I like SG, but not what it’s become.

Deep down I thought we were pretty close to the same page but could not tell it because the attitude that comes across while making your point. “stinkin” kids and whatnot doesn’t translate too well for me as we work extremely hard to reach as much of the congregation as possible when we sing. As a minister I am sure you can appreciate the difficulty of this task. Too hip for the old folks too square for the young.

When it comes to ministry, there are some national groups that are very ministry oriented. Booth Brothers and Poet Voices (when they are active) come to mind. While speaking with some of these men some have told me that they prefer the intimacy of a church setting because it allows for more ministry opportunities. However, they still have bills and must accept the larger venues to meet those obligations to take care of their families. With that said, I have been to a number of concerts where I enjoyed the entertainment but came away with nothing spiritually. I have also been to nearly as many concerts where I was equally entertained (held my attention) and the Spirit was present in a very clear way.

I have maintained on numerous posts to this site and others that the issue with SG isn’t the money, it is the fact that, for the most part, SG singers have forgotten why they started singing in the first place, to minister. I believe whole heartedly that if our music is from the heart of God it will last and the financials will take care of themselves. If our motives are not what they should be then yes, we will falter.

One of the things that I have found on Avery is that most of us are concerned with similar things and, in the end, when we have communicated what we really think we are closer than we realize. I leave our website attached to my name for the simple purpose of communication to those who may have questions. I have been contacted on MANY occassions about things that people have both agreed and disagreed with. Through this site I have gained many friendships with people that I may never see this side of heaven but I value every one of them and save their info to my personal email. I hope NONSGFAN that you will one day come out of annonymity long enough to email me and I bet we can find common ground as well. BTW - your annonymity will always be safe with me if you choose to talk.

I would rather ALL kids listen to SG music and NOT ccm. CCM has become sensual, and too much like the world in appearence, sound, and motive. BET THAT SURPRISED YA, HUH??

I am NOT a CCM fan, and now lets discover why my name is “NonSGfan”. It is not because I do not like southern gospel music. It is because I have seen what the industry has become. WHEN is the last time you went to a SG concert and saw a heartfelt alter call for sinners? WHEN is the last time you actually saw a southern gospel group take to talk to people like they’re not a potential giver to their cause. before you say, “You’ve not seen all groups”…or “you’re judging all groups from one”….. I WORKED AS A SOUTHERN GOSPEL DJ FOR 5 YEARS. I hosted dozens of events and met EVERY SINGLE southern gospel artist alive on this planet. (exageration). The industry is crumbling on a business side because of their lack of progression, but on a MINISTERIAL side it is because ICHABOD has reared his ugly head. The ANOINTING is what breaks the yokes of bondages, sets man free. The anointing is so NON present in these concerts it’s sick. I could tell you a STORY OR TWO about many many many groups, but there is no point.

MY POINT-On the business side it’s fading because of lack of progression.

MY POINT- On the spiritual side, the anointing has left the building.

Rhonda you said i’m using my “Self stated experience”…which is the EXACT same thing YOU did to prove YOUR point, Right?

AND YES, you’re wrong, I have seen the youth on a nation scale, like i said. I’m not going to waiste my time proving it, though I could, because that would release my anonyminity which I enjoy thoroughly.

NonSGFan is right in many ways. Anyone who works in Youth ministry on a national level will tell you that youth do not relate to SG on a national level. There may be certain demographics in the country that will tolerate it, but as a whole it is not tolerated on a national level. Ask the prominant youth speakers of today, go to one of their events. You do not hear the McKamey’s, Gold City or even the “Youth Appealing” EHSS playing. You hear CCM music. Why? That is what is relevant to most of the country. Again, there may be a few southern city’s or small midwestern county fairs where a 13 year old girl screams for an octagenarian like she has just seen Carrie Underwood, but that is simply because she has been raised to think that someone in SG is actually “famous”. Someone could tell her that some Joe Schmoe on the corner is the famous John Lennon and she would scream just the same, thinking she was seeing someone “famous”. All the while, having no idea who John Lennon was, never hearing his music, not knowing a thing about him or realizing he has been dead for years.

