Why don’t our churches sing more Christmas carols during the Christmas season? I asked this question last week, inviting your response. The question is born of the observation that during the Christmas season, many churches are unable (or unwilling) to disconnect entirely from their beloved worship choruses from Chris Tomlin or Hillsong heard the rest of the year.
Here is a sample of your responses to the question, “Why don’t we sing more Christmas music in church?”
Peter writes,
I have wondered the same thing about carols. Apparently Christmas carols aren’t trendy?
Ron claims:
Adults don't sing Christmas carols because they learned them when they were children and now that we are all "grown up" we consider them childish. Bottom line: it is a matter of pride.
David writes from Ghana,
We have lost some of our values.
Russ points out,
We won’t exhaust the Christmas music or “overdo” it in four weeks. We have 48 weeks to sing the rest of the hymns and every new chorus that comes along.
My brother David, himself a musician and worship leader asserts two possible reasons for the decline of Christmas Carols:
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A few people feel we've moved beyond hymns or carols and that the music written nowadays is sufficient.
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Contemporary Christian Music started in the 60's so we've now had a full generation who may never have done a standard hymn (or Christmas carol) in their church. The only musical language they know is Contemporary Christian Music.
Colin offers two reasons for the decline of Christmas carols in church:
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Loss of Awe. I believe we are simply not awed by the concept of the birth of God as a human in the form of the baby Jesus.
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Theft of Glory. "The Glory of the Lord" is used throughout the narration and seeps into all the carols. We glorify the internet, Amazon, the almighty dollar, Black Friday, Cyber Monday….anything BUT the Glory of the Lord Most High.
Great insights. Worship leaders out there…are you listening?