News to NAP(A)LM Liturgeists

The kids cannot STAND musical crapola in church...and know where it SHOULD be. Of course, so long as the StLouieJebbieBluesandRockabillyBoys maintain their deathgrip on the "minds" of Liturgeists such as those commonly found at regional meetings of Nat'l Ass'n of Pastoral Liturgical Musicians (more accurately known as NAPALM), the kids will be forced to eat this stuff, regardless...

It interviews Dr. Barbara Resch, who conducted a survey of nearly 500 teenagers from across the United States on the topic of the appropriateness of music for the church.

Across this diverse group of students there was clear agreement about the kind of music that was "right for church": it was choral music, not instrumental sung by a group of singers rather than a soloist characterized by a simple musical texture and understandable text.

Musical examples reminiscent of popular styles (rock, jazz, country) were overwhelmingly rejected as church music. The example rated most appropriate was a male choir singing a four-part version of Psalm 98 (The Lutheran Hymnal 667!).

Church background was an important predictor of the kind of music considered appropriate. The frequency with which a given style was heard also tended to be related.

For example, some settings of traditional choral music were considered appropriate by nearly everyone. Conversely, the examples of Christian rock and jazz were considered inappropriate by the great majority.

But it was also clear that students from nondenominational churches who heard contemporary Christian music in their churches considered that music more appropriate. Likewise, gospel choir music and popular styles were considered more fitting by students who attended Pentecostal churches.

The traditional choral sound was given its highest ratings by the Catholic and Lutheran students in the study.

Several students wrote comments on their survey sheets indicating when and where each excerpt would be appropriate. Although all of the examples played were representative of the range of music heard in American churches today, the contexts with which the students associated various pieces were Sunday brunch, a movie soundtrack, "church services of the 40s," a campground, and an opera.

Nearly 12 percent of the respondents did not belong to or attend church. As might be expected, their responses were very diverse. One surprise was that their responses were not significantly different from the church members in their disapproval of rock music for church.Interestingly, the unchurched students gave their lowest ranking of appropriateness to contemporary Christian music

There is some bad news:

But it was also clear that students from nondenominational churches who heard contemporary Christian music in their churches considered that music more appropriate. Likewise, gospel choir music and popular styles were considered more fitting by students who attended Pentecostal churches.

What THAT means is that Catholic children who have been deprived of their rightful heritage by the poofter-wonk-LitNiks over the last 20+ years are not likely to correctly identify 'church' music.

HT: Christus Vincit