Hillsong Conversation for Canada: Whose Song Shall We Sing?

Every week, we as music and worship leaders carefully prepare our orders of service and of course, a part of that is choosing music. How many times have we found ourselves pouring through hymnals and websites looking for the perfect song? How frequently do we hear a new song and make a quick mental note to pick it up at next month's praise team meeting? How often do we stop and think critically about a song for one reason or another before deciding to either scrap it or include it?  Many members of the congregation have no idea what goes into selecting music for any given week - but whether or not they realize it, they are being formed by it. What we sing matters. What we put on people's lips each Sunday matters. 

Recently, Peter Schuurman reposted a blog he wrote on the Hillsong movement. It received quite a bit of feedback and requests for further conversation. Katie Roelofs' wrote a Hillsong-related article that was met with similar fervor and interest. Whether a church should sing songs from these large movements that are wrapped up in controversy is a complicated question. And in all reality, it has more than one correct answer. Every congregation and every context is unique and will need to answer this question on their own. Our hope is that you have the tools to do that work well. 

Thrive invites our Canadian musicians, worship leaders, pastors, congregation members, whoever (!) to join Peter Schuurman, Ruth Ann Schuringa, and Katie Roelofs for a conversation. While we are a bi-national denomination, we recognize that culturally both countries have their unique differences and we want to make this space as contextual as possible for good dialogue. 

Read Peter's blog and join us for a conversation on Tuesday, November 28th at 1:00 p.m. EST on zoom.  To sign up for a zoom link, please fill out the following form. 

If you have any questions, email Katie directly ([email protected])