More Correspondence on Trends in Church Music

The following letter was in response to news from my correspondent that he had spoken with a young church man who said his generation could spot phoniness and that this was a turn-off for them.

Dear Chai,

I think the young man you spoke with makes a good point. I have spoken with several un-churched young men and have gotten the same basic comment, one way or another. There are going to be different viewpoints among the young, of course, just as with their elders. However, as a teacher I make a distinction between those about forty and above and those younger than forty. Of course, it is impossible to generalize -- the way we are all tempted to do. But there was a survey in The American Organist about three years ago or so which indicated that those in their twenties were looking first and foremost for authenticity in worship. Thus, anything which smacked of "surfacey" manipulation techniques were a turn-off.

To make things more complicated (!), the Orthodox have their own approach. Theirs comes out of Tradition (capital "T" intended). But they do tend to see current general trends in Protestant worship as unfortunate and incorrect. This would include music trends.

In summary, I believe we have been given our own great tradition of wonderful Western sacred music. It is up to us to preserve what I believe has enormous intrinsic value to inspire, elevate, re-assure, and enlighten, worthy goals no matter one's tradition or stripe.


-- Nony