The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon, has written a new book advocating the use of pop music in churches to help explain the Bible to a generation of irreligious people. The book, Finding Faith, has been supported by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams who called it “profound and challenging.” In it, Bishop Baines explains how music from artists like The Beatles and U2 helped him articulate and express his faith.

Transmitting popular music into the church isn’t new. It’s widely known that Martin Luther used the melodies of popular pub tunes for a number of his hymns, and the Wesleys used folk tunes during their revivals in England. But what are we to make of contemporary secular pop music? Does it have religious value?

Leadership journal columnist, Rich…