Acceptance of contemporary songs in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe liturgy: Ruwa section, Goromonzi

Abstract

The study examined the use of songs from outside the worship liturgy of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe (MCZ) in the Ruwa Section, Goromonzi Circuit. The circuit had six congregations with mixed views on the above-referred songs. A debate on the choice of worship songs was identified as a problem that needed research. The researchers looked at the spirituality of songs and their bearing on the MCZ music tradition. The researchers adopted a qualitative research paradigm. Data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions, a self-administered questionnaire and participant observation over four months. A sample of 120 informants was drawn from the youth, choristers, the elderly, and church leaders using stratified random and simple random sampling techniques. Findings show that not all songs drew congregants into spirituality. Regardless of spirituality in Christian contemporary worship songs, some MCZ members did not embrace the songs as they were from outside their canon. The research observed that some youths and middle aged MCZ members embraced worship songs that reflected their cultural musical styles. However, some of the songs regardless of the Christian text, lacked spirituality. The researchers recommend that the MCZ consider canonising some of the contemporary worship songs based on spirituality.