Worship Music

“The annual Sing! Global conference, held Sept. 4-6, drew some 8,500 Christian worship music leaders and other church musicians, pastors, vendors and hymn composers from as many as 35 countries.” - RNS

“Sixty years from now… will the then 73-year-old wish that his church sang some of the good old songs he grew up singing, like ‘The Power of the Cross,’ ‘His Mercy Is More,’ ‘My Jesus Fair,’ ‘Behold Our God,’ and ‘In Christ Alone’?” - DBTS Blog

“it’s important to observe that if we say that the ‘old style’ of music communicates, the ‘new style’ does as well. That is to say, it is incoherent to say, ‘Music is neutral and shouldn’t be judged, and also the old style of music is terrible’ ” - Michael Riley

“Worship is about believers speaking the message of Christ to one another. But when the focus of the service becomes about everyone on the platform doing the right thing at the right time, worship begins to look more like a performance than a gathering of believers.” - Lifeway

“In recent years, industry giants like Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG), which, as of 2021, claims over half the market share of the Christian music industry, have invested more in catalog acquisitions and are seeing profits from publishing catalogs increase.” - CToday

“#1-Even if hymnals are available and acknowledged, hardly anyone…uses them….#2-Generally, there is very little to no harmony being sung….#3-It is much more difficult to teach through the stanza progression of hymns….#4-Only those familiar with the hymn can sing it.” - P&D

“A new study looked at how worship leaders pick music for services — at a time when a handful of megachurches dominate the market.” - RNS

“Bishop’s survey is based on an influential 1938 study that helped shape Southern Baptist church music in the 20th century. Published in 1939, that study used survey techniques popularized by George Gallup to gather data from 1,093 local congregations.” - RNS

“The medieval church had musical instruments and choirs…. Congregations sat mute as the ‘professionals’ performed. The Reformers rightly restored the singing of the congregation.” - Ref21

“There are valid and interesting questions about the particularities that give contemporary worship music its resonance—borrowed conventions of secular love songs and pop ballads or associations with the aesthetics of high-energy arena rock concerts” - CToday