CLICK HERE for an Andrew Adler article that will be of interest to some readers, published in the November 11, 2007 edition of the Louisville Courier Journal. From the opening paragraph:
    “What does it mean to be culturally authentic? How do we honor the composers, choreographers and myriad creators of centuries gone by? Is it possible to reconcile the challenges of the past with the realities of the present — and indeed, how much should we care?”
    It’s interesting to think about this from the standpoint of worship leading. What would cultural authenticity mean, particularly when playing old hymns. Does it matter, for instance, what Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts would think of modern versions of their hymns? Is that what cultural authenticity is all about — how our versions would have worked, or how they differ, from the originals? Or is it more important to perform these works in ways that sound authentic to the culture of which we now live and engage?
    Obviously most in the modern church would opt for the latter, and it’s a case where, generally, that’s what makes the most sense. But it is interesting to think about — what would Wesley, Watts, Newton, Steele and Cowper think of Passion’s covers of their songs?  What would they think of what Indelible Grace does? Or Mars Hill, or the arrangements, revisions and marriage of old text to new melodies that we do at Sojourn?
    I told a fellow Sojourn musician one time, as I was discussing an Isaac Watts hymn that I had revised and adapted into a new musical structure, “Watts is one of my main musical heroes — the last think I want to do is arrive in heaven and find myself accosted by a perturbed Isaacs Watts, who takes it upon himself to tell me that I’m a bonehead for messing up a perfectly good hymn.”
    Now, obviously since God wipes away all tears in heaven, and since Watts would make me cry in such a scenario, God won’t let that happen. But it’s worth pondering …
