Seyi Shay reveals she left her former church because the leader decided to shift the congregation’s focus to traditional hymns and songs directly from scripture, discontinuing contemporary gospel music
What troubled Seyi Shay was the historical context of many traditional hymns, which were penned by slave owners and forced upon enslaved Africans as a means of control and oppression.
She found it problematic to sing songs with such dark origins, arguing that it didn’t make sense to feel “blessed and happy” while singing hymns tied to the painful experiences of her ancestors.
She emphasized the importance of being informed about the history behind these hymns, cautioning against ignorance.
While acknowledging that not all hymns have problematic roots, she highlighted that many do.
Seyi Shay suggested that in some cases, creating new praise songs based on scripture might be a more meaningful alternative, promoting awareness and spiritual authenticity in worship.
Seyi Shay wrote: “One leader like dat 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. Because 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 !!!”.
” Not ALL hymns were written by slave owners ooo! 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)”
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