Open Up the Doors ─ Music in the Modern Church

Evans (contemporary music studies, Macquarie U., Australia) examines the use of contemporary music in modern churches. He notes that his point of view is not only as an academic but as a "committed Protestant Christian." In addition to analysis and previous research on the topic, he draws from interviews with practitioners of congregational song. He analyzes elements at the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries, considering the scriptural foundation for contemporary music, the culture of its transmission, the depth and functionality of lyrics, musical elements, and the influence of key producers and publishers, such as Hillsong and Soul Survivor. Non-Western and non-Protestant music is not included, nor is Afro-American gospel. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)