Over the next four weeks, I will publish a series of articles about the changes in worship music and the controversy leveled at Contemporary Christian Music and musicians. At the extreme of success, a Contemporary Christian song can reach between five hundred million and a billion people. Understanding this phenomenon is important for the future of the church.
This journey into the world of highly visible and successful music has not been easy. Often, the music and musicians are associated with churches or organizations that have faced very public spiritual and personal failures. This connection complicates the task of examining the music and its impact on worship, but it’s a challenge worth tackling.
If you search and read about contemporary Christian music, you will discover an inexhaustible list of articles, discussions, and controversies. Those opposing the change are adamant and have enough facts and detail on their side to take a firm stance. But those who participate and believe in the genre are just as adamant and feel they are grounded in facts.
No matter where your opinions fall Contemporary Christian Music is having an influence on your worship practices, and maybe even your opinion about the Church and Christianity.
“Now it's time for another revival. America can't be saved by politics, and the answer isn't in being a Republican, Democrat, or Independent. Our economists and educators can't save us. Our entertainers offer diversions without meaning and our technology gives us progress without morality. We've seldom been in greater need for inner revitalization, and conditions are urgent.”
I have zero expectation of one hundred percent agreement on my conclusions, but I believe I am on firm ground. Thought and discussion are our goals, and we hope you will return each week to follow my conclusions.
Composing an article for this website normally takes about ten to twenty hours of research and writing. For this series of articles, more than two hundred hours have been needed, and I have definitely completed a “brain drain” on the topic.
This series has required considerable reading and study, and the list of references grew so long that adding them to the end of each article proved distracting. I will link to them at the bottom of each article so that they stay handy.
You Can View All Articles in This Series with This Link
