Persuasion in contemporary worship music styles: Observations from a South African perspective

Abstract

The concept of persuasion is rarely associated with contemporary Christian worship music. In this article, however, established persuasion models by Brown (2006), as well as Jowett and O’Donnell (2012), are employed to analyse the beliefs and experiences of selected South African worship musicians, in order to determine whether persuasion forms part of contemporary, local worship music practices. The data, collected through the method known as polyphonic interviewing, confirm that persuasion forms part of worship music practices within the contexts documented, and moreover that it is consciously employed in these environments.