“Not all music should be functional. Any culture, and all cultural levels, need music that challenges conventions and pushes the boundaries. To say that church music is a functional art does not mean that art music and popular music are… — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“On the basis of these definitions, hymns cannot do theology, even when the meaning of “reasoned enquiry” is broadened and qualified. 6 Their brevity… — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“Tex Sample puts it thus: Our senses, our feelings, our bodies, and our ways of engaging life are culturally and historically structured. . . . I really am… — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“Congregational singing requires proximity. “If I am more than three feet away from you, I don’t sing, because you might hear me. If I… — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“this is a good rule of thumb: if you can’t hear the congregation, you are probably too loud” — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“That is why, as Paul Westermeyer observes, “a group who sings together becomes one and remembers its story, and therefore who it is, in… — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“To say that church music is a functional art means, on the contrary, that it is composed, played, and sung “ to serve the… — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“Not all music should be functional. Any culture, and all cultural levels, need music that challenges conventions and pushes the boundaries. To say that… — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“One reason for the popularity of music with a beat is that, once public schools began to drop music from their curriculum, people found… — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“Informality—prepared and practiced informality, not ramshackle casualness—is a keynote of contemporary worship, and worship blossoms when worship space matches worship style.” — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
“If you accept my analysis, it follows that a “good congregational song” is one that is excellent and has integrity in terms of its… — Brian A. Wren Copy Share Image
