Solos.

Yeah, that’s right. I know I’m about to push some buttons, but I really don’t think solo vocal performances are beneficial to the church and therefore am taxed when I notice that my church has had one every Sunday morning service for more than a month. My views are as follows:

Pros

You’re going to have to fill this one in for me as I really can’t think of any that aren’t already fulfilled by congregational worship.

Cons

1. Focuses attention of entire congregation on one person.
2. Much easier to distract from contemplating and praising God.
3. Can be a stumbling block for person performing.
4. Culturally viewed as a performance whereas other individual acts (such as preaching or praying) are generally accepted as pointers to think about God.
5. Much less actual knowledge can be conveyed with singing as can be with preaching, which is why I believe all singing worship should be corporate.

I have serious problems with a seeming individualistic mindset here. I know the comparison with preaching will undoubtedly be made, so let me explain where I think the difference lies. Preaching and singing have different purposes (as I understand it). To preach is to proclaim the Word of God to exhort, encourage, and convict the hearers. To sing is to praise God directly in the presence of and in cooperation with others. Though many hymns do (and should) contain good, meaty doctrine, the purpose remains the same. Praising God directly for and in those doctrines. In any case, I think the comparison is flawed because of these differences. In addition, preaching cannot be done corporately precisely because of these differences.

These are my initial thoughts. If I am in error, please explain it to me.