Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Ponder Anew

Home
Evangelical

2022-09-12T15:30:51-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hymns I Would Block For All Eternity: Woman in the Night

Last updated on: September 12, 2022 at 3:30 pm By Jonathan Aigner

“There are a lot of hymns that are terrible.” That’s a pat answer used by every pop worship apologist I’ve ever known. Generally, it’s incorrect when talking about hymnody as a whole. Yes, there have been some terrible hymns written in generations past, but most of those have long been dropped. There might be some remaining that you don’t like, but most remaining traditional hymnody is solid, especially if one knows the difference between a hymn and a gospel song.... Read more

General Christian

Religious Music & Entertainment

Uncategorized

2022-04-21T21:47:55-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If Worship Is All About the Heart, Yours Needs Some Good Liturgy

Last updated on: April 21, 2022 at 9:47 pm By Jonathan Aigner

I get comments like this all the time. The article misses the main point. In the big picture, the question is where is our heart at when worshiping and much less about form. Talking about the “heart” this way is a common trope in discussions about worship, particularly when questions of form and style arise. Usually, it’s intended to give carte blanche for anything anyone ever wants to do in corporate worship. After all, if someone is worshiping from the... Read more

Uncategorized

2022-02-22T23:44:30-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

His Name Was Jon Daker, and May He Rest in Peace

Last updated on: February 22, 2022 at 11:44 pm By Jonathan Aigner

Jon Graham Daker, son, brother, faithful Christian, and accidental internet star, reportedly passed away yesterday, February 20, 2022, in Peoria, Illinois. Born in 1939, he was 82 years old. For most of you, he needs no introduction. If you’re new to the internet, let me tell you how the world came to know Jon Daker. Peoria resident Reva Singley Cooper Unsicker taught voice, piano, and organ lessons for some six decades until her death in 1995 at the age of... Read more

Uncategorized

2022-01-21T15:16:15-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Letter to Christians Who Can’t Take the Sunday Production Anymore

Last updated on: January 21, 2022 at 3:16 pm By Jonathan Aigner

I know you’re tired. Run down. Sad. Fed up. Angry, even. I don’t blame you one bit. I know the deep paucity you feel in your bones. The worst possible Sunday afternoon tragedy used to be a dry pot roast. Now you go home, exhausted from the noise, bothered by the blatant emotional manipulation, haunted by the poverty you see. You’ve gone home angry and annoyed. You’ve wept over what they’ve done with your church, with THE church. You know... Read more

Uncategorized

2022-01-12T18:25:04-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Worship Is About God’s Story, Not Yours

Last updated on: January 12, 2022 at 6:25 pm By Jonathan Aigner

The Cult of Cafeteria Worship I’m terrified that catering to individual aesthetic preferences in worship is killing the church. And by aesthetic preferences, I could mean a lot of different things, but at the top of list is music. Before I explain myself further, I must admit that I’m being overly simplistic. The cultural factors contributing to church decline are complicated and diverse. But because the church has responded to decline with drastic liturgical adjustments, we must look at the... Read more

Uncategorized

2022-01-11T13:52:00-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Problem with “Meaningful” Worship

Last updated on: January 11, 2022 at 1:52 pm By Jonathan Aigner

There’s a term that people like to throw around at church when they talk about worship. “That was so meaningful.” “I got a lot out of that sermon. It was meaningful.” “That anthem was so touching; it was meaningful to me.” “That church’s services are so meaningful.” ”We should design worship in a way so that it is meaningful for as many people as possible.” It works the other way, too. “Nothing that happened today was particularly meaningful for me, but... Read more

Uncategorized

2022-01-09T09:57:09-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Have Church Your Way: The High Cost of the Worship Wars

Last updated on: January 9, 2022 at 9:57 am By Jonathan Aigner

After fighting the worship wars for a generation, evangelical churches first tried something they called “blended” worship (I used to make people mad by calling it “lukewarm worship”), which wasn’t the REAL blended worship as much as it was an ad hoc order of service usually including hymn/chorus medleys. In the end, nobody was any happier, usually because the medleys were weird and the enmeshment of organ and praise band even weirder. It magnified the disunity. Larger churches came up... Read more

Uncategorized

2022-01-07T14:24:22-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Liturgy Is For Kids: or, Your Kids Don’t Need Pop Worship

Last updated on: January 7, 2022 at 2:24 pm By Jonathan Aigner

Them: I like traditional worship, but I’ve got kids, so, you know… Me: No, I don’t. What do you mean? Them: Well…I’ve got to have them in contemporary worship. Me: Oh. Why? Them: (With increasing annoyance) Well…you know…they’re kids! I must have had this conversation a thousand times. These are parents, who usually for the most honorable of reasons believe that they need to put their kids in contemporary worship. After all, it’s easy, it seems relevant, and it doesn’t... Read more

Uncategorized

2022-01-07T10:42:11-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Confessions of a Former “Worship Leader”

Last updated on: January 7, 2022 at 10:42 am By Jonathan Aigner

A guest post by Miguel Ruiz. I can’t help but think I am not alone in my story, even if my journey has some unique twists. I grew up in the non-denominational tradition. For us, worship was the six songs we sang before the sermon, and the two after. We were encouraged to participate enthusiastically, to pour out our love for God in song. It was just assumed that, of course, we arrived every Sunday with a hopper full of... Read more

Uncategorized

2022-01-06T22:00:54-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Domesticated Transcendence and Tanzanian Christianity

Last updated on: January 6, 2022 at 10:00 pm By Jonathan Aigner

A guest post from Michael Dodaro. “Dignified Protestants now say that truth is relative. Evangelicals only allow that it is relative to current top-40 music charts.” In 2005, Mike Dodaro began writing about worship and liturgy at his blog, Alienated in Church. The result is a treasury of honest, straightforward, and lucid arguments that the extremes of the American church are tragically lost. Here is one of my favorite posts of his. I encourage you to read more of his... Read more

Uncategorized

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Paul instructs the Philippians to do everything without grumbling or arguing.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Church of St. YouTube congregational singing congregational song contemporary critiques corporate worship Hymn of the Week hymn singing hymnody and hymnology hymns masturbatory worship Uncategorized worship Worship Quotes

Select a Month February 2023 January 2023 October 2022 September 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 November 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Evangelical