My objection is not to having new church songs or simple choruses but to the tendency of some churches to do the new "praise choruses" almost exclusively, with only a token nod now and then to the older (and sometimes very beloved) old hymns. This mirrors the commercial secular music industry too much -- let's focus on the music of the teens and 20-somethings and on "what's hot." Throwing out all "praise songs" is equally unfortunate, since there are some lovely ones, and musical tastes will evolve with new generations.Re: the "Hallelujah Chorus" as a praise song, let me clarify that it is the choral elaborations that set it apart from the way I usually hear praise songs done in church. "Shine, Jesus, Shine" could, of course, be arranged for a choir as a complex piece of the same sort. And, McGrath, even before your post about complex music done by "ordinary people," I was thinking that in a really get-down Gospel church, the spontaneous 'arrangements' of the music by the congregation are quite complex and interesting -- multiple harmonies, countermelodies, call-and-response, melodic variations, etc. Choir arrangements are often even more "jazzed up" and elaborate.
The praise songs I've heard most often are not simpler than a lot of spirituals,Gospel and religious folk songs and "camp sing-along songs" such as "Do, Lord," "I've Got The Joy, Joy, Joy," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Standin' In The Need Of Prayer," "Give Me Oil In My Lamp," "Let Us Break Bread Together," "Just A Closer Walk With Thee," etc. But I've usually heard these songs sung with harmonies, "echo" parts, counterpoint, etc. And when the piano (or even organ) was used to accompany the old hymns, folks could usually hear the bass, tenor, and alto lines, so it was not unusual to hear 2-, 3-, and even 4-part harmony from the congregation. The harmony parts are seldom that clear when the guitar is the back-up instrument, and I usually hear the praise choruses done almost exclusively in unison. Maybe it's just the churches I've gone to.
Genie