Somebody sent me a link to a Roman Catholic talk show listing the top ten WORST songs used at Mass. It took me a while to get around to give it a listen but I could hardly stand it but they were right on target but... They blamed the Lutherans! Really? Everything gets dumped on the Lutherans from those in Rome complain about. In this case the usual suspects were rounded up (Haugen, Haas, and Schutte). While it is true that Marty Haugen grew up Lutheran, no Lutheran would employ him but Rome did. All his music is published by GIA, a Roman Catholic firm. And, as if that were not enough, he is a member of the United Church of Christ. Nice try blaming the Lutherans for bad Roman Catholic folk music! If anything, we borrowed from Rome -- not the other way around.
Even when the content is not completely terrible, the style is folksy, casual, and so 1970s that it makes youth laugh and those of us with a conscience wince. I agree. This kind of music got into the souls of some in the 1970s through the 1990s but don't blame the Lutherans. Yes, they are rather insipid songs that seem to get inside your head and refuse to let go of you, They are the musical version of the terrible glued felt banners of the same period. They are saccharine and sweet and appeal to sentiment more than than to the voice of God speaking through His Word. But don't blame the Lutherans. Rome did it to themselves and is still doing it in many places. You know their names. Companions on a Journey, Gather Us In, Sing a New Song, We Remember, Here I Am, etc... Thankfully you will not find them in most Lutheran hymnals but in Roman Catholic missalettes and hymnals you will find them regularly. They do not fit within the solemnity of the Lord's Word speaking and His meal set in our presence. While I am not in favor of most of these in any context, it is difficult to complain about words drawn almost word for word from Scripture (On Eagle's Wings). Nevertheless, it is hard to figure out how to take words from Scripture and set them in such a way that the music detracts from them instead of supporting them as a helper (as Luther says).
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The Roman church always blamed the Lutherans for one issue or another. It is historically a long standing grudge that kept the animosity going, albeit more softly today. Luther was to the Catholic Pontiffs a Donald Trump of their day, a coarse angry bull in the china shop, an indelicate and contentious voice, whose theological footprint was to take a huge wrecking ball against the status quo, and biblical errancy. And stir the pot he did, seriously and with great aplomb and sledgehammer wit. Of course, Germans, being German, had their own vernacular, customs, nationalist roots, and ideas about everything from constructing clocks to styles of worship music. Indeed, Germans also loved their own folk music too. Is it unnatural to think that the music which pleases an Englishman or an Italian may not excite a German? Music, in my view, is a part of human tribalism and identity, and it is generationally and culturally relevant to time and place. I like American folk music from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. I can relate to it. Young people today do not even know the names of the great performers of that period. As for the church, any expectation that music will remain the same, with the exception of popular old hymns, is unrealistic. I agree that the lyrics need to be scriptural for worship, and the melody pleasing and memorable. I have heard some old hymns in church having uplifting lyrics but the melody and tone so dated that even the organist has issues with the tempo and the beat. And I have noted the puzzled faces of congregations which revealed they had no idea how to sing it properly. I suppose we will be debating this issue until the Lord returns. The main thing is this: Keep singing to the Lord. Psalm 104:33 says, “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God, while I have my being.” Soli Deo Gloria
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