Breaking Bad! Is Missalette Music to Blame for Shrinking Congregations?

Why has church attendance dropped off so dramatically in the last 50 years? There are a whole range of reasons, I am sure…but if you ask me, one of the main contributory factors is the music that is generally heard at Mass. And in my opinion, it is the style of music offered by the most common pew missalettes that is contributing most powerfully to that decline. I am talking about a

style of music that seems to have started to develop around the late 1960s, and sounds to me like a sort of fusion of American folk (vintage 1967), 19th century pop classics, Broadway musicals, with a hint of Victorian hymnody thrown in for good measure. Whatever you call the genre, it is responsible, I believe, for many fleeing the pews.

Before anyone writes me to say how much they like the music they hear each Sunday, or tell me how high is the quality of the pianist or band that plays, and how heartily those in the congregation that do attend join in, I want to say one thing: my argument is not based upon the assertion that this is bad music. I do have strong opinions on that, but my personal taste has no bearing on the conclusion that I draw. My argument is that the whole philosophy that has contributed to the composition of such music is fatally flawed and causes … read more>>

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David Clayton, Provost, Pontifex University; creator of the Masters in Sacred Arts. David may be reached at davidicons@gmail.com.