Why scandal won't keep churches from singing Hillsong and Bethel

A new survey of worship leaders suggests they care less about brand affiliation than about songs' theology.

Last month, I wrote about the monopolization of worship music. Just four churches, or the “big 4” — Hillsong, Bethel, Passion City, and Elevation — now account for nearly all music on the contemporary praise and worship charts. I highlighted 8 other groups for worship leaders to choose from, not only because 3 of the big 4 have faced scandal, but also to add creative diversity to Sunday morning worship in America.

The big 4 finding came from the Worship Leader Survey, and it was phase 1 of the group’s research. This week, they released phase 2. The new study measures worship leaders’ attitudes toward the worship music industry. More than 400 worship leaders in the U.S. and Canada, across theological and musical traditions, participated. The full survey is available here.

One takeaway of the survey, as Bob Smietana at Religion News Service reported, is that moral scandals, at least at Hillsong …