The church hasn't seen another J.S. Bach. Though is true that Bach lived at a unique nexus in music history with numerous recent developments (equal temperament, the height of counterpoint) his compositions for the church can be considered genius even without the historical context. There are plenty of examples of superficial, crappy works being published and performed in churches far and wide, I'll add a few here in the footnotes. Many of the composers of those works get good-paying jobs, and effectively hold back the development of church music and the potential standing and influence church music could have in the broader context of music history.
What will it take to bring church music back to a pinnacle? Consider the greatest *composition* achievements of Bach: the Art of the Fugue, the Musical Offering, the Goldberg Variations, the organ trio-sonatas. Aside from their place in history, they have stood the test of time, just as a colossal cathedral or great medieval castle. The greatness of these works lies not so much in their novelty, but in the junction of their rigorous architecture and aesthetic (Something Reger never really achieved).
There's a lot more to add to this topic, but it would probably help to contextualize modern attempts to reinvigorate church music with a few examples.
The Orgelbüchlein project: http://www.orgelbuechlein.co.uk
This project, while noteworthy in its scope, is an attempt to complete the Orgelbüchlein, and submissions were taken from composers willing to take a stab at it. It seems like a good idea, but just listen to a few of the submissions, and you'll hear the influence of Adorno, cultural marxist dissonance-as-a-cargo-cult writing that would never thrive in a real church service.
<Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir by Iain Farrington (b. 1977) who is one of Britain’s most dynamic young composers. Pianist, organist and composer, he wrote this contribution to the Orgelbüchlein Project in 2010. It was premiered by Mark Williams in the chapel of Jesus College, Cambridge.
https://soundcloud.com/kennyrich/herr-gott-dich-loben-alle-wir
<Auf meinen lieben Gott by Giles Swayne who is one of Britain’s leading composers of choral music. His Magnificat was commissioned by Christ Church Oxford in 1982 and has become one of the standard pieces of contemporary liturgical music in this country. www.gilesswayne.com (recording by Myles Eastwood)
https://soundcloud.com/kennyrich/auf-mein-lieben-gott
There are more recordings here:
http://www.orgelbuechlein.co.uk/recordings/
I believe it is possible to combine some of the more recent developments in composition with an unapologetic aesthetic ideal. These goals will help reclaim the greatness church music once held, and will go a long way to repelling the dual threat of the dissonance-cargo-cult and the sad mediocrity all around us in the church music world.
I plan to post here regularly, and am hoping for some suggestions for compositionally rigorous approaches to aesthetically pleasing church music, namely for the organ.