The following is excerpted from the NAE Newsletter.
Emerging from the Jesus Movement of the 1960s, contemporary worship music found its way into Pentecostal congregations and then moved into other evangelical traditions. This transition to contemporary worship music often prompted pushback from those who preferred more traditional styles resulting in what became known as “worship wars.” The worship wars are not debated as much anymore. In a March 2011 edition of Christianity Today that focused on worship music, Mark Galli suggested that the worship wars are over and have been replaced by a “tense truce.”
NAE members who answered the “NAE Asks You” question provided insight into where worship styles stand in evangelical churches today. Thirty-six percent said that their church has both contemporary and traditional styles. This includes churches that have separate worship services (e.g. one traditional service and another contemporary service) and churches that blend traditional and contemporary styles into the same service. Churches only offering contemporary services account for 33 percent, and churches offering only traditional services account for 19 percent. Thirteen percent said that their churches offer an alternate worship music style, either in addition to other styles or as the only style of music offered by the church.
For further reading:
“Ending the Worship War Without a Truce,” Ed Stetzer, The LifeWay Research Blog (October 15, 2009), http://www.edstetzer.com/2009/10/ending-the-worship-war-without.html
The Trajectory of Worship: What’s Really Happening When we Praise God in Song, Christianity Today (March 2011), http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/march/
Top 25 Songs, Christian Copyright Licensing International (February 2013), http://www.ccli.com/Support/LicenseCoverage/Top25Lists.aspx
“Worship Wars – Proposing a Few Ground Rules,” Jason Helopoulos, The Gospel Coalition Blog (March 8, 2012), http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2012/03/08/worship-wars-proposing-a-few-ground-rules/
