In 1995 Dr. David Luecke wrote "The Other Story of Lutherans at
Worship," widely read in the LCMS, and a must read for contemporary
worship groupies. It was there that I first read about the CCLI song list of
thousands of contemporary worship songs available through Christian Copyright
and Licensing Corporation. They send you the disk, or you log on to the
Internet. Then you down load the songs for Sunday worship that you like and
they automatically calculate the licensing fee and deduct the fee from your
account.
While pointing out errors in Luecke's book, he filed charges against me in
dispute resolution in 1995. The matter was finally settled when Luecke agreed
to confess one of the three ecumenical creeds without modification in his
worship services at least once a month. This conflict led to the publication
of "Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS"
available from CN for $5.00. A copy was sent to every delegate of the 1998
LCMS Convention. This led to the adoption of a resolution stating that LCMS
congregations should not confess modified and invented Creeds in worship
services.
Now six years later, we read in the following article published in
"USA Today" that the CCLI song-list and contemporary worship music
business has grown into a 100 million dollar plus industry involving Time Life
and the Nasdaq. It may be too late for CPH. We wonder if Luecke had the
foresight to buy the stock?
We say God bless corporate America. Contemporary music is clearly about how
good it makes us feel when we sing it and not what it says. The beat and
rhythm are more about mood adjustment and modification than sound doctrine,
repentance, forgiveness, and the proper distinction of law and Gospel. These
criteria would bankrupt any contemporary music corporation. So if it feels
good, sing it. There are no rules but right, and the majority of the COP will
deliver whatever sells in the worship marketplace.
Narrow is the gate that leads to heaven and there are few that go there, no
matter what the profit margin.
Friday October 19, 2:52 pm Eastern Time
Press Release: SOURCE: Integrity Incorporated
USA Today Article 'Praise Hymn With An Upbeat' Highlights Growing Role Of
Praise and Worship Music in American Society
MOBILE, Ala., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrity Incorporated (Nasdaq: ITGR
- news), a media/communications company that produces, publishes and
distributes Christian music and related products, today announced that it
would like to alert investors to an article entitled "Praise Hymn With An
Upbeat'' that appears in the Life section of the October 19, 2001 issue of USA
Today.
The article, which quotes Integrity's Executive Vice President Don Moen and
its Chief Marketing Officer Dan McGuffey, addresses the growing popularity of
new praise and worship songs and music within Christian church congregations
throughout America. The author of the article, Brian Mansfield, describes how
many new praise and worship songs are being widely adopted by congregations
and sung in churches and at other worship events within months after being
written. ``In years past, such songs might have taken 10 to 15 years to make a
widespread impact,'' noted Mr. Mansfield in the article.
Other statements from the article:
By far the biggest success story is the "Songs 4 Worship" album
series, a joint venture of Time Life Music and Integrity Music backed by an
estimated $30 million in TV advertising. Since its launch late last year,
"Songs 4 Worship" has become Time Life's most successful continuity
program ever. "Shout to the Lord,'' the first of six titles in the
"Songs 4 Worship" series, has sold 1.8 million copies; more than a
million customers have signed up to receive additional two-disc collections
every four weeks.
"'The Songs 4 Worship' phenomenon is the biggest thing to hit the
industry this year,'' says Integrity's Chief Marketing Officer, Dan McGuffey.
He says Integrity chooses tracks based on Christian Copyright Licensing
International's quarterly reports of the 500 most requested licenses, lists
reflecting the preferences of churchgoers. "There's nothing in pop that
gets that kind of steady rotation,'' he says. "If those are the most-sung
songs year after year in an audience 30 million strong, there's a much broader
audience out there that may not be reached by traditional retail.''
"I've never seen a time like this, when so many great songs are being
written,'' said Don Moen, a noted worship leader and Executive Vice President
of Christian media company Integrity Incorporated.
For years, Christian record labels had striven to construct a wholesome
alternative to mainstream pop. In the wake of "Third Day" and
collections such as the "Songs 4 Worship" series, though, the
emphasis has shifted dramatically toward worship. "It's almost like God
is trying to redefine the whole Christian music industry,'' Moen says.
If there's a defining lyrical theme in the new music, Moen adds, it's that
"the songs are becoming more vertical. Rather than singing songs about
God, they're singing songs to God.''
Integrity Incorporated, the world's largest producer of praise and worship
music, is a media/communications company that produces, publishes and
distributes Christian music and related products. It is a producer and
publisher of Christian lifestyle products developed to facilitate worship,
entertainment and education. Integrity's products are sold primarily through
retail stores and direct to consumers throughout the United States and in 162
countries worldwide. The Company is headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, and its
common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Small Cap Market under the symbol
"ITGR''. Information about Integrity, including financial and operating
performance, is available on the Company's website at
www.integritymusic.com/company/indexinv.html.
Some of the statements contained in this press release, particularly those
anticipating future financial performance, business prospects, growth and
operating strategies, new products and similar matters, are forward-looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For those
statements, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for
forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. In addition to the factors discussed above, among the
other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are:
potentially changing consumer tastes and demands with respect to Christian
music generally and praise and worship music in particular; the effect on
operating margins of marketing and distribution costs associated with the WoW
Worship releases; the effect on profit margins of a continued increase in the
percentage of sales from retail sales; increases in the estimated cost of
television advertising, including production costs and the cost of air time,
all of which could materially affect the financial impact of the "Songs 4
Worship" series and other television advertising initiatives; the
public's interest in the "Songs 4 Worship" product could decline
which could lead to revenues from the sale of these products falling
significantly short of the Company's expectations, and the risks identified
from time to time in Integrity's SEC reports, including, but not limited to,
the report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000. Any
forward-looking statements represent our estimates only as of the date of this
release and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any
subsequent date. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at
some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so,
even if our estimates change.
For additional information, please contact:
P. Michael Coleman, CEO of Integrity, Inc. at (334) 633-9000
Or RJ Falkner & Company, Investor Relations Counsel at (800) 377-9893
or via e-mail at info@rjfalkner.com
SOURCE: Integrity Incorporated