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10

Conclusions

This study has been successful, not only in testing its initial hypotheses and answering the resultant research questions, but also in providing some hard empirical evidence in a field where there is very little. The high level of uptake amongst the churches and schools invited to take part in the project confirms that this is an area of interest to both churches and schools and that the research is of value to them 1.

The two main research questions can be answered very simply:

The majority of the young people attending normal Sunday worship do not join in with the singing.
The repertoire used in schools collective worship does not adequately prepare young people to participate in the sung worship of their church, as there is an increasing disparity between the repertoire employed in schools and churches.

Further conclusions have arisen from the testing of the initial hypotheses:

The sung repertoire of normal Sunday worship is unique each to church.
A repertoire common to churches and schools can be rebuilt by churches sharing their 'treasury of song' through improved church-school links, whereby schools would sing some songs that their linked church sing. But - and this is a big but - geographically fragmented patterns of church and school attendance and the uniqueness of the repertoire employed in individual churches prevents the direct transfer of a specific body of song from a particular church to a particular school and back again.
Therefore, exposure to the repertoire of normal Sunday worship in the church/Sunday School setting is the most effective means by which young people effectively learn the sung repertoire of their church.
Nonetheless, sharing repertoire between churches and schools can help young people become familiar with the styles of music used in normal Sunday worship, and this would be of enormous value in aiding their participation in the same.

It is clear both from the practical research and from the related literature that churches have to take responsibility for the (sacred) musical education of their young people 2.
There are two main reasons for this urgent need. Firstly, the mainstream culture is no longer supportive of congregational song. Secondly, shifts in theological understanding have led to widespread liturgical reforms, which have in turn led to an unprecedented diversification of hymnody. Coupled together, these factors create a climate in which the culture of church worship is becoming ever more separate from the mainstream culture, and where ritual expression - and therefore the music employed - varies more than ever from church to church. Gretchen Wolff Pritchard sums it up neatly: 'If we want Christian celebration and Christian community to mean anything to our children, we will have to teach them ourselves' (Prichard 1992 p74). This does not mean that collective worship in schools has no part to play, but it is important to recognise the fact that by their very nature, church worship and collective worship will always differ and that, more significantly, the repertoire currently employed in collective worship does little to aid young people's participation in normal Sunday worship.

The failure of churches to teach their young people the songs of the congregation carries serious consequences. For many young people, the inability to identify with and join in the singing renders the central rites of their church inaccessible. In this way, the failure of churches and schools to teach the songs of the assembly - and therefore adequately socialise their young people in the culture of church worship - equals a failure to provide the young people in their care access to the spiritual resources necessary to practise what faith they have received.

'Believing without belonging' 3
At the beginning of her book, Religion in Britain since 1945, Grace Davie comments on,

Songs to Teach the Faith: Songs to Keep the Faith has provided some insight as to how Britain has reached such a state of 'believing without belonging.' Current practices in schools, Sunday schools and Christian youth work initiatives may well serve to induce a level of Christian belief 4, but the sung worship commonly provided for young people in these settings does not aid their integration into normal Sunday worship. In this way, a significant number of young people reach adulthood 'believing without belonging'.

Repertoire and musical style - liturgical keys to the Kingdom
The subject of musical style is recognised as being 'controversial, with a higher irritation factor than any other liturgical component,' yet, 'a broad variety of musical styles from a variety of sources is foundational to good liturgy' (Giles 2004 p45). The judicious choice of repertoire in both churches and schools is an unmistakably important factor in resolving the difficulties addressed in this dissertation. All styles of worship have their place and it is desirable that a number of musical styles be incorporated into the main Sunday service, making it as widely inclusive as possible.

This means that in addition to churches sharing their treasured hymns with their local schools, both churches and schools must accept the need for the acquisition of new repertoire that can effectively serve the worshipping needs of both parties. A growing number of such songs have been published in the last fifteen or so years, but they remain scattered throughout a great number of publications, making them less obvious and accessible. I call this group of songs 'bridge builders,' as they can be utilised effectively with worshippers of all ages and denominations. For instance, some of the songs of the world church, the Iona Community, and Taize can offer both depth and simplicity, making them ideal bridge builders between school/Sunday School and normal Sunday worship; yet these are sources are under-represented in both school and church worship.

