The presence of at least two prominent streams of church music within the DRC is evident – this is also true of most other Protestant and Reformed churches. There is tension between the ‘old music’ and the ‘new music’; traditional church music and contemporary church music; the official repertoire of church music and the utilized repertoire of songs. Liturgical singing often includes various free songs (songs outside the official hymnal). Songs from various traditions are cut and pasted or copied and merged into liturgy through a process of bricolage. Within bricolage liturgy there is a growing tendency towards bricolage liturgical singing. A brief overview of the history of church music illustrates the complexities regarding church music. The official song of the temple was often complimented by the ecstatic song of individuals. The more formal and official song of the church often stood in contrast to the song and music that were played and sung in houses and elsewhere. Christian believers in different eras expressed themselves in different forms and genres of music. The Bible does not support a blueprint for church music. There is no Biblical church music, mainly because no ‘melodies’ could be preserved (cf. Mowinckel 2004:9). The latter is further complicated by the culture-bound nature of Biblical music and songs. The Biblical data mostly provides snapshots of instances where God’s people utilized music and singing in their interaction with the Almighty and covenantal God. Certain principles and guidelines for church music could be drawn from these, although the danger of fundamentalism, relativism and subjectivism remains. A study of liturgy illustrates the important role of music and singing within the dialogue of the liturgy. Recent studies emphasize that church music could function as a ritual symbol within a specific cultural or sub-cultural community. As such church music is closely related to the culture (or sub-culture) of a given community and can never be evaluated apart from that culture. Within a postmodern culture, church music will be greatly influenced and coloured by the values and attitudes of postmodernism. The latter have major implications for musical styles, genres, repertoires and the sanctification of church music. Within postmodernism the borders between sacred and secular are not so clear, neither between sacred (liturgical) music and secular music. Within Western culture and postmodernism there is a growing need for an inculturated and an inter-culturated song, expressing the smaller narrative(s) of the local congregation in idioms, language, metaphors and styles true to the local culture. Church music is closely related to the spirituality of the local congregation. The dominant type of spirituality will necessarily have a sound influence on the musical genres, accompaniments, styles and repertoire of the local congregation. The growing phenomenon of popular spirituality has definite implications for church music. At least three circles of spiritualities must find expression in the song of the local congregation, namely an ecumenical spirituality, a denominational spirituality and a congregational spirituality. Where the official song (Liedboek van die Kerk) gives expression to the denominational or Reformed spirituality as well as the meta-narrative, the free song often gives expression to the congregational spirituality as well as the smaller narrative. It is argued that the freely chosen song is an important means of expressing the spirituality of the local congregation (culture). In this sense, it does not threaten the official church song but compliments it. These two could stand in a positive and creative tension. Regarding liturgical singing, the DRC is presently moving from a societas through a phase of communitas to a new societas. It is impossible to predict the outcome of this process. As Burger (1995:31) indicates, a communitas-phase releases a lot of new energy that could be of great value to the church. Church music, as folk music and cultural music, will have to be faithful to the culture and spirituality of God’s people living in the twenty first century within a given context. The age-old tradition must continue hand in hand with a new song. Vos (2009:5) summarizes accurately: “However, each generation of believers must interpret the ancient sources and traditions of the Church anew, within the demands of their time, without being unfaithful to the traditions in which a definitive liturgy exists”. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Hoofstuk een handel oor die worsteling van die NG Kerk om 'n dalende tendens in erediensbywoning die hoof te bied en die beste benadering te vind ten opsigte van vernuwing in die erediens, sodat ook mense wat nie deel van die kerk is nie, belang sal stel om eredienste by te woon. Die erediens is 'n byeenkoms waar mense op uitnodiging van God bymekaar kom, maar hoe moet sodanige byeenkomste ingerig word sodat mense dit werklik as 'n ontmoeting met God sal ervaar? Hoe belangrik is dit om 'n liturgiese orde in sodanige byeenkomste te volg en watter rol speel die reformatoriese liturgie om 'n ontmoeting tussen God en mens te fasiliteer? Wat moet in die proses van liturgiese vernuwing behou of laat vaar word? In hoofstuk twee word duidelikheid verkry of die reformatoriese liturgie inderdaad interensiek kommunikatief van aard is en of die erediensganger, deur middel van die liturgie, God al luisterende in die erediens kan ervaar. Die reformatoriese liturgie word vervolgens vanuit `n hermeneuties-kommunikatiewe handelingsteoretiese perspektief bespreek ten einde sekerheid te verkry dat God ook deur middel van die reformatoriese liturgie in die erediens aan die werk is. Die basis van die praktiese teologie is `n hermeneuties-kommunikatiewe praxis (Van der Ven 1990:47). Dit beteken dat die homiletiek ook vanuit `n hermeneutieskommunikatiewe perspektief verstaan kan word (Vos 1996:11-12). Hermeneutiek is die refleksie op die proses van die koms van God in sy Woord na die mens in sy situasie, waarin drie momente onderskei kan word: die verstaan (begrip), die verstaanbaar maak (verklaar) en die tot verstaan kom (toe-eien). Die hermeneutiese komponent van die praktiese teologie (Van der Ven 1990:54-55) word hier vir die homiletiek diensbaar gemaak. Hermeneutiek handel oor die verstaan van die Woord, die verstaanbaar maak daarvan binne die eie kultuur en die tot verstaan kom van die mens vir wie die heil bedoel is (Vos 1996:12). Dit moet as uitgangspunt dien wanneer besin word oor die aanbieding van die evangelie aan mense van `n nie-kerklike agtergrond sodat hulle in die erediens-gebeure gelei kan word tot `n ontmoeting met God en verlossing deur Jesus Christus. In hoofstuk drie word die