviendo
dentro de los 48 estados continentales. El margen mximo de error de muestreo asociado con el muestreo del
agregado nacional de los 727 adultos que se describieron a s mismos como Cristianos es de 3.8 puntos
porcentuales en el 95% de nivel de confianza; el nivel mximo de error de muestreo estimado entre los 601
Pastores, tambin seleccionados al azar de todas los iglesias Protestantes de EUA, es de 4.1 puntos porcentuales
al 95% de nivel de confianza estadstica. (El error de muestreo para los subgrupos podra ser ms alto porque el
tamao del muestreo de esos segmentos es ms pequeo. Hay otros tipos de errores adems de los errores de
muestreo que podran estar presentes en las encuestas.) Todas las entrevistas fueron dirigidas desde el edificio de
entrevista telefnica del Barna Research Group en Ventura, CA. La distribucin de los que respondieron la encuesta
coincide con la dispersin geogrfica de la poblacin adulta de los EUA, de acuerdo al estimado de la Oficina de
Censo, mientras que la distribucin de pastores se bas en estimados de afiliacin denominacional en el pas.
Devoluciones de llamadas mltiples se utilizaron para aumentar la probabilidad de incluir un muestreo de adultos
confiable.

El Barna Research Group, Ltd. es una empresa independiente de investigacin de mercados ubicada en el sur de
California. Desde 1984 ha estado estudiando las tendencias culturales relacionadas a los valores, creencias,
actitudes y comportamientos. Esta investigacin fue financiada exclusivamente por Barna Research como parte de
su seguimiento regular del estado social, religioso y poltico de la nacin y sus iglesias.
Si usted desea recibir una actualizacin quincenal de los ltimos resultados de investigacin del Barna Research
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The Barna Group of Ventura, California. Focus On "Worship Wars" Hides The Real Issues Regarding Connection to
God. Accessed March 26, 2012. http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/85-focus-onqworship-warsq-hides-the-real-issues-regarding-connection-to-god

Focus On "Worship Wars" Hides The

Real Issues Regarding Connection to
God
November 19, 2002
(Ventura, CA) - Magazines have featured articles on the "worship wars" said to be raging in the
nation's churches. According to data from a new study presented at Baylor University by
researcher George Barna, however, the real issue is not the choice of music by churches but rather
people's interest in, understanding of, and engagement in the act of worshiping God.
Describing the national research conducted by his company for the Billy Ray Hearn Symposium on
Christian Music, held at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Barna indicated that the coverage
afforded the "worship wars" has exaggerated the scope of the problem while ignoring the real
issues regarding worship. "The major challenge," according to Barna, "is not about how to use
music to facilitate worship as much as it is to help people understand worship and have an intense
passion to connect with God." Citing various findings from three recent nationwide surveys he
directed on the issue, Barna noted that relatively few churches have intense musical battles but
most churches have too few people who truly engage God in worship.
"Most of the church people who fight about their musical preference do so because they don't
understand the relationship between music, communication, God and worship. Church leaders
foster the problem by focusing on how to please people with music or how to offer enough styles of
music to meet everyone's tastes rather dealing with the underlying issues of limited interest in,
comprehension of, and investment in fervent worship of a holy, deserving God." Barna also stated
that although music is important in the worship process, it is often elevated beyond its rightful
place in the worship effort. "Music is just a tool meant to enable people to express themselves to
God, yet we sometimes spend more time arguing over the tool than over the product and purpose
of the tool."
Creating A Controversy
Drawing on national surveys among church-goers, Senior Pastors of Protestant churches and
worship leaders from those churches, Barna revealed that while there are definitely battles being
waged within Protestant churches regarding music, the battle is not widespread. One-quarter
(24%) of Senior Pastors say their church has music-related tensions, but only 5% of them claim
that those tensions are "severe" - which amounts to just 1% of the Protestant congregations in the
U.S. About three out of ten pastors at the music-conflicted churches say the tensions are
"somewhat serious." All together, then, only 7% of Protestant churches have "severe" or
"somewhat serious" music issues rattling their congregation.
One reason identified by Barna for the limited severity of the tensions is that most church people
appreciate the use of music for worship, but are not obsessed with the style used. The research
found that the style of music relied upon in the service is a matter of high significance to just onethird of all church attenders. In fact, only 17% said that they would definitely or probably change
their attendance pattern if their church altered the musical style of the service they usually attend,
while three-quarters (76%) said they would just go along with the new style and not make any
change in their attendance habits. These figures suggest that in spite of the controversy
surrounding church music, people may be more accepting or flexible than assumed. The study did
find that the segment of adults most likely to change services or churches rather than accept a
style of music they did not like was evangelicals.
As confirmation of the limited significance of the "worship wars" controversy, the research also
pointed out that only three out of ten adults say that worship music is the single, most important

