There's nothing like the drone of a centuries-old hymn wafting from the cracked valves of an aging pipe organ to inspire worshipers to rise to their feet and revel in the glory of God.
Or is there?Some Salt Lake-area clergy are convinced there is a more appropriate musical accompaniment - contemporary Christian music that adds zest to their services and appeals to a wider audience of baby boomers, Internet surfers and MTV-generation castoffs.
For some, rock 'n' roll and its various popular forms has come full circle from its early ecclesiastic image as the devil's music to a modern acceptance of electrified melodies as a tool for saving souls.
"If you're going to reach the people around you with music, then you need to be producing music that is relevant to the culture that you're in," said the Rev. Ed Manning, assistant pastor at Hope Chapel, a Foursquare Gospel Church in Salt Lake City. "I have nothing against hymnals or traditional types of music, but we attract way more people and lead them into a spiritual way of life by attracting them with music that's relative to the culture."
Hope Chapel is one of a growing number of Salt Lake Protestant churches where contemporary Christian music - from acoustic ballads and hip choruses to full-blown orchestral arrangements - is being integrated into one or more Sunday worship services.
Hope Chapel holds a smaller, quieter service at 9 a.m., then packs the house for its 11 a.m. service where music is the central focus, not an afterthought. After a prayer and greeting, the band begins to play, and worshipers sing along by reading words on an overhead projector. The church's band, staffed by members of the congregation, includes an electric guitarist and bassist, a keyboard player, a jazz drummer and four vocalists.
"We do something you can stomp your feet and clap your hands to, but it's not real hard rock," said Carole Manning, the assistant pastor's daughter and the church's secretary-treasurer. "It's a real informal kind of service."
Contemporary music has been a big part of the church's 11 a.m. service for the past two years. It has proven so popular, Hope Chapel is considering a special Friday night service to appeal to young people and those unaccustomed to church worship.
"It will be a seeker-sensitive service geared to unchurched people, and our church is sort of that way anyway," the Rev. Manning said. "It's geared to the lost, those who are looking for a better way of life.
"It'll be more of a coffee house, almost a night-club setting with topical music, maybe even some secular music setting up different topics for discussion."
Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Holladay has a separate 9 a.m. service featuring contemporary Christian music. It is by far the church's largest Sunday service, according to lay minister John Erickson, an assistant to the pastor.
"What it's doing is appealing to people that have not been attending churches, who got turned off when they were younger especially and are now coming back," Erickson said. "We find we are getting people from all backgrounds, not necessarily Lutheran, who are coming in now and a lot of that is due to the music. That's what gets them here."
At Southeast Baptist Church in the Cottonwood area, the Rev. Mike Gray describes the Sunday services as "blended worship" - where the hymnal meets the compact disc and the result is something all parishioners feel comfortable with.
"We have a small orchestra with a guitar, trumpet and other instruments," the Rev. Gray said. "We do have drums, but they're laid back. The service is not driven by beat and I think that's the key.
"There's more and more of a movement toward contemporary, or at least blended services. I think that would be the new direction."
There are churchgoers who resist the movement and cringe at the sounds now emanating from some houses of worship. But as long as contemporary Christian music draws a crowd, ministers all along the Wasatch Front will keep it in mind - if not in their services - as an alternative way of worship.