There is a need for the publication of a new kind of book that gathers together such bridge building songs so that schools and churches are better able to make use of them 5. To ensure these songs are utilised to maximum benefit, such a book would need to be accompanied by comprehensive notes offering background information, suggested uses and how to teach the songs. Where appropriate, the songs should be arranged to offer maximum flexibility to its users, including versions for unison singing, two/three part equal voices, and SATB voices.

Musical styles aimed at attracting young people into the church have failed in their purpose.
Whilst advocating the inclusion of bridge builders and the treasured songs of adult congregations into young people's worship, it would be stupid to deny that a great many young people (and their adult helpers) enjoy the children's songs sung in Sunday Schools, schools and at Christian holiday clubs. As with all music, the quality of the children's songs published varies greatly, and a level of discernment is necessary in choosing appropriate material from the vast array on offer, but as previously mentioned, all styles of music have their place. It is important to understand, however, exactly where that place is. Whilst these songs variously fulfil the functions of making church more fun/ stopping the children wriggling by giving them some actions to do/teaching them about God in words they can understand/ or conveying something of the gospel promise, they do not fulfil the purpose of attracting young people into the church for the simple reason that, due to their absence from the repertoire of the adult congregation, they do not aid young people's integration into normal Sunday worship. Therefore, though some songs written specifically for children might be said to help teach the faith, the majority do not play an obvious part in the continuation of the faith journey 6.

Children that are raised on a musical diet wholly or principally comprised of children's songs (whether the school hymn variety or from the popular children's ministry stable) sooner or later suffer the disappointment of discovering that the music they know and love (generally) does not have a place in normal Sunday worship 7. Far from being inclusive, in confining children to styles of music and worship that are totally different to normal Sunday worship, churches inadvertently push their young people further away from feeling fully accepted into their church family. For this reason it is vital that children's songs and the songs of the adult assembly are taught in equal measure (and with equal enthusiasm) in schools, Sunday Schools, and Christian youth work initiatives.

What next?
This project has succeeded in providing a detailed account of the state of young people's participation in sung worship in the geographical area studied. What is not clear is whether or not the results of this study accurately reflect a national trend; a larger scale study would be necessary to confirm this. The evidence presented here, however, is sufficient to prompt churches and schools into taking a serious look at the ways in which their young people might be better enabled to participate in the sung worship of their church communities. In the meantime, I intend to compile a book of bridge building songs to make their job a little easier.

Positive responses were received from ten out of the twelve churches and nine out of the eleven schools invited to participate. All the participating schools and churches have elected to receive the report, Guideline Recommendations for Churches and Schools (see Post Script 1). Back to text
'…It is also the Church's responsibility to continue the musical education of children and youth, to help foster the cause of making music well' (Giles 2004 p242). Back to text
Davie 1994 p4. Back to text
This much Davie has already identified: '…religious education and collective worship have helped to keep in place some sort of religious culture, however tenuous this may be' (Davie 1994 p135). Back to text
A list of a few such 'bridge builders' - songs that I have used successfully with both adults and children - can be found in Post Script 2, p109 - 113. Back to text
The songs learned in childhood stay with us all our lives and those that have been internalised may be recalled at any time as part of the anabatic-katabatic dialogue, a dialogue that is unseen by others. Thus they may form part of our internal faith expression even if they are no longer sung aloud, or sung regularly in worship. Back to text
This problem has been noticed and commented upon by many of the Christians who help at Lighthouse Great Missenden. There is ongoing discussion as to how to help young people integrate into church worship after becoming interested in Christianity through the seeds sown at Lighthouse. Many of the participating churches have made attempts to incorporate Lighthouse songs into their services for the sake of their children, but is often unsuccessful, partly because many older church members (who make up the majority of the congregation) are alienated by the unfamiliar style of music, and partly because most of the Lighthouse songs do not really work when played half-speed on the organ… Back to text