Worship Music

“When it announced last month it was shutting down, Brentwood Benson became the latest in a line of major church music publishers closing their doors. Last year saw the bankruptcy of Lorenz Corp., which had purchased choral giant Word Music in 2017.

“…halfway through that epic bridge you scan over the congregation and all that looks back at you is a sea of blank faces. What went wrong?” - CPost

“It matters whether those who lead us in song see their task as creating a mood or a memory. If primarily a mood, lyrics can take a back seat …. If primarily a memory, the lyrics are critically important. Like the Psalms, they should be able to stand on their own, combined with music or not.” - CToday

“Do they hate these songs? Are they bad singers? Am I singing out of tune? … The church was newly established and small in number, and—to put it kindly—the singing in our gatherings was uncomfortable.” - TGC

“So the question becomes – in spite of today’s worship music often being meaningful, well done and engaging, what have we lost when a few hundred members of the congregation stand there watching 5 or 6 members of the worship team do all the singing?” - Phil Cooke

“Theology matters,” Morgan writes. “I can’t even stress that enough. It matters if a song is weak in theology and is not accurately displaying the Holiness of our God. It matters if churches are spreading a prosperity Gospel that is different from the Gospel found in Scripture.” - C.Leaders

“The more pronounced the division between the platform and the congregation, the weaker the singing…. The congregation should not feel like their contribution is meaningless. Just the opposite.” - C.Leaders

“A professional musician can miss reading the moment. And worse yet, a worship leader can fall into executing the songs instead of leading the worship.” - C.Leaders

“Young people today (I include myself in this group) aren’t looking for something new. They aren’t looking for something relevant. We’re looking for something true. Something ancient.” - C. Leaders

“…church leaders recognize they are losing coming generations and that the church is not impacting the culture as it used to. So they think more music and performance will attract these younger generations back to church.” - Ken Ham