factor in their choice of what church to attend. The people most likely to list music as a key factor
were blacks, people 56 or older, adults who attend a church that has 500 or more attenders,
women, and born again Christians.
Music That Dominates
There is plenty of opportunity for people to gain exposure to the style of music they prefer. Threequarters of Protestant churches (73%) have multiple worship services. Overall, 27% have just one
service, 32% offer two services, 33% provide three options and 8% have four or more distinct
services.
The styles of music used in church services vary tremendously. Nearly half of all Protestant
churches (46%) offer at least one service featuring traditional worship music - hymns and other
tunes utilizing a choir, an organ or congregational singing of that music. Just as prolific is the
number of churches (43%) using "blended" music - a combination of two or more different music
styles within the same service. Less common styles used include rock or contemporary Christian
(used in 24% of churches), praise and worship (in 8% of churches) and gospel (in 7% of
churches).
The profile looks slightly different if the figures are based on the number of worship services rather
than the number of churches using a given style. Viewed from that angle, the data indicate that
35% of all Protestant worship services, including those held Sunday nights and during the week,
utilize traditional worship music; 30% are blended; 16% are rock or contemporary Christian; 7%
are gospel; 6% are praise and worship; 4% are acappella; and 2% use no music at all. (The
percentage of churches using a musical style is different than the percentage of services in which
that style is used because many churches have multiple worship services, causing the base number
of services to be larger than that of the number of Protestant churches. Also, some churches may
have more than one worship service that uses the same type of musical style.)
What type of worship music do congregants gravitate toward? If the service attended is any
indication, traditional worship music still reigns, although a minority of church-going adults
experiences it. Presently, 40% of adults say they attend a service that uses traditional music (e.g.,
a choir, hymns, organ). The next most common styles are "blended" music (used in the services
frequented by 12% of adults); gospel (11%); praise and worship (10%); and contemporary
Christian (i.e., CCM) or Christian rock (9%). One out of every eight attenders (13%) said they
don't know what the style of music is at their services.
The Real Issues
The Barna study discovered that among the key worship issues is that church-going adults and
Protestant Senior Pastors do not share a common perception of the most important outcome of
worship. Congregants were most likely to understand worship as activity undertaken for their
personal benefit (47%) while Senior Pastors described the purpose of worship as connecting with
God (41%) or experiencing His presence (30%). Only three out of ten church-going adults (29%)
indicated that they view worship as something that is focused primarily on God. One out of every
five attenders admitted that they had no idea what the most important outcome of worship is.
Another relevant research finding was that most pastors do not prioritize worship as a main thrust
of their church's ministry. When asked to list the two or three top ministry priorities of their church,
the survey revealed that worship was included in that list by only one out of every four pastors
(26%). Other top-rated priorities included evangelism (listed as a top-3 priority by 41%),
preaching/teaching (34%), ministry to youth and children (25%), and discipleship (19%).
Some Mixed Signals
If significant changes will be made in worship, don't expect them to be driven by the laity. For the
most part, people are satisfied with the worship experiences they currently have. Four out of five
individuals (83%) say they leave the services feeling accepted or completely loved by God "every

time" or "most of the time." Two out of three adults (69%) usually leave feeling inspired. Three out
of five (62%) say they typically feel like they have connected with God or been in His presence in
most cases. Half of the congregants (50%) frequently leave feeling challenged to change.
Relatively small numbers of people say they usually feel guilty or disappointed in themselves
(10%), or frustrated because their needs have not been met (8%).
Adults are typically satisfied with the quality of the music, the sermon and the prayer in their
services. Four out of ten are "completely satisfied" with the music and with the sermons, and half
are "completely satisfied" with the prayer. Most of the remaining adults said they were "mostly
satisfied" with each of those elements.
However, Barna pointed out that church-goers and pastors have conflicting notions of what is
considered necessary in order to worship effectively. Out of ten facilitation factors studied,
parishioners and pastors differed substantially on the importance of six of these items.
The areas of agreement related to prayer, which nine out of ten pastors and parishioners said was
very important to facilitate effective worship; having communion (mentioned by two-thirds of each
group); giving money (mentioned by slightly more than half of both groups); and having a time for
the "turn and greet" experience (mentioned by half of each group).
Among the factors of divergence were having time for quiet reflection during the service, deemed
very important by two-thirds of all adults - twice the proportion measured among pastors. Half of
all congregants said that having time for private confession was very important, but just one out of
every three pastors agreed. A surprisingly large number of people (38%) expressed the
importance of reciting creeds, which was more than double the percentage of pastors who
concurred (14%). On the other hand, pastors were considerably more likely to assign importance
to the sermon, the public reading of Scripture, and the use of music than were congregants.
More than four out of five pastors (84%) said music is very important to facilitate effective
worship. However, barely half of the congregants (55%) agreed. In fact, in assessing the ranking of
the ten worship elements studied, pastors rated music second only to prayer, and tied with the
sermon, in importance. Congregants, however, rated music in a tie for fifth place, following prayer,
the sermon, communion, and a time for reflection. The music was deemed no more important than
the public reading of Scripture, confession, the offering and the turn-and-greet time. In fact, music
was more important than only one of the ten elements evaluated: reciting creeds and responsive
readings.
If the people in the pews are going to push for changes, those transitions may relate to the
substance of the songs they sing and being able to sing songs they know more often. Overall,
nearly half of all worship attenders said that the words in the currently popular praise and worship
songs lack the spiritual depth of traditional hymns while three out of ten adults noted that too
many new worship songs are introduced into their services.
Opportunities for Growth
Barna expressed gratitude to Baylor University for funding the study and expressed the hope that
the information can help more pastors and congregants get on the same page regarding worship.
"The study does not minimize the fact that some churches are enduring painful divisions regarding
worship music. The good news, however, is that those tensions are less common than anecdotes
and journalistic hype have suggested. The Baylor study puts the controversy in perspective and
places the 'worship wars' notion in the category of 'myth.'"
Based on the data from the studies, Barna cited two important patterns of behavior. "Notice that
the churches most likely to have worship-related problems are those that utilize blended music,
which is a questionable attempt to please everyone at once. It appears that the use of blended
music merely reminds people of the fact that they have to share the music space with others who

