{"id":11194,"date":"2020-02-10T12:25:45","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T12:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=11194"},"modified":"2021-04-10T00:26:23","modified_gmt":"2021-04-10T00:26:23","slug":"modern-christian-pop-is-mainstream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=11194","title":{"rendered":"Modern Christian pop is mainstream"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Christian music is losing its meaning in an effort to sound like pop, according to long-time churchgoers in Canada.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Christian music sang in churches these days is more \u201csecular\u201d than sacred, being \u201cvery uplifting musically,\u201d but the song&#8217;s melody is sometimes a bigger focus than the meaning of the lyrics, said Diana Shu, a long-time churchgoer of OneChurch.to.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]Diana Shu has been attending services at OneChurch.to since the 80s and remembers that in the beginning music was mainly gospel and hymns.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;11204&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Shu believes that since the church leadership is becoming increasingly younger, they prefer sounds that move them and attract non-Christ believers by making church \u201crelatable.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<div class=\"perfect-pullquote vcard pullquote-align-full pullquote-border-placement-left\"><blockquote><p>\u201cThe generation that appreciates the old hymns are dying off,\u201d Shu said, \u201cmodern Christian pop seems to be lacking these meaningful lyrics and they tend to be more self-focused rather than God-focused.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]\u201cI felt a stronger connection with God,\u201d Shu said, \u201cGod&#8217;s presence is much more intense\u201d when the whole church praises God together, as opposed to today&#8217;s approach of catchy songs over deep meanings.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Nowadays, the most popular style of Christian worship is contemporary pop, according to Steve Smith, the music and sound technician at north Humber College&#8217;s&#8217; Embassy church.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Some of the hymns and songs of past worship music were written from &#8220;a place of such faith in God that you can almost envision God&#8217;s Word and love for us while singing,&#8221; Smith said.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;11205&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]Richard Taninderung, the music team lead at OneChurch.to said, \u201cI think we&#8217;ve evolved to adjust with the contemporary scene, to best draw in the young generation that is currently attending the church and who will be the future of our church.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]Hillsong Worship is an Australian Christian praise and worship group that started making music in 1983, with 12 albums charting on the Billboard magazine charts in America, according to Matthew Hann, the creative pastor for Hillsong Canada.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Hann thinks that the message in the music is still the same way as it\u2019s always been, but is just translated for easier understanding and to be more accessible for all people \u2013 Christ believers and non-believers alike.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christian music is becoming contemporary pop, with tunes weighing more on catchy melodies than deep meanings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":11202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[132],"tags":[625,316,624,24,623,622],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11194"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}