Large, successful churches often cannot resist replacing worship with entertainment; the more accomplished the performers, the stronger the temptation.

A number of years ago I attended an evensong in Salisbury Cathedral. The acoustics were sublime, the choir sang exquisitely and the bulletin had a note requesting that the congregation not ruin the experience by joining in. It was a performance, albeit a performance of high aesthetic – even spiritual some would say – refinement.

Hillsong’s version of Silent Night is also a performance, a crassly revolting performance, the aesthetic antithesis of the Salisbury Cathedral choir, a cacophony of anti-Christianity whose idolatrous shallowness is surely too transparently stupid to appeal to any but empty-headed celebrities.

There does seem to be a large audience, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbUezIFAb3A