Aussie Worship All the Time?

For the record, I’m a big fan of Hillsong. If you’ve been on my blog for any length of time in the past, you likely know I love sharing what’s happening in their ministry particularly with their worship ministry. This post isn’t about Hillsong.

That said, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to many different churches and conferences over the last several months. Here’s what I’m beginning to wonder… Does anyone in the United States write worship music anymore?

Every place I go, it seems that I’m hearing the same music that was written by the folks at Hillsong. Don’t get me wrong. It’s good music. I have it on my iPod. I’m just wondering why it’s the only music I seem to be hearing everyplace I go.

And, I’m not just talking about small churches here. I’m talking about very big churches too. They’re the churches that you would think would have both the talent and the resources to be creating some of their own worship music. Why aren’t they helping us sing a new song? [btw… There are exceptions like Lincoln Brewster, Kari Jobe, Israel Houghton and some of my other friends from the Integrity label.]

I’m just speculating, but here are some factors that may be contributing to this phenomenon. Hillsong…

• Has made raising up new worship teams a priority.
• Has made it part of their church’s DNA to distribute their music worldwide.
• Sees it as part of their worship leaders’ responsibilities to write new music.
• Is led by a senior pastor who values (and likely expects) this type of creativity.

Maybe there are other factors. Maybe the biggest factor is that U.S. churches see the success of Hillsong and think they’re the church to copy right now. Whatever the case, it seems that we should be asking ourselves why so many churches are relying so heavily on Hillsong for the vast majority of our worship music.

Are there other barriers that are preventing U.S. churches from generating new worship music? Is this even an issue that should be a part of our conversation? Or, is this just a jealous rage because my wife seems to be smitten by guys with Australian accents?

What are your thoughts?

Related Posts:

• Listen to New Hillsong Album for Free
• New Hillsong Live!
• Listen to New Fee for Free
• Heading to Nashville for One Last Stop
• New David Crowder Band Single

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to TonyMorganLive.com using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites