Happy Clappy SOngs Have Ruined UK- Lessons For the Catholic Church?

Hmmm I think there is some truth in this article that could applied to the Catholic Church Liturgy.

Happy-clappy songs are judged to have ruined Britain

Graham Kendrick - the author of such painful hymns as Shine, Jesus, Shine has been included amongst a list of 50 people responsible for ruining Britain

Being placed alongside individuals as nauseating as Paul Burrell, Jeffrey Archer and Janet Street-Porter might seem a little harsh for someone whose only crime is to have penned more happy-clappy songs than anyone else.
Four hundred at the last count.
But it's hard to fault the argument.

"Happy-cr*ppy hymns are a pestilence," says Quentin Letts, a parliamentary sketchwriter.
"They demean adult worship, dragging it to a level even lower than that of Mrs C F Alexander's All Things Bright and Beautiful.
"They are self-obsessed, babyish, cliched, simplistic."
He stops there, but no doubt could have gone on.

Also in the list is Ronald Jasper, who was Dean of York from 1975-84 and was a key figure in persuading the Church to produce the Alternative Service Book.

Letts accuses him of being responsible for "the erosion of the finest expression of religion in the English language, the Book of Common Prayer" and replacing it with "the dreaded ASB, unrhythmic, babyish".
"No wonder our churches are nowadays so much more empty," he concludes.
There must be many who would agree that the attempts to make worship more modern and contemporary have left it banal and vacuous.

You only have to look at the rise in attendance at cathedrals to see the truth of this.
People go there knowing they can be guaranteed a high-level of music, traditional hymns along with choirs, and a fondness for liturgy.
In most parish churches they can not.

David Stancliffe, the Bishop of Salisbury, has been outspoken on this in the past.
"In an age when the standards of public performance are so high, how do worshippers manage to keep on going to church faithfully when the way worship is prepared and offered is often so dire, when it is frequently confused with entertainment, and when it is led by those who apparently have no idea what they are doing or professional competence in doing it?"

It's unclear whether the blame lies with people such as Jasper, responsible for bringing change from the top-level of the Church, or whether it is with the grass-roots, with the clergy themselves. Or is it actually the fault of those training the clergy?

The "sturdy hymns of England, musical embodiment of the stoicism of our nation are in severe peril" says Letts, yet without the likes of Graham Kendrick, the empty pews he talks about would be even emptier.
Change can be tough, and is often not for the better, but young people want to be entertained.
The success of churches such as Holy Trinity Brompton and Hillsong shows that there are thousands who want the modern worship songs.

A nostalgic longing for hymns of yore does not tackle the issue of appealing to the younger generation put off by notions of church as old and stuffy.
The problem with the drive to be more contemporary is that it's left a gulf in the style of worship and a scarcity of churches offering more traditional services.
As Stancliffe said, the quality of services has suffered and it may well be why many people have voted with their feet.