Description
Book SynopsisEaster Sunday, 2009, was the Sunday heard round the evangelical internet: NewSpring Church, the second-largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention and among the top one hundred largest churches in the US, had begun their service with the song Highway to Hell by hard rock band AC/DC. They had brazenly crossed the sacred/secular musical divide on the most important Sunday of the year, and commentary abounded on the value of such a step. Many were offended at the desecration of such a holy day, deriding Newspring as the theater of the absurd. Others cheered NewSpring's engagement with the culture and suggested that music could be used to convert non-Christians. No mere debate over stylistic preferences, many expressed that foundational aspects of evangelical identity were at stake.While many books have been written about religious music that utilizes popular music styles (a.k.a. contemporary Christian music), there has yet to be a scholarly treatment of how and why popular, secular
Trade ReviewSince the 1960s, relevance, intelligibility, and accessibility have been highly esteemed values within new styles of Protestant worship. Stace's book provides an indispensable study of one intriguing expression of those values: the use of popular-secular music within Christian worship. Stace uses "Highway to Hell" to provide a pathway to knowledge. -- Lester Ruth, Duke Divinity School
Unafraid of controversial subject matter, Stace dives in head first, calling things like she sees them. Whether you agree with her conclusions or not, you will admit that you have been in conversation with a seasoned scholar. -- Rev. Dr. William Bradley Roberts, Virginia Theological Seminary, Consultant in the Center for Liturgy and Music
Stace mixes a narrow research question—why are church leaders choosing to use popular-secular music in worship?—with an ethnographic study of leaders of eight churches to produce a fascinating and nuanced study of the current permeability of boundaries between sacred/secular, religious/spiritual, church/culture, and individual/church. This book is full of insights into the contemporary worship and religious/spiritual landscape of the United States today. -- Rev. Dr. Robin Knowles Wallace, Methodist Theological School
Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: The Highway to Hell: Orientations in Ethnomusicology, Liturgical Studies, and Religious Studies Chapter Two: Falling Slowly: The Context for Popular Music in Worship Services Chapter Three: Blurred Lines: How We Define “Sacred” and “Secular” Chapter Four: Roar: The Power of Music In and Against the “Culture” Chapter Five: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For: The Deficits of “Sacred” Music Chapter Six: Hallelujah: Popular-Secular Music as a Language of Lament Conclusion
