I listen to some of it. I like a lot of Casting Crowns music and Newsboys. Newsboys recently released and album with all hymns done in their style. I have no appreciation for 7/11 songs.
Occasionally we sing hymns but to a slightly more contemporary melody (tune...whatever, I'm not a music guy). I've come to really appreciate that type of music. Casting Crowns has always been one of my favorites (not necessarily as church worship music). I also have not appreciation for "7/11 songs." They remind me of ceremonially repeating a prayer, but thankfully we don't sing them....often.
What I do find difficult is the turnover in music. Rarely do we sing a song enough for the congregation to truly acquire it. It seems that we are often trying to remember words to new songs (or keep up with it on the screen) and they never "sink in." It is not like the older songs that we knew by heart; that we sung from our hearts in worship; that became to a point a part of us. For the most part, we now sing to keep up and gather what ever bits we can catch...but ultimately this doesn't matter because next year those songs will have been replaced anyway.
I wish my 11 year old son knew songs like "It is Well," "A Mighty Fortress is our God," etc. I wish he knew the songs that his father, grandfather, and great grandfather loved. But most of the kids his age know no worship songs by heart because they change so often. They get the tunes, they get the chorus, and then they get a new song to learn. I suppose to many music no longer holds the importance it once held in churches; it is no longer an anchor not only to our past but also as a means to convey theological truths to draw upon in our future. Anyway, I like much of our contemporary music. I only wish we could hold on to more of the traditional hymns as well.
