Music in Church

Gathering as the church and singing
When we gather as the church we do so as those whom God has gathered through the gospel. We are God’s people gathering around his word in proclamation, prayer and praise.

The purpose of our gathering is for evangelism (proclamation that brings in to Christ) and edification ( proclamation that builds up in Christ).

Foundational to our meeting is revelation (God’s self disclosure through the word of grace) and response ( our hearing and seeing the word through repentance and faith) .

What must remain absolutely central to our meeting is the word of God because it is through his word that God rules his people. The Apostle Paul exhorts the Colossians in this way:

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Our unity is in and around Christ and his word, as it dwells in us richly.

It is worth noting that the primary means by which this indwelling takes place is through the word Spoken (teaching and admonition) and the word Sung (singing psalms hymns and spiritual songs). It would seem that the word both spoken and sung are the usual means by which God causes his word to dwell in us, and as such both the preaching ministry and the music ministry are vital to pastoring the people of God. The music ministry is an expression of the ministry of the word of God.

Through what is revealed and how we respond in speaking and singing our goal is to see the body gather and grow. It is not an understatement to suggest that a well led music ministry together with good preaching, are vital to a growing vibrant church.

The basic elements of our meeting
As the word dwells richly we see the following elements
 Read the word of God (scripture reading)
 Proclaim the word of God (teaching and prophecy)
 See the word of God ( visible in the sacraments)
 Pray the word of God (seeking God’s will through praise and petition)
 Sing the word of God ( declaring his excellencies)

As the whole of life is meant to be engaged in the worship of God as living sacrifices, our gatherings in the word should aim to engage the whole person, both heart and mind, so that the word might dwell in them richly.

This then places incredible significance on serving the body through music and singing.

Sing the Word

As a church we want to embrace music that engages the whole person so that the word might dwell in us richly – moving us toward God in our daily worship and toward the world in our daily witness. Based on this theology of the church and the word in song the following points can be made;

• Music must be employed in a way that both edifies and evangelises. In other words it must be theological sound, and a true reflection of the word of Christ.
• Music should revelatory and responsive. It will both declare to others who God is and what he has done, as well declare to God our thanksgiving and praise. Good music will be both a vehicle of teaching and a conduit of heartfelt praise.
• Because music is the language of the soul, we must sing in ways that are culturally accessible and in tune with the cultural heartbeat of the people. It must engage the affections, therefore be stylistically and aesthetically appealing. This is particularly crucial if we are to evangelistically engage style conscious aesthetically orientated minds and hearts with the gospel.
• Music must not only be theologically sound, but it must also be singable (and therefore playable!). We will need to continually work hard at finding the right music that’s not only correct -but also connects culturally.
• Music will express the timeless truths of the gospel in a timely way as all great Christian music has done.
• Music needs to foster the fullness of affections – from gravity to gladness. Our songs will cover a whole range of response from praise and proclamation, to confession and lamentation, to joy and celebration.
• Music – like preaching – requires great skill and wields great potency – so we must give ourselves wholly to it for the sake of the body and glory of God.
• Like preaching – music that hits the spot will be both strong in revelatory content and relevant to the hearer.

A checklist for song selection

1. is the song theologically sound?
2. does it sound good?
3. is it singable?
4. is it playable?
5. how well does it connect culturally?
6. does it engage both the mind and the affections?