I grew up in a Southern Baptist church in the 1990s. I was about as evangelical as I could be without knowing what that term meant. I had a closet full of Christian t-shirts, a shelf full of books that I had purchased from Daystar Christian Books in my bedroom, and my CD case was full of artists like DC Talk, Jars of Clay, and Third Day. One of the most difficult decisions my youth pastor had to make was which music festivals and conferences the high school students should attend. There were just too many options.
There were festivals like Cornerstone, Ichthus, and Agape that had tens of thousands of people show up to listen to the newest music from the most popular bands in Contemporary Christian Music. Now, all three of those festivals have either disbanded completely or are seeing attendance measured in the hundreds, not the thousands.
