Praise Teams

1. Choir + Praise Team: Beginning in the 1990s, many churches added a miked eight- to twelve-member praise team stretched out in front of the choir. The two ensembles shared leadership and performing responsibilities.
   
   The choir has faded in popularity and use in the first decade of the 2000s, and the praise team has replaced it in many contemporary churches.
2. A larger praise team of four to eight of the best singers with a male worship leader/vocalist out front leading a mostly guitar-driven contemporary (not blended) service.
3. Praise Team Trio: This is probably the most common configuration, with a male worship leader/vocalist supported by a soprano, alto, tenor trio. Chapman says, "Harmonies are a tight, 3-part vocal sound."
4. Male Lead + Female Backup: Modern, guitar-driven songs with rock band accompaniment; one tenor male lead vocalist with one (maybe two) female backup singers providing lower alto harmonies to the lead tenor's melody.

The four praise team models identified by Chapman most likely come from churches that are non-United Methodist, evangelical, solidly contemporary in worship and music style. But it raises questions for United Methodist churches seeking to adopt a contemporary format:

• Are we ready to forsake the choir for a smaller praise team?
• What are the implications for congregational singing with any of these models?
• There seems to be a bias for a dominant male worship/vocal leader in all of Chapman's models. Is this necessary or acceptable? Is there a reason that makes female leadership unacceptable?
• Does the adoption of any of the four models place demands upon the kind or style of music to be offered in worship? Would any model exclude traditional hymnody?
• Is there a connection between the function of music in the worship service if that music is led by choir, praise team, or soloist? What about the role of the congregation? Does music have a different function in the service if it is led by a praise team or a choir?

Interestingly, Chapman points out the popularity of the current television show Glee, which features a high school choir. He suggests that one impact of the success of Glee may be a return in popularity of choirs (if, indeed, they ever actually fell out of favor) and the possibility of high school and college aged young people looking for church choirs to join. He asks, "Will your church be ready?"