Saturday, July 5, 1997

Christian music has seen its following grow strongly in recent years

By Susan Kreimer

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

Nothing could stop Selma Martin's neck from hurting.

After slipping in her kitchen about eight years ago, she wore a neck brace for a month. The pain persisted the next nine months until one miraculous day in church.

Martin was raising her hands and singing to the Lord during a Sunday evening service when the relief came.

"I felt this heat all over my body," she said. "It started in my head and it went down my feet."

Then the warmth centered in the middle of her neck, targeting the injury. "And when the heat left my body, I realized my neck had completely healed," Martin said.

The moving experience drew her closer to Christian inspirational music, to the melodies and lyrics that bring inner peace to her life.

A resident of Sauk Village, Ill., at the time, Martin, 46, now lives in Crown Point, Ind.

Like some other Christians, Martin makes the music follow her wherever she goes, filling her soul and surroundings with the sounds of God's love.

With more and more people lending their ears to gospel music, sales of the genre have exploded in the past decade. The Gospel Music Association in Nashville, Tenn., reports that the industry experienced a 290 percent increase in total sales from 1985 to 1994.

And last year, those figures reached $538 million, up from $381 million in 1995, a 41 percent increase, says the Recording Industry Association of America in Washington, D.C.

At the same time, the number of radio stations with Christian formats has risen, according to National Religious Broadcasters in Manassas, Va. In 1996, religious radio constituted 13 percent of the entire radio industry, compared with 8 percent in 1981 and 6 percent in 1971.

"I think anytime you approach a millennium change we're approaching the year 2000 people start to think beyond themselves, beyond the immediate future," said April Hefner, 26, managing editor of the monthly CCM Magazine, an acronym for "Contemporary Christian Music," in Nashville, Tenn.

"People just start asking questions and looking for answers. And faith of any kind offers that," Hefner said. "Christian music can be a source for some of those answers."

For Sally Metzler, 35, of Hobart, Ind., the words in some of the songs relay the message that she's not alone in life's struggles.

"Somebody else knows what I'm going through," said Metzler, a substitute teacher. "It keeps me focused in my Christian life, and not every Christian song will do that."

"It's a great alternative to the trash," she added. "It keeps my thoughts pure."

Metzler listens to contemporary Christian singers, such as Rich Mullins and Sarah Mason, on the radio while running errands and traveling to and from work. The tunes, she has noticed, help her cope with the monotony behind the wheel.

"It just makes the drive more pleasant," Metzler said. "I don't really like to drive, to tell you the truth."

Despite the explosion in contemporary Christian music, not everyone is jumping on its bandwagon.

Tom Leeseberg-Lange, 44, minister of worship and music at Trinity Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, Ind., said he prefers the centuries-old Gregorian chant, as well as some traditional contemporary tunes.

"It's a matter of semantics. A lot of music that I listen to is being written in this day and age," said Leeseberg-Lange, editor of a biannual journal for the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. His brother-in-law is a drummer for Sandi Patti, one of the most well-known current Christian artists.

"It's more enduring," Leeseberg-Lange said of his musical selections. "It's not written to be listened to, consumed, and (have) something replacing it next week."

For Selma Martin, whose neck never hurt again after a memorable church service, contemporary Christian, inspirational, and praise and worship music make up her entire collection.

"It really does have an effect on our home, too," said Martin, who, along with husband J. Steven, has hosted a prayer group there weekly for almost five years, with both playing rhythm guitar for their guests. The couple also formed Lighthouse Ministry, which holds services twice a month at Sebo's Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hobart, Ind.

"When people really come here," she said of her residence, "they feel the peace that's here."

(c) 1997, Post-Tribune (Gary, Ind.).

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