cannot tolerate their own preferences - just as they cannot tolerate those of others. The reliance
on blended music seems to actually fuel rather than dampen the fires of discord. Other recent
studies we have conducted even show that people are less likely to feel connected to God in a
blended service than in one that uses a single style of music.
Returning to his main takeaway from the research, Barna encouraged church leaders to get back to
basics. "Many church people fight about music because they have yet to understand the purpose of
music in the worship process. That lack of insight causes them to focus on and fight for their
preferred sound, instruments, presentation techniques, or their desired order of service. Too often,
church leaders get caught up in the fuss.
"These battles are inappropriate distractions from meaningful ministry and fruitful discipleship.
Christians need to be more zealous about, and devoted to worshiping God. The Church needs to
move on and focus on the One worthy of worship and the desire of His heart - which is to be
worshiped with intensity and passion by His people - rather than to focus on the tools used to
facilitate our expressions of love and gratitude."
Access to the Information
The worship research and a series of worship-related presentations were funded by the Billy Ray
Hearn Symposium on Christian Music in association with Baylor University. Also speaking at the
recent symposium on the Baylor campus in Waco, Texas were Pastor Jack Hayford, Christian
musical artist Charlie Peacock, theologian Robert Webber, worship leader Louie Giglio, and other
individuals involved in Christian music and worship. Barna's research report, along with
presentations by the symposium speakers, will be available in a book, entitled Music and the
Church: Relevance in a Changing Culture, to be published by Baylor University in Spring 2003.
Research Methodology
The research data were generated through three separate surveys. Using a national omnibus
survey conducted in April 2002 by the Barna Research Group, 1007 randomly sampled adults were
surveyed, of which 727 described themselves as Christian who attends a Christian church. In April
and May 2002, 601 Senior Pastors of Protestant churches were interviewed, as well as a sample of
69 worship leaders serving at churches from which the Senior Pastor had already been interviewed.
Many of the questions asked of each population were identical, to allow direct comparisons for
many important factors under scrutiny.
All of the survey respondents were drawn from random samples of qualified individuals living within
the 48 continental states. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate
national sample of the 727 adults who described themselves as Christian is 3.8 percentage points
at the 95% confidence level; the maximum level of estimated sampling error among the 601
Senior Pastors, also randomly selected from all U.S. Protestant churches, is 4.1 percentage points
at the 95% statistical confidence level. (The sampling error for subgroups may be higher because
the sample size of those segments is smaller. There are other types of error besides sampling error
that may also be present in surveys.) All of the interviews were conducted from the Barna
Research Group telephone interviewing facility in Ventura, CA. The distribution of the survey
respondents coincided with the geographic dispersion of the U.S. adult population according to
Census Bureau estimates, while the distribution of pastors was based on estimates of
denominational affiliation in the country. Multiple callbacks were used to increase the probability of
including a reliable sample of adults.
The Barna Research Group, Ltd. is an independent marketing research company located in
southern California. Since 1984 it has been studying cultural trends related to values, beliefs,
attitudes and behaviors. This research was funded solely by Barna Research as part of its regular
tracking of the social, religious and political state of the nation and its churches.
If you would like to receive a bi-weekly update on the latest research findings from the Barna
Research Group, you may subscribe to this free service by typing your e-mail address in the field

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