A Childhood in Christian Pop

In this 2011 article in Guernica Magazine, Meghan O’Gieblyn, an MA candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes her childhood love for Christian pop. ’90s CCM singer Carman features prominently.

While born-again rockers can be traced back to the Jesus People movement in the 1960s, the 1990s was the decade of Christian contemporary music, or CCM. In my early teens, new bands were popping up faster than I could follow. And Carman wasn’t the only established act revamping his sound for a younger crowd. Jon Gibson, a pop artist who produced what is generally considered the first Christian rap song (1986’s “The Wall”), argued that Christian musicians needed to be savvier in presenting teens with the gospel. He told CCM Magazine, “I want to sneak into their hearts with the music. Contemporary Christian music needs to branch out a little more, get a little sneakier.”

If you have ever wondered about the rise of CCM and why it was so popular among evangelical teenagers, this article might explain a little.

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Also, does anyone know of a good novel about growing up evangelical? Not the kind where the kid struggles with it and then rejects it, but just a story detailing the evangelical experience.

I have been searching for a while but haven’t had much luck.