Christian music in contemporary witness

the long version

This up-to-date volume challenges the church to use music that reaches as many people as possible. Ellsworth call ministers of music and other church leaders to recognize the validity of various musical styles for Christian witness. Here is a balanced and thorough study which demonstrates from history the appropriateness of selective borrowing from secular musical styles. It presents the current arguments for and against using secular musical forms in evangelical Christian witness and outreach. Part one describes historical antecedents in the church's use of secular forms, especially in times of renewal or revival. This section scans the centuries -- the early church, the Renaissance and Reformation, the revival eras of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the twentieth century to the 1960s. Part two surveys and analyzes the church music scene since 1960. While distinguishing acceptable from inferior music, Ellsworth notes the unfortunate dichotomy that has arisen between music for worship and music for witness. - Jacket flap.