Hip-Hop Worship, Eschatology, and Aesthetics

Zac HicksConvergence of Old and New in Worship, Worship Style, Worship Theology & Thought1 Comment

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

Zac HicksConvergence of Old and New in Worship, Worship Style, Worship Theology & ThoughtLeave a Comment

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

The Cows in the Corn: Lessons in Worship Style Perspective

Zac HicksWorship Style, Worship Theology & ThoughtLeave a Comment

This funny and painful parable preaches more eloquently in a nutshell to the issue of traditional worship vs. contemporary worship, modern worship vs. classical worship, than I ever could.  It’s all about perspective.  Of course, it’s hyperbole.  Only those who have truly wrestled with bridging the gap in the worship wars can truly appreciate both sides of this.  **** An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church.  He came home and his wife … Read More

The Big Picture of Indelible Grace: Kevin Twit and the Ryman Hymnsing

Zac HicksConvergence of Old and New in Worship, Hymns Movement News & Reviews, Worship Style, Worship Theology & Thought2 Comments

“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

Zac HicksConvergence of Old and New in Worship, History of Worship and Church Music, Worship Style, Worship Theology & Thought2 Comments

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

Zac HicksConvergence of Old and New in Worship, Personal Stories & Testimonies, Worship Style, Worship Theology & Thought5 Comments

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

The Artistry of the Ancient Won Me Over…I Kept Coming Back

Zac HicksConvergence of Old and New in Worship, Personal Stories & Testimonies, Worship Style, Worship Theology & Thought2 Comments

I see this testimony time and again.  It is my own story, too.  I continue to meet young people, attracted to the ancient faith that their parents abandoned and they never knew.  Ritual…liturgy…hymns.  This is the testimony of Stephanie S. Smith at worship.com.  It’s written so well.  Here’s the first half, but you can read the full post here.  It’s just another example of why new generations are interested in the convergence of old things and new things: old hymns … Read More

Two Styles Don’t Have to Mean Two Churches within a Church

Zac HicksConvergence of Old and New in Worship, Personal Stories & Testimonies, Worship Style, Worship Theology & Thought2 Comments

Don Sweeting has recently left our church to become President of Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando.  On his way out, he has given some valuable reflections on how God shaped worship at our church during his tenure.  You can read his whole post, but here are some highlights: In my current pastorate we have multiple services and mulitiple styles.  Our mission calls us to more than one direction stylistically…For our main services, currently we have what we call a classical … Read More

Meditation: A Blind Spot in Traditional Worship

Zac HicksWorship Style, Worship Theology & Thought3 Comments

Traditional worship (of which I am a big fan) does a great job pointing out the blind spots of contemporary worship—self-centeredness, low view of God, shallow theology, biblical illiteracy, etc.  Modern worship, for the most part, does not return the favor, so I’d like to point out a blind spot in traditional worship that modern worship has exposed. As I’ve talked about before, traditional worship has often criticized contemporary worship for their “7-11 songs”–songs which have seven words, sung eleven … Read More

“We Throw One Hymn into the Mix Every Sunday”

Zac HicksConvergence of Old and New in Worship, History of Worship and Church Music, Worship Style, Worship Theology & ThoughtLeave a Comment

I try to stay connected to several online worship leader forums.  On one of them, under a discussion of “Contemporized Hymns,” I found this insightful comment left by Robert Cottrill: H-m-m… It seems to me the wording speaks volumes–“this church throws one hymn into the mix every Sunday.” Sounds rather like a bone tossed to a barking dog to keep him quiet! This approach is all too familiar. A church committed to contemporary music, that tries to keep the old … Read More