You operate in the monetary not in the spirit. You have made that abundantly clear. It is all about who buys and purchases, nothing about whether it ministers or not.

After much prayer and frustrating deliberation with a couple of knuckleheads I have come to the conclusion that God is the One who will make the determining factor as to whether something exists or not. Not nonSGfan, Rod, not beavis, Leebob, or any of the rest of us. Plain and simple we still have an audience and I am not too concerned with the opinions of “trolls” on the internet. I am far more interested in truly ministering to a congregation than I am selling another cd, filling my own fancies because it is what I want to do, or anything else. I follow God and His leading as much as I possibly can and let Him deal with the rest. I live in the moment when kids DO enjoy SG, even if it is for a moment, and then they go home and tell their parents, who were working, about the group they missed. The doom and gloom crowd want it to go away because they cannot handle the simplicity of it and are way more about following a program than the Spirit of the Living God. I believe God chooses the simple things of the world to confound the wisest of us. That means He will use SG, CCM, P&W, and even (I can’t believe I am saying this) Christian Rap to reach people. When everything is all said and done, if His Spirit isn’t in it, then it will not draw anyone to Him.

I’ve traveled all across the country speaking at youth events both great and small. I’ve been in youth ministry for the past 7 years, and have studied from some of the most noted youth leaders of our day. I’ve been personally involved in the lives of HUNDREDS even thousands of young people.
THEY DONT LIKE IT. Now, What do I mean when i say “it”. Do I mean ALL of it? Absolutely not. Young people can appreciate anything thats quality. BUT AS A WHOLE, young people don’t associate with SG because it has progessively fallen of the radar of QUALITY and impact.

NOW, take this comparison. Take a song that has a modernistic approach, for example, The Gaither Vocal Band song “Picture Of Grace”. Compare that to that song by the talley’s, “Red stinking leter Day”. (one of the worse songs of this century). One has quality and progessive writing, the other is a ploy for radio plays and appeal to Gen-xers and baby boomers.
BUT THEN, take Lauren Talley’s song “Almighty”. A song that would appeal to young people greatly. But NOT ENOUGH to get them to “PURCHASE THE PRODUCT”.
It is not favoring, clapping, or liking the music for a season in time that will make the market frugile, it is the PURCHASING and investing in the product that will ensure it’s future.

Young people may get into a FEW SG songs, but not enough to buy the CD. That is my point. Let me generalize this book..

1. Young people do not LIKE SG enough to purchase it, invest in it, and make it a future market in their lives like the Gen-x, and baby boomers have. SINCE they do not like it (as a whole, there are exceptions), it will progressively fall off the radar unless drastic measures are taken.

So I give you another TRUE story about where people are with SG and why they may be there and then I will drop this subject because you cannot communicate with the thick skulled. Maybe the example won’t go above your head. About 4 years ago we were invited to take part in a community Thanksgiving service. We were the only outside group, everybody else that sang represented a church. EVERY song sung was from the SG genre. When we approached some of the people and thanked them for their song selection they had no idea that their songs were played on SG stations, they just liked the music and words and begged us not to call it SG. When I asked them why, it was apparent their problem with SG was more from perception and not the music. I have gone to churches where they were going to have some of their people sing prior and inevitably, even the young people, will pull out a sg tune.

If the majority of young people dislike SG, it’s going to die. They DO dislike it as a whole, because it’s unprogressive. I don’t mean it has to ROCK OUT. I appreciate what the Crabbs, Austins Bridge, and others have begun to do because they’re going to pull some young people into the genre, but not enough to make it last. Within 15 years, you’ll see Singing News magazine sales begin to drop, you’ll see more and more groups launching out into business (Like Tony Gore selling Barbecue).

ROD, I do like heated debate.