ABSTRACT
This chapter challenges the popular distinction between ‘contemporary’ and ‘traditional’ church music, examining the key factors that lie beneath the dichotomy. The debate, Graham argues, is more precisely about ‘accessibility’ versus ‘musical quality’, which map to another division: one between a worship focused on spiritually engaging its congregation and worship focused on excellence in glorifying God. Musical appreciation may often be a matter of taste, but Christian worship, Graham suggests, can be evaluated to the extent that it fulfils its function or ambition – however that might be defined. Though the debate over church music may seem insurmountable – or simply a question of style – there are key theological interests at stake (questions about participation versus passive reception, for example), and both sides of the debate can learn from the other’s approach in seeking a deep form of worship that both stimulates feeling in the worshipper and enables doxological expression.
