Old time religion: Christian pushback against Megachurch music grows

During the 1980s, far-right Christian fundamentalists like Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart and Liberty University's Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. were vehemently critical of Christian rock. As they saw it, rock music in general was Satanic, and Christian lyrics were incompatible with rock or pop-rock beats and melodies.

In recent years, however, many fundamentalist evangelical megachurches have favored modern Christian pop over traditional gospel and hymns. But according to Religion News Service, the Sing! Global Conference, held September 4-6, promoted hymns as an alternative to megachurch music.

"For more than a decade," Religion News reporter Grace Beckner explains, "American worship services have started to leave traditional hymns behind. Instead of historic chestnuts such as 'Be Thou My Vision,' whose words date to the 6th Century with music from the early 1900s, or 'Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,' adapted in the mid-1700s by the Methodist Charles Wesley from a popular opera number of the time, the most popular church music now originates in bands associated with megachurches such as the Bethel Church network in California, Elevation Church in North Carolina, Atlanta's Passion City Church ("How Great Is Our God") and the global megachurch Hillsong ("Oceans").

Beckner adds, "One recent study found that of the 38 most played songs, 22 were released by one of the four most prominent megachurches. An additional eight songs were released by artists with ties to those churches, and six more were collaborations with megachurch artists or cover songs."

Cliff Johnson, who attended Sing!, is glad to see classic hymns being honored.

Johnson told Religion News, "I think what sets these types of hymns apart from some of the current trends is that there are very specific, concrete things being said. It is not vague, it is not general."