Our priest says, "Entertainment substitutes for doctrine."
He is referring to the "contemporary" services, the show-like atmosphere in some of these pole-building churches that are springing up everywhere with names like "River of Life" church.
I went to one of these modern holy-roller churches with my brother-in-law and his family. The lyrics to the "hymns" were put up on the wall with an overhead projector, and were some of the most banal and repetitive dreck I've ever heard. The simple melodies were as dull as dishwater. Even so, barely one in ten people was really singing whole-heartedly. These are not churches for people who wish to contemplate the Infinite in music. Frankly, their entertainment was a good deal shakier than their doctrine.
I don't go to the Episcopal church any more, but I went to Christmas services with a cousin last year, and I was exceedingly impressed by the high quality of the music and singing. Every voice was raised in praise. I had not heard such good religious music since my childhood. Of course, the sermon was typical mainline-Protestant mush.
Why, in today's churches, is the rigor of their theology inversely proportional to their musical talent and complexity?