Christmas is a joyous time. But it can also a challenging one for church praise bands. Contemporary worship is not really the place where you want to launch into a sleepy, organ-laden arrangement of “Silent Night.” Yet, some members of your congregation long to hear these traditional Christmas tunes. So what’s a praise band to do? Find some great, contemporary arrangements of familiar carols. Here are a few...

Steven Curtis Chapman is leaving Sparrow records after 25 years and will release a new Christmas album in October on a new label. Chapman, Christian music’s most-awarded artist, will release Joy on Oct. 16 on Reunion records, a Provident group label. Chapman’s three previous Christmas discs have all been well received. The Music of Christmas, released in 1995, and All I Really Want for Christmas, released in 2005, were both...

Amy Grant ‏@amygrant Yes, it is true… Amy crowd surfed! Video to be posted soon! Colton Dixon ‏@CDixonAI11 It still blows my mind to think that God created a girl specifically designed for me and vice versus. I can’t wait! Aaron Shust ‏@aaronshust By the way, the last two tweets I used vocal dictation. So I am not texting and driving. StevenChapman ‏@StevenCurtis Day 3 of making Christmas snow fall (in 100 degree...

Christian music’s annual Dove Awards will be handed out April 19 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. So it’s time for Hoosierlujah to make its feeble attempt at predicting winners in some of the biggest categories. To find out the actual winners, watch the awards ceremony at 8 p.m. April 19 on GMC. Song of the Year Prediction: Laura Story’s Blessings will take the big prize. No other song in the past year has touched so many...

OK. Let’s just get this out of the way. The best Christian song to be nominated for a Grammy this year isn’t even competing in a gospel category. It’s nominated for Best Country Song. The tune is the Dave Barnes-penned “God Gave Me You.” Dave himself recorded it and it charted in 2010, rising to No. 13 on Billboard’s Christian singles chart and No. 21 on the Adult Contemporary chart. But it’s Blake...