After disclosing that she left her previous church due to a church leader’s position on contemporary gospel music, singer and songwriter Seyi Shay has sparked discussions regarding religion and the church.
The musician described in an Instagram story post how a church leader insisted that the congregation only listen to hymns and songs that were directly based on scripture, discouraging the usage of praise and worship songs.
“One leader like that at my former church said something like ‘we need to stop singing all these new age gospel songs in praise and worship and go back to singing hymns and only songs that are direct scripture.’ guess what, I stopped going to that church. PERIODT.
She stood her position and claimed that the oppression of Black people and slavery were the origins of old songs.
“I don’t know how or why you would feel blessed and happy by singing some of the songs that slave owners wrote and forced them to sing and pass down through generations while beating and torturing your ancestors… makes no sense. Do your research! Ignorance is NOT Godly!!!“
She made it clear in a different post that she wasn’t talking about all of the ancient hymns and urged people to adopt contemporary tunes and recently composed hymns instead.
“Not ALL hymns were written by slave owners 000! But a lot of them were. In some cases, you’re better off making up your own praise and worship songs/hymns (based on scripture if you prefer)“