WACO, Texas -- Churches are fighting the wrong issue in worship wars, according to a new study from the Barna Research Group.
"We're only fighting about the style of music because our people don't know what worship is," said George Barna, president of the Ventura, Calif.-based research firm. "The real issue is not music but the state of the heart."
Barna's study was commissioned for the first Hearn Symposium on Church Music at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, according to the Associated Baptist Press. More than 725 adults, all regular attenders of Protestant churches, were questioned about worship during a telephone survey. More than 600 Protestant pastors and 69 music ministers or worship leaders were also surveyed.
The study showed most congregants have no clear expectation about what happens in worship. Asked to identify the most important personal outcome of worship, 21 percent said they don't know. Nineteen percent said a connection with God is most important; 11 percent said experiencing peace was the top goal. Just 4 percent said experiencing God's presence was most important; 2 percent said praising God topped their list.
Responses from pastors and worship leaders differed from church attenders. Thirty-six percent of pastors said a connection with God is most important; 38 percent of worship leaders cited experiencing God's presence as worship's most important outcome.
Barna's previous research found that one-third of regular worshippers said they have never experienced the presence of God in worship; two-thirds were unable to describe worship in a meaningful way; fewer than half cited worship as a top priority in their lives; and one-fourth described worship as something done for God's benefit.
Barna said pastors and worship leaders might be surprised to learn that 72 percent of congregants said they are completely or mostly satisfied with the music in their worship. Seventy-six percent said they would not change churches if the style of music changed.
"For all the complaining that is lodged against church music, people may be more accepting or flexible than they let on," Barna said.
