Every high school journalism student learns a simple formula for the lead paragraph of a news story: Who – What – Where – When – Why – How. Those are the basics. If a reader goes no farther than that first paragraph, he or she has all of the pertinent information contained in the story.
I regularly receive communication from church music leaders and pastors struggling with mandates from governing bodies that translate into some version of “we have decided that we are going to have a contemporary worship service.” Some of those mandates come attached to an implicit or explicit message that the leader’s continuing employment is contingent on that service’s success in addressing whatever problem the governing body is addressing. “How,” the church staff members opine, “do we do this?” And, sometimes the most poignant question, “Why?”
My response usually begins with a series of questions. These include “Who is your church?”, “What is your congregation trying to accomplish?”, and “What need does a contemporary service (whatever that means) fill, that isn’t being addressed somewhere else in your congregation’s ministry?”
Like the news story, every congregation’s identity includes a Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. Edicts regarding changes in style of worship imposed by congregational governing bodies often skip the first five of the vital components of a congregation’s story. Style of worship is a question of How. That is the final question in building the story – not the first. How questions make sense only when Who, What, Where, When, and Why have been thoughtfully considered and conclusions internalized. Only then can questions of How be considered in proper context.
David W. McCormick says