Tuning in Sacred: Youth Culture and Contemporary Music

Abstract

Sacred music has always been a source of controversy throughout history since it is an integral part of the liturgy. Contemporary Christian music (CCM) has reached a pinnacle of controversy as its realm of consumption expands globally and inter-denominationally. This study was inspired by the idea of Ricoeur's phenomenology of religion to examine the contemporary practice of liturgy and sacred music. This brings into discussion the historical controversy and cultural milieu of adopting popular culture into youth ministry. Korean case is important because Korea represents one of the strongest Christian populations in the world and at the same time challenges a drop in the number of young members and a huge generational gap in its church congregations. In order to scrutinize the concrete process of youth culture in the Christian community, an empirical study of youth ministry in seven mega churches in Seoul in South Korean was conducted as a case study.