More and more, mainstream evangelicalism is waking up to the need for theology, biblical literacy, historicity, and thoughtfulness in modern worship. I see this on the personal level as I continue to meet a new, young breed of mainstream worship leader, who chooses to not be either-or about passion and substance. And I see this on the institutional level in instances like this at a major evangelical college, Biola University (which happens to be my alma mater): Biola Magazine asked … Read More
Worship: Exchanging Hip for Intergenerational
Our church has been on an ongoing quest to integrate ministries and capitalize on one of the things many congregations don’t have—an age spread. We’ve come to the conclusion that ministry to one another and to the world will only be as effective as we move to a ministry/mission model which is: (1) less program-driven and more people-centered; (2) less segregated and more integrated and intergenerational. In a recent post, Pastor Tullian Tchividjian pointed out that their church opted for … Read More
Bifrost Arts from a Mainstream Worship Perspective
Check out how one blogger described their experience of joining with Bifrost Arts in worship at the David Crowder Fantastical Church Music Conference. It’s reveals how far people like us have to go in the quest to bridge the worlds of historicity and liturgy with mainstream evangelical worship: Bitfrost Arts, a hymn-sing group from…well, I can’t remember if it was from Virginia or Missouri, but regardless, their sound was at the same time familiar and mysterious. Instead of relying on … Read More
Hymns Movement News: The Release of “Merciful to Me,” by Reformed Praise
I’m always excited and pleased when the cause of the hymns movement is furthered…when good musicians continue to take old hymn texts and set them to accessible contemporary music. David Ward and the crew at Reformed Praise have been doing this for quite a while. Over the years, they have faithfully provided the online community with free mp3s and sheet music of their great material. Similar to Sovereign Grace’s recent albums, Merciful to Me contains works inspired by hymns and … Read More
Hip-Hop Worship, Eschatology, and Aesthetics
This jazzes me on so many levels. Check out this footage from a recent worship service at Sojourn Church in Louisville, KY. The rapper is Shai Linne, whose blog called “Lyrical Theology” shows that hip-hop and Christian thought/worship aren’t antithetical. These videos conjure several stream-of-consciousness observations: Check out the cool way the medium of rap allows for creative twist on a traditional “call and response”…that’s ancient future liturgy at its finest! Check out how into it the … Read More
Important Large Church Makes a Bold Move to Unify Worship Services
Tullian Tchividjian, Senior Pastor of well-known Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, gave reasoning on his blog behind the bold move toward unifying the worship at their church. Coral Ridge will not be having services of different styles of music/liturgy/worship. They will all be the same. I applaud this effort wholeheartedly. I think his reasons are sound and Gospel-driven. They are a challenge to churches like mine that continue with services characterized by two different worship styles. I can’t imagine that the … Read More
Crowder and the Hymns Movement Converge
The David Crowder Band is hosting a Church Music Conference at Baylor University in Waco, TX, September 30-October 2. This is exciting on many levels. I’m pumped to see the name of a Friday breakout workshop: “A New Old Vision for Worship – Liturgical Spirituality for Post-Modern-Semi-Reformed-Hipsters.” Here’s what is truely exciting: more signs of the subversive growth of influence of the hymns movement are on the horizon. The David Crowder Band (for those who didn’t know) is THE name … Read More
The Big Picture of Indelible Grace: Kevin Twit and the Ryman Hymnsing
“Edible Grace…what?” That’s the type of reaction I get when I talk to mainstream evangelical worship leaders about the hymns movement and their golden boy, Indelible Grace. IG is a move back to substantive modern worship. Their M.O. is to combine modern folk and rock instrumentation with old hymn texts. Many people misunderstand “old hymns to new music” as throwing a contemporary beat and sound on a hymn…just think of all the forced, “contemporary” versions out there of “Great is … Read More
Young Attracted to Old in Worship
Check out this article on worship I recently wrote for the Layman online. It briefly discusses the resurgence of interest among evangelicals in ancient worship practices, liturgy, old hymns, historical connection, and theological depth. An excerpt: “Some have said that the recent fascination with returning to ancient worship tools and practices is a reaction to the historical rootlessness of our postmodern age. Others have said that current interest in liturgy and old hymns by churches’ younger generations is a result … Read More
Hillsong vs. Getty: A Contrast in Melody-Writing
Circulating through many of my favorite worship blogs is the distillation of Keith Getty’s presentation on songwriting at the National Worship Leaders Conference. It is getting widespread press for good reason—Getty’s insights are golden. With particular regards to melody-writing, Getty had to say: “To write strong melodies remember that folk melody has to be passed on orally (aurally). I try to write songs that can be sung with no written music. I imitate Irish folk melody, with a great deal … Read More