Christian Rock and Band Practice

I feel so excited today and I'm not really completely sure why. I think part of it is that I'm happy to be seeing my family tomorrow and we're all going to Citi Field tomorrow! And another part is that I feel finally like I'm definitely out of the little funk I've been in for the past few months...must be springtime :)

I started listening to really uplifting Christian music and realized that now that I'm alone leading the Life Teen Band, I have a lot of responsibilities, but also a lot of creative freedom of what songs to have the band play during the liturgy.
Often when there were other adults in the band, they wouldn't be able to come to practices. I would teach the teens these songs and we would play them on Thursday but on Sunday we would have the same rotation of 7-8 songs that the rest of the band knew by heart and had been playing for the last 9 years. not there was anything wrong with that, but part of the point of having contemporary music at a liturgy geared towards teens, is keeping it current. Not many teens enjoy Christian 'rock' (and I use the term loosely) to begin with, so playing Christian rock from 1999...not a good place to be creatively.

I've been to busy with confirmation and first communion and being sick that I have just been keeping afloat with the status quo with the music since I took over completely three months ago. But, tonight at practice I'm excited to teach the kids songs I learned at the Music conference in Arizona last year. They are a year old, but on the top 100, and brand new to us...and bonus...I can actually play them :)!!!

Now I know Christian Rock isn't for a lot of people and I know that musically it is not anything outrageously original or special or even requiring much talent...most of the lyrics are taken from the bible not written by these artists...

But what you need to know about this type of music is that is comes from a place in which the people who are writing it know that semi talented music ministers all over the world will need to be able to do decent covers to lead worship. Christian Rock to me is really 'worship' music, but then you get into a gray area where its like 'gospel' or 'worship' or 'mainstream' and each person categorizes those differently. Yes, there will be many cheezy guitar solos and synthesizers, and over 50 million G-C-D-EM chord progressions, but when you go to a conference and you see 3500 teens singing along and its not about drugs or sex...

Well, in my opinion, there is something to be said for that in today's society.

So, my weakness is Christian Rock, not all of it, definitely not all of it. But, I DO definitely have my favorite songs that reveal a none to great musical talent, which I feel if I look to a value in it deeper than 'the music'...look to its benefits for my ministry and my ability to play it with my band at my church and for the thousands of other music ministers out there doing the same thing. IT is then that I see a value in it.

And also there is a different between Christian Rock that is appropriate for liturgies or leading worship and the kind that actual Christian Rock bands like Relient K, Thousand Foot Crutch, Five Iron Frenzy, Jars of Clay, POD, Switchfoot, or Third Day perform. Many of these Christian Rock bands have had much mainstream and commercial success. This is a whole other arena than what I am talking about for my little band or other churches, at least Catholic ones. You will never hear "Meant to Live" or "Flood" during a mass, but they were on TRL on MTV for like 10 weeks...I kind of stop listening to a Christian band when they get too popular because they usually are not really Christian based in their lyrics anymore and have 'sold out' to an extent and I find its not longer worth listening to the "bad music just for the lyrics" Which I find ironic and funny because with most music genres its the other way around.

So my mp3 player has a mixture of music I like for the hard core classic rock that it is...and the guilty pleasure music that I listen to for the value of the message of faith it gives me. But truth be told, you definitely have to be in the mood for it. Ha ha ha...

Here are a few of the songs that I'll be playing/teaching my band tonight..give it try :)

I like this one during Easter Season....



This is one of my favorite "Happy Jesus Easter Songs" it ALWAYS cheers me up. I first heard it at the seminary in Denver in '03, its little older but new to CT... some of the lyrics make me laugh out loud...how do you feel a 'God Song' rising up in you? I have no idea...






This third one- I personally would not classify as 'rock' at all... its more of a Jesus ballad :) but when its done right, the build up is epic. I remember hearing 'Orphans of God' Played at mass by this amazing band in Arizona and it literally gave me chills...I had never heard it before and I just listened and I was so touched by it. I had just returned from Peru and missed the children from the orphanage so much so it was very powerful to hear this song at that moment.