1. Compositional practices
2. Performance practices
3. Reception practices

• Range from objective praise to sentimental “torch” songs
• Both “milk” and “meat” texts
• Many biblical quotations & allusions
• Often little or no rhyme
• Sometimes mixes “thee” and “you”
• Insensitive to gender language for humans and the offensiveness of “Jehovah”

• Strong focus on exalting God
• Undue polarity between praise for God's acts and worship for God's being
• Praise themes dominate, with little attention to lament, penitence, and petition
• Insufficient understanding of the cosmic scope of Christ's salvation
• Relation between worship & justice & social issues?

• Some songs are suited for congregational singing, often in strophic or verse-refrain forms (as common in folksongs and hymns)
• Others are more suited for praise-team singing, often in verse-refrain-bridge forms (as in many popular songs for soloists or small ensembles which rehearse)
• Style emphasizes homophonic texture
• Appealing quasi-contemporary expression

• “Rock” band instrumentation: guitars, keyboard, and drum kit
• but bongo drums & other hand percussion work better
• Occasionally supplemented with melodic instruments
• Amplification is both routine and loud

• Repetition is very common
• Has both mental & emotional impact
• Varied accompaniment with each repetition is infrequent, thus accompaniments are often not as creative as they could be

• Advantage of computer-projected materials
• Projecting only lyrics contributes to musical illiteracy and discourages harmony-singing
• Often the technical gear [microphones, speakers, cables] is obtrusive and offensive
• Central front position for a praise-team contributes to their “performance-concert” mode

• Many PW songs are eminently useful & appropriate but in limited roles in worship (not unlike the limited function of many other psalm & hymn settings)
• Tendency is to absolutize this repertoire and to jettison most traditional psalms & hymns
• The almost exclusive emphasis on sung praise requires greater emphasis on spoken prayers, esp. prayers of petition
• There are a few recent attempts to compose laments and songs which focus on social issues

• PW songs are strongly promoted with all the machinery of mass-media marketing
• Cycle of “just” new to quickly obsolete
• A few companies dominate:
  • Maranatha! Music
  • Hosanna! Integrity Music
  • Mercy - Vineyard Publishing
  • Kingsway's Thankyou Music
  • Hillsongs Music

Reception Practices: Critical Perspectives

• Some reflective thought by PW practitioners
• A growing body of critical literature by scholars
• Gradual movement of select PW songs into modern hymnals

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