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Pastors have noticed an increased interest in worship music, as well. Recording artist Terry MacAlmon reports that the number of invitations he receives from churches around the country to lead worship "has exploded. The congregations are bigger and more passionate about praising and worshiping God." And sales of his worship albums have spiked accordingly: from a few thousand two years ago to a quarter-million this year.

This worship resurgence is hardly limited to America's neck of the woods, either. "This is a global phenomenon," says Valerie Davis, marketing director for Vineyard Music. "In the past four years, we have planted music ministries in New Zealand, South Africa, the U.K., Canada—a lot of countries. A worship album we just recorded in Turkish is going gangbusters. People all over the world are hungry for worship."

So what's stimulating this growing appetite for worship music? The pat answer is "God."

"Of course, it's God," says Stu Garrard, guitarist for the British band Delirious?. "He is calling his people to him, and we are all responding, baby Christians and mature Christians alike. We hear his call, and we are answering back, sometimes with songs and music."

Okay, but what's God using this time to get our attention?

"For one thing, it's the uncertain times we live in," says Smith, whose Worship was released (coincidentally?) on September 11, 2001—the day the Twin Towers came down and America's guard went up. "Frightening events drive people to seek comfort in God's arms. He is in control even though the world seems completely chaotic."

Former GMA president Frank Breeden agrees with that observation. "Since September 11, people I talk with in all sectors of society want to hear the unique message of the gospel, loudly and clearly," he told Christian music magazine CCM. "They don't want ambiguity or polite conversation. They want something they can count on."

Kirk Franklin, whose blend of gospel, hip-hop, and praise music has made his latest album, The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin, a hit on both Christian and mainstream charts, believes people are fed up with a pop culture that has become "very shallow, very degrading, and very immoral. The antidote for that is God. Gospel and worship music help cleanse us and bring us into his presence."

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