Where does “Contemporary Christian Music” Fit in?
The phenomenon of “Contemporary Christian Music,” to be referred to as CCM from now on, has swept American Christianity. Part and parcel with this sweeping has been the clamoring on the part of many to include this new popular genre of music into the corporate services of the Church. Among many denominations this has been embraced but Lutheranism has resisted abandoning its traditional roots. However, this is unfortunately changing. There are some within Lutheranism who seemingly have no problem pushing the liturgy, wholesale, out the car door and driving off without even a glance backward. Still others hold that they can maintain the historic liturgy while “updating it” and “improving it” by grafting into the historic liturgy, large chunks of contemporary culture, including CCM. While confessional Lutherans recognize that the liturgy, over time, will be adapted to the particular culture in which it is being used, we object to the adoption of random chunks of secular cultural material
