Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Contemporary Worship: Divider or Uniter?

Matthew Cochran has a blog post proposing that claims of inclusivity by contemporary worship proponents are really myths and does this by citing three areas where the delivered goods are just the opposite of the promise.  I particularly enjoyed this section from his paragraph covering those who argue that contemporary music is more cross-generational because hymns are "simply a collection of music that only old people could like."  In reality, hymns
were written centuries before any of our elderly were even born.  If they enjoy it, it cannot possibly be because it was the music of their generation—something that only they would like.  Generationally exclusive music is, however, precisely what contemporary worship seeks to impose.  Rather than selecting the best from a broad ocean of church music that spans cultures, continents, & thousands of years of history, contemporary worship restricts music: first to the last few decades, then to America, then to a subset of the youth.
Cochran writes from a confessional Lutheran perspective, but his critique is accurate across the board.  You will enjoy the read.

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