Abstract
Andrew Peterson’s contemporary worship song “Is He Worthy?” quickly gained popularity through its call-and-response format, praise of a worthy Redeemer, and celebration of a Church made up of members from every culture. However, his video was criticized for lacking any people of color, and subsequent videos by Chris Tomlin and Shane & Shane displayed the same lack of diversity. Applying Walter Brueggemann’s conceptual framework to “Is He Worthy,” we find that the lyrics and musical composition powerfully express prophetic imagination, while the recorded performances reveal the persistence of royal consciousness (in the form of whiteness) in Contemporary Worship Music. We conclude that overcoming this inertia will require collaboration with worship leaders of color.
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