Nigerian singer, Seyi Shay, has shared the reason behind her decision to stop attending her former church.
According to the music star, the church leadership decided to abandon contemporary gospel songs in favour of old-school Christian hymns that are directly sourced from scripture.
Shay took issue with the move, citing the troubling historical context of many traditional hymns. She pointed out that a number of them were written by individuals connected to slavery and were forced upon African ancestors during periods of oppression.
Taking to her Instagram story, 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 bearing and torturing your ancestors. Makes no sense. Do your research! Ignorance is not Godly!”
She urged Christians to research the origins of hymns and traditional worship songs before embracing them blindly, emphasizing that spirituality should not come at the cost of historical awareness and cultural respect.