Stephen has written a great paper on Worship.
In his paper he talks a little a bit about the history of Elim worship - we thought we'd share it with you - check it out below:
Music worship has always played an important part in the life of the Elim Pentecostal Church. The music styles and the way worship has been led have changed dramatically since the first days of the movement.
The early years
Singing played a vital part in the evangelistic campaigns of George Jeffreys. From their beginnings in the 1920’s Robert Ernest Darragh was the ‘song leader’ and initially the hymns were sung a cappella. With an audience of people who were largely brought up in church, the great hymns would be familiar. There were also lots of choruses, which would sometimes be written to the melody of a contemporary song, allowing the audience to sing along easily. Later on in the campaigns Darragh was joined by Albert Edser who played the piano. The campaigns were evangelistic so there was nothing about the worship that made it distinctively ‘Pentecostal.’
1951-late 70’s
The publishing of the Redemption Hymnal by Elim in 1951 was a huge success and went through many reprints. Churches outside of Elim used it too and with new songs being published, many became known around the world. WG Hathaway and EC Bolton were the best-known Elim songwriters. Elim also printed the Elim Chorus Book, known affectionately as the Yellow Pearl, and this was widely used up until the early 80’s.
Worship in the Sunday morning services was led by the Pastor or Convenor who remained on the platform for most or all of the service. The pastor would choose the hymns and choruses and give the list to the organist/pianist on the Sunday morning. These were not usually sung as a block but at various points during the service, providing the glue to connect the prayer, communion, offering and sermon. An open time of prayer usually brought various spontaneous elements: tongues, interpretation and prophecies from several members of the congregation. Someone may also have begun a song requiring the organist/pianist to quickly find the key and play along, and at some point carefully shift the key if it had been started too low or high!
The Sunday evening services tended to be less formal and provided opportunity for chorus singing (perhaps led by a deacon) and often visiting soloists and music groups. Small music bands also developed with instruments such as banjos, guitars, accordions and brass instruments being popular.
The Elim conference provided inspiration for worship in the local church. The London Crusader Choir gained international fame under the direction of Douglas Grey and sang at conference each year. This prompted the formation of several church choirs. Grey was employed as Elim’s national music director during the 70’s. He was a gifted music arranger rather than a worship leader. The worship at conference was led by a convener who was a member of the Executive Council (National Leadership Team). These men were able singers although not always gifted musicians which could result in a stop-start effect as the musicians sought to follow their lead. The music worship during this period also featured a number of guest music ministers. P S Brewster was secretary of the World Conference of Pentecostal Churches in the 1970’s and so he invited soloists from around the world to sing at conference.
Late 70’s-mid 90’s
The growth of the Charismatic movement had a profound effect on worship in Elim churches. In particular, the Dales and Downs Bible Weeks were instrumental in the idea of the ‘worship time’ (rather than simply a time of singing), music bands (incorporating the instruments we are familiar with today), greater use of all the spiritual gifts and the role of the worship leader. Many Elim pastors returned from these events keen to start a similar change in their own churches. With these developments came an appetite for new music and several new worship leaders rose to the fore (Graham Kendrick, David Fellingham, Steve Thompson, Les Moir, Chris Bowater). New worship recordings and music books increasingly became used in Elim churches.
At Elim conference, discussions behind the scenes helped to pave the way for a block of time to be given over to worship, allowing for a greater musical flow and for the band leader to take the role of worship leader. By the 1990’s, conference worship was led by the worship leader with the convener on stage to open the meeting and be ready to connect the worship to the speaker.
Kensington Temple was seeing incredible numerical growth during the 80’s and with it the possibility that the music worship could be developed. In 1986, Ian Bilbie (Senior Pastor, Auckland Elim, New Zealand) lent Bruce McGrail, his music minister, to Wynne Lewis for 3 months. This convinced Wynne Lewis that they should have someone more permanent. This kind of role was almost unheard of in the UK at the time. In 1988, Chris Cartwright was taken on staff as the Music Director. Chris had grown up in Elim and had been a member of KT since 1985. He had to create his role and found inspiration from other people who were at the forefront of developing the UK worship scene. Chris continued in this role until 1991 and was then followed by Richard Lewis, Andy Boxall and Dave Wellington who currently serves at KT as Music Pastor. During his years as Music Director, Chris was given increasing freedom in leading worship at KT. For Sunday services, this typically involved creating a song list and submitting it to Wynne Lewis beforehand. Worship began to play a growing part in supporting times of prayer ministry. The amount of time given to worship gradually increased too and by the time Colin Dye became Senior Pastor (1991), worship and ministry were a central part of the church service programme alongside the preaching.
Mid 90’s-present
Many Elim churches have grown considerably during the last 15 years, especially those in large urban areas. Part of the growth has been the result of immigration which has brought an international flavour to church life, including the worship. Larger numbers of Africans, for instance, have influenced a developing Gospel sound in some churches. Larger churches have meant an increasing number of musicians and technicians who have been encouraged to bring their gifts to worship resulting in a higher musical and technical standard. With this increasing demand, several Elim churches have employed a worship leader or allowed a staff member to give a portion of their work time to worship. Alongside this growth, the worship ‘apparatus’ has developed considerably. Digital audio equipment, video projection and lighting have all played their part in changing the worship experience for Elim churches. The result of larger churches and more technical equipment has meant the loss of some of the spontaneous elements of worship that were common before. For example, members of the congregation giving an utterance in tongues and interpretation used to be expected each week. Nowadays, this happens much less and corporate singing in tongues is much more common. This does not mean that spontaneity has gone completely and in some churches it is being rediscovered.
The rise of prophetic ministries and ‘outpourings of the Spirit’ from around the world have also brought certain influences. The Toronto Blessing and Pensacola revival in the 1990’s through to the present day with 24/7 worship and preaching broadcast on television and online have had an effect on the way that some Elim churches worship.
Charismatic worship has become a large global industry with the growth of summer festivals, countless ‘live worship’ recordings from around the world and the Internet providing information and merchandise at the touch of a button. With such vast options, Elim churches can find resources to support their particular worship style. Elim worship leader and pastor, Andy Boxall, has voiced his desire for Elim to rediscover a “Pentecostal distinctive” to its worship.
In this time too, a number of outside worship influences have had their effect in Elim. This has resulted in a diversification or fragmentation of expression – depending on the way the change is viewed.
