Author Description

Sung worship has always been an important part of Christian tradition. The lyrics sung in churches shape the faith of individual believers, engage in the spaces of mission and evangelism, and in their own unique way they ‘do’ theology. However, in recent times worship songs have been silent about technological advances and scientific discoveries. This silence is examined here in detail. This exploration takes us into a shared temporal-spiritual-metaphorical space – the place of worship. Through exploring this space interesting and unusual observations are made about its rationale and why our songs are devoid of modern conceptual imagery. It is possible that we need truly contemporary worship songs if we are to engage seriously in mission, and also to prevent us from becoming theologically image-poor, and here this argument is put forward with clarity and passion.