‘Heart to Heart’ – our Contemporary Music apostolate – has established a loyal following across the Diocese, because it provides something more than your typical praise and worship event. But it is not simply a template for Adoration. Its mission is, in fact, much broader: to explore the best way to receive the remarkable phenomenon of contemporary Christian music into the full communion of the Catholic Church. Such a proposition begs two questions: (1.) what is contemporary Christian music, and (2.) why does it need to be received?

Music, by its nature, is always changing – and for every period of human history there is a soundtrack, so to speak. Culture begets music and music distills the precise ‘moment’ of human history. What many people in a Catholic setting assume to be ‘contemporary’ music sounds decidedly dated these days. Some of it is over 50 years old by now – and it expresses the zeitgeist of the 1970s or 1980s. Whilst this may be pleasing to some, it is simply out of touch for many born after those decades.

Contemporary Christian music, on the other hand, is a combination of two distinct elements: solid Biblical expression married to the rhythms and cadences of secular music. Whilst it cannot be described as ‘sacred’ music, it sits somewhere in-between. The reason it is so powerful is because it relates particularly well to a digital age; allowing the expression of religious sentiments in a way that makes sense to some people in a way no other genre quite manages. It may not be to everyone’s taste – and that is fine – but since it has power to change hearts and minds, it is a force the Catholic Church cannot ignore.

A complaint might be raised that, since it is not sacred music it has no place in worship, but in fact the dividing wall between sacred and secular music is not all that high. All Western music, whether sacred or secular, has its roots in Gregorian chant and the flow back into sacred music is something that has always happened.

We need only think of the Tudor composers using the ‘Westron Wynde’ folk song as the basis for polyphonic Mass settings, or the capture of folk tunes as beloved traditional hymns, such as “I heard the voice of Jesus say” to the English love song, ‘Kingsfold.’ It is always important to make sure we don’t make the rules stricter than they really are: the cross-fertilization of sacred and secular music is a creative dynamic that has borne remarkable fruit, and will continue to do so.

Watch this space as Heart to Heart develops and grows into a fully-fledged ministry, whose ambition is to provide formation in how to capture the power of contemporary Christian music for the service of the Church. Please support it with your prayers and patience.