herkoms van die huidige reformatoriese liturgie aan die orde gestel ten einde aan te toon hoe sterk die liturgie in die vroeë kerk gefunksioneer het en hoe dit deur die eeue gegroei het tot dit wat ons huidiglik in die reformatoriese tradisie ken. Dit sluit in besinning oor die betekenis van die begrip “liturgie” en die ontwikkeling daarvan in die byeenkomste van die volk van God. Dit sluit die orde waarin die erediens verloop in, maar is baie meer as net dit. Liturgie is die diens aan God wat telkens weer vorm aanneem in `n bepaalde erediens (Barnard 1981:52; Van der Ven 1990:48; Vos 1996c:150-151). In hoofstuk vier word die gespreksmatigheid van die liturgiese gebeure, insluitend die preek, ondersoek. Die taal van die liturgie word ondersoek op die basis van 'n keuse vir die dialogiese kommunikasieteorie. Dit is juis omdat die verskillende liturgiese elemente kommunikatief in die erediens funksioneer, dat elkeen belangrik is, met groot omsigtigheid aangewend moet word en nie sonder goeie rede weggelaat kan word gedurende 'n erediens nie. In hoofstuk vyf word gefokus op wat met die term “soeker sensitiewe eredienste” bedoel word. Hoe het die begrip deur die geskiedenis ontwikkel en hoe word dit in verskillende denominasies verstaan? Die Willow Creek Gemeente in Chicago, VSA, onder leiding van pastoor Bill Hybels, staan algemeen bekend as die baanbreker op die gebied van ‘seekerservices’ (Long 2001:7). In die konteks van die NG Kerk in Suid-Afrika is dit nodig om hiervan kennis te neem, aangesien die bevindings in Kerkspieël 2005 daarop wys dat erediensbywoning in die NG Kerk steeds aan die afneem is en daar toenemend afgewyk word van die tradisionele liturgiese inkleding van die liturgie. Sal `n soortgelyke benadering as dié van Willow Creek, in Suid-Afrika en spesifiek in die NG Kerk suksesvol wees om mense wat nie meer belangstel in lidmaatskap van `n kerk of die bywoning van eredienste nie, weer terug te bring? Bevat die “tradisionele gereformeerde liturgie” inherente eienskappe wat `n ontmoeting tussen God en mens in die erediens waarborg? In hoofstuk ses word aangetoon wat die belang van `n Bybels-gefundeerde liturgie in die fasilitering van `n ontmoeting tussen God en die soeker in die erediens is. `n Voorbeeld van so `n liturgie en preek word voorsien en terreine vir verdere navorsing op die gebied word vermeld. ENGLISH : Chapter one describes the struggle of the Dutch Reformed Church to curb a decline in church attendance and to find the best approach towards shaping the worship service in order to attract churchmembers as well as the “unchurched.” In the worship service people come together because God has invited them, but how should such a meeting be structured so that people would experience it as a meeting with God? How important is a liturgical order in such meetings and what is the role of reformed liturgy in order to facilitate a meeting between God and man in the worship service? What should be kept and what should be discarded in the process of liturgical reformation? Chapter two seeks to clarify whether reformed liturgy is in fact essentialy communicative and if those attending a worship service can experience God in the liturgy by listening to all that is happening during the service. The reformed liturgy is thus researched from a hermeneuticalcommunicative acting theory perspective in order to determine whether God is indeed at work through reformed liturgy during worship. The basis of practical theology is a hermeneuticalcommunicative praxis (Van der Ven 1990:47). This means that homiletics can be understood from a hermeneutic-communicative perspective (Vos 1996:11-12). Hermeneutics is a reflection on the process of the coming of God in Scripture to man in his situation, in which three processes can be determined: understanding it (comprehension), to make it understandable (explaining) and to come to the conclusion (make it your own). The hermeneutical component of practical theology (Van der Ven 1990:54-55) is applied to homiletics. Hermenetics is all about understanding Scripture, to make it understandable within the own culture and the process of understanding of the person for whom the grace is intended (Vos 1996:12). That must be the starting point when the Gospel is presented to unchurched people so that they can be brought into a relationship with God and salvation through Jesus Christ in a worship service. In chapter three the origin of the current reformed liturgy is presented in order to show how strongly the liturgy functioned in the early church and how it developed to become what we recognise today in the reformed tradition. This includes reflection on the meaning of the term “liturgy” and its development in the congregation of Gods people. It includes the order of liturgical actions in the service, but it is more than just that. Liturgy is the service unto God which takes on a new form in a specific worship service (Barnard 1981:52; Van der Ven 1990:48; Vos 1996c:150-151). In chapter four the aspect of conversational identity of the liturgical actions, including the sermon, is researched. The language of liturgy is researched on the basis of a choice for the dialogical communicative theory. It is indeed because of the communicative identity of the liturgical elements that each and every one of them is important, should be applied with great circumspection and should not be left out during the worship service without good reason. In chapter five it is determined what is meant by the term “seeker services”. How did the term developed through the ages and how is it understood in different denominations? Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, USA, under the leadership of Pastor Bill Hybels, is viewed as the pioneer on the aspect of “seeker services” (Long 2001:7). In the context of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, it is vital to take note of the “seeker services”, as it has become apparant that the number of people attending church is declining and that congregations are more and more deviating from the traditional reformed liturgy. Will the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa benefit by following Willow Creeks’s approach to bring back people that have lost interest in membership of a church as well as attending worship services? Does reformed liturgy contain interinsic caracteristics that guarantees a devine meeting between God and those who attend worship services? In chapter six the significance of a Scripture-based liturgy in facilitating an experience of a devine meeting between God and “seekers” is determined. An example of such a liturgy is provided and subjects for further research are suggested. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Practical Theology / unrestricted