Four years ago we asked Rend Collective’s Chris Llewellyn what he thought the church in 2021 would sound like. What he said intrigued us...
“I’m not sure anybody knows, but I can see moves towards much more honest reflections on faith, exciting moves in music - a wider range in musical expression, rather than one genre dominating as it does at the minute. I’m really excited - these are good times.”
With six years to go, we’re wondering whether we’re still on track.
It would be foolish to think that we could point to one church, one worship leader or one set of musicians and put them on a pedestal, declaring that they’d cracked the formula.
The truth is more complicated than that. It’s more human. More personal.
Instead of looking out, perhaps we should be looking in. Instead of wondering when someone will come and show us how it’s done, how about we begin by asking ourselves these two simple questions?
Are we more honest in our music?
Do the sounds that we’re making reflect more of the different flavours that lie within - not to mention beyond - the walls of our church?
Whatever the future may sound like for the church, it will be voices like yours and mine - cracked and imperfect as they are - that will be heard the loudest by the communities of people we hope to reach.
This is the timeless truth of the gospel; that God does not call the qualified by qualifies the called. He invites us to participate, to get it wrong and make a mess and spend the very best that we have on taking God-flavoured risks.
So let’s not worry about what others are doing, but instead let’s add more fuel to our campfire and invite others in to join with us. Let’s keep it personal. Let’s keep it local.