Praise Worship Music

Hot Rhythms and Hearty Praise

&Nbsp;   “You hear the hottest rhythm and blues, but in the context of worship and praising. . . . It predates jazz and predates blues and predates R&B — back to the turn of the last century. You hear a lot of the same stuff” in gospel that you do in other popular forms, then and now, “because it’s the basis for all this other music.”     “It took me a long time to get people to pay attention to this project. Most Caucasians don’t understand about this music.” The broader release of “Rejoice and Shout” last week was anticipated on June 3 at the Film Forum in New York, where “it was interesting to watch the audiences,” Mr. Lauro said. “There were mixed crowds, but the blacks had their hands raised and were shouting. They were seeing people who were gods to their music — Rosetta Sharp, the Dixie Hummingbirds.” Whites sat quietly: “One group sees it as an educational experience.

Why Praise & Worship Music is Praise & Worship

A few days ago, a Fr. Smith posted this article on the Chant Cafe blog: “Why Praise & Worship music is praise, but not worship.”

Here’s my response:

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To begin my response to Fr. Smith’s post, I’d like to point out that my response is written from the perspective of a “Praise & Worship” musician.  That is, I am a Catholic music minister who uses songs & instrumentation that are principally featured in the genre known as “Praise & Worship”.  While most of my experience with P&W is within the context of local prayer gathers, youth retreats, and para-liturgical settings such as Eucharistic Adoration, I do occasionally accompany Mass as a liturgical musician and employ the P&W genre in that as well.

After my first read through of Fr. Smith’s post, I was most surprised by the number of assumptions he makes on the part of Praise & Worship musicians.  This most surprised me, since it appeared through the article that his experience with the P&W genre was limited to a few poor instances of its implementation.  I noticed one commenter mentioned how any liturgical abuses that may have occurred in the name of the Life Teen Movement, have since been corrected by the youth movement itself and no longer continues under its name (hopefully).  My experience with P&W music has been, and continues to be a positive and prayerful one.  I pray that my responses to Fr. Smith’s assumptions will be received as “from the source” rather than from what appeared to be an individuals “bad experiences.” While I do recognize the value of how something may be “received” vs. how it may be in actuality, and if P&W music appears to be all the things Fr. Claims it indeed becomes a problem, I would argue that Father’s experience of P&W is not the whole picture.  Allow me to elaborate:

To begin, I started by going to the Catechism to find a definition of “praise” as a form of prayer.  CCC#2639-2642 provide the foundation for a handful of my remarks.  Father Smith starts out by stating: “P&W music assumes that praise is worship.”  He continues to define praise as a form of prayer, “typically done within an individual or small communal context in the form of culturally relevant symbols & forms.”  He calls worship a type of praise, but he tries to identify worship within the context of a “Mystery which is not of the [community’s] making.”  He also describes worship as a “corporate action, (an act of the baptized in communion with the visible and institutional Church), governed by law & tradition.”  His final contention on this point seems to be that P&W “grafts” a “freer and more individualistic nature of praise onto the communal prayer of the Church’s worship.

The conflict between what you believe & what you feel: to be flipped off while driving....as you're listening to praise & worship music. :)

Usually I can get up and flow with any music I have byt this morning I HAVE to have Praise & Worship.

Hillsong Chapel-Yahweh...such a blessing. What a great CD! Thank God for awesome praise and worship music!

awww man I missed it.... PRAISE AND WORSHIP music not alot of radio personalities wud do tht,...

RT Listen to praise and worship music b4 I workout maybe I can get a nap in it's already 5am

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