There is so much content and information being generated in the "modern worship" world that we rarely see anyone placing this work and resources in the context of the historical stream of change in which it falls. One part of my recent thesis work related to resourcing the church dealt with an investigation into the transition of church worship from its primary source of the hymnal as its musical resource to the extensive list of digitally driven solutions we have today. This happens in the context of major changes within stylistic, musician tools, technological and marketing aspects of music. On top of those changes (which were happening in culture and impacting the church), changes inside of the church we converging for the "perfect storm". These forces intermingled and we have the resultant worship revolution of the last 40 years.
This video presentation is an effort to begin talking about these changes, church worship, and placing them in the historical context in which they occured. It is not meant to be a conclusion on anything, but a primer for the work I did and continue to do. Note: the video is my presentation of the research that I did as a background to my thesis work. It is an hour in length and includes questions and answers section at the end.
VIDEO - Worship Research: Transition from Hymnal to Modern Worship
Support Resources
Below are some helpful support resources that follow up this presentation.
Resource 1: The graphical timeline that is referred to in this presentation is available here. (free)
Resource 2: The main section of the book that is referred to here is also available in a promotional free download, allowing you to see most of the book content pertinent to this history and research! For the free sample download in PDF format, simply click here and download the ebook section for free. (free)
Resource 3: The theological defense paper that accompanied this project (and is more support information for this presentation) is available here. This is a 35 page formal university defence paper, not the actual thesis. It contains background for those looking for theological and historic reference that spurred on this work. (free)
Resource 4: The powerpoint summarizing the content of this presentation (and used throughout) is available for download for those interested. Simply click here. (free)
Resource 5: [2020 Update: this information is now dated. A major portion of the book is reviews of resources from 2011. As such, I don't recommend you purchasing the book at this point. If you would like a copy of the text for the entire book, including sections that are still accurate but aren't dated, I can send you a PDF of the document. Simply contact me directly and I will send it to you.] Finally, the entire book itself, along with all sections, reviews and details is available for sale at various locations and formats including the author/publisher website, Amazon.com, and in ebook format at the Amazon Kindle book store (Kindle UK here; Kindle Germany here).
Kim Gentes