False dichotomies and contemporary worship music....

(Tim: this from our worship minister and music director, Jody Killingsworth) Defenders of traditional worship consistently present a false dichotomy. Observing that CCM is lyrically and theologically impoverished, they conclude that this must somehow be the fault of the music. As if popular style and lyrical drivel are somehow intrinsically connected. Bring in the drums and guitars, they say, and inevitably you'll have us singing 30-minute versions of “Shine Jesus, Shine” every Sunday.

I’m sympathetic, of course, because CCM really is the mountain of emotive garbage they say it is, and there are precious few positive examples to point to. But this isn’t the fault of the rock n’ roll genre, per se. Rather, it highlights the failure on the part of godly pastors and elders to lead musicians to think...

carefully and creatively about the issues surrounding style, worship, and truth.

Here at ClearNote we’re fighting to protect both the lyrical integrity of the Church’s song, and to promote its cultural relevance. We believe these two categories are not mutually antithetical, but form the necessary ingredients of all true reform.

Our latest batch of worship songs now available for free download provides listeners a glimpse of our vision for reforming Christian worship. We sing these songs in our services pretty much as you hear them on the album (just add congregation). There are old texts here with old tunes, there are old texts with new tunes, and there are new texts with new tunes. If you like what we’re doing but object to the fact we haven’t included any Psalm settings, be patient. We’re getting there. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.