American evangelical churches aren’t singing about heaven as often or as well as they used to. And this isn’t just my personal opinion. As part of a larger research project, I compared two large selections of worship songs.[1] The first selection was the most commonly sung congregational songs in the United States from 2000–2015; the second group was the most commonly published congregational songs in the United States from 1737–1960.[2] Among many similarities, one difference was striking: the topic of heaven, which once was frequently and richly sung about, has now all but disappeared.
This article begins by tracing examples of the differences between these two groups of songs and offers some explanations for the changes. Troubled by what these changes indicate, I conclude by exhorting local churches to continue to sing about heaven.
WHAT’S CHANGED
To begin, consider the different ways believers sing about the presence of God. In broad strokes, traditional American hymns describe our journey toward God’s presence in a future, heavenly home as a pilgrimage from a fallen city toward a celestial one, much like John Bunyan’s story, A Pilgrim’s Progress.[3] In contrast, much of Contemporary Worship Music (CWM) refers to God’s presence as a current and near experience.[4]
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