Brian McLaren on The Worship Industry

Brian is making a great point; whether we call it “art” or “worship” we should be simply telling the world the story of God and of his pursuit of mankind. Anything more is too much.

From what I can tell it is available for purchase at a cost of $0.00.

Perhaps selling for free is an declarative act, art that transcends the worship industry of the site.

This message of mass consumerism, when it comes to the worship of the church, needs more exposure. Bravo.

As a new worship leader and purveyor of fine worship products (not), I can really relate to Brian’s message.

I remember the number of times in the 1980s when I attended Integrity Hosanna worship services. I saw GREAT worship leaders like Don Moen and Bob Kauflin.

I also saw . . . worship on queue, “canned” praise . . . people knew EXACTLY when to sing, when to say “Praise You, Jesus”, when to lift their hands . . . I saw a fair bit of plastic.

I have been collaborating with other songwriters myself. We promise each other “You don’t get to use the word ‘broken’ in a worship song; it’s a worship cliche now”.

Thanks Brian for asking the hard question and causing us all to “examine ourselves to see if we are of the faith”.
—
Of soul, spirit and song,

Gregory Lygon
http://www.gregorylygon.com

AAA/Contemporary Folk Singer Songwriter
Nominated “Best Instrumentalist” Contemporary Folk by WAMA, 2003

Great video! I especially liked Brian’s use of the word “art” to describe worship. I believe that one of the real challenges that the church faces in the 21st century will be recovering our aesthetic sensibility; contemporary evangelical worship certainly presents a fine example of how we’ve lost it. If we can discover beauty again, then it will be easy to distinguish art from kitsch.

that was very moving. thanks for finding that.

Ya know this is something I struggle with and there have been times when I have been in a church service where I was totally tuned out because the “worship leader” made such a production out of inviting the Holy Spirit into the place…very cheap…I resent the hype, dramatic changes of chords, soft whispers with a music bed behind it…God doesn’t need to be tied down to emotions or a feelings.

Looks like it’s $15 to me. Where do you see it available for $0??

It was offered as a free download for a few weeks, I think, and is now in the normal queue ($15 a video, and a yearly subscription that offers unlimited downloads).

It’s an interesting site, because you can be a member for free, and each month they offer a free download, it looks like.

I promise I’m not a spammer…I was attracted to the site through the youtube posting of this video