MUSIC THEOLOGY
LECTURE 21
THE CHURCH MUSIC PROGRAM
Maybe more questions than answers…but, it will cause us to be challenged in the area of:
The Church Music Program.
Singers in the Bible
1 Chron 15:16 And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singerswith instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.
1 Chron 15:27 And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen.
New York Philharmonic
1 Chron 9:33 And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night.
2 Chron 5:13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;
Ezra 2:41 The singers: the children of Asaph, an hundred twenty and eight.
Neh 11:23 Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God. For it was the king's commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day.
Zeph 3:17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Music Director:
-aka ‘Minister of Music’, the Choir Director, the Song Leader; they are in charge of about
30% of each church service!
-they must be of the highest spiritual character; they are one of the key leaders in the church
-music director needs to be extremely conservative in their approach to music, but usually
they are just the opposite
-the minister of music is to be directly subordinate to a pastor, and that pastor needs to be
giving close oversight
-music’s goal in a church must be threefold: to exalt the Lord, to edify the saint, and to win
the lost
Aaron Mast
Choir:
West CoastBaptistCollege
-is a choir necessary? It was in the O.T. at least
-is it totally necessary to have a director? No. But it sure helps. Small churches often don’t have one trained for this.
-members only; do not allow visitors (even longterm) to be in the choir
-no female director; this is commonplace (often it is the pastor’s wife)
-no Praise & Worship team; the concept itself isn’t bad, per se, but the application of it in today’s ecumenical world is.
-a choir loft is strange; placed behind the pulpit area can appear too dominant, too impressive, and even distracting
-choir robes are Catholic; though, there is some hint at it in the O.T.; but the connotation is to orthodox and Catholic
-don’t have to sing every service; don’t make choir specials commonplace…keep them special
-don’t have them ‘hog’ all the music in a service; they can take away from public worship; becomes surrogate worship
-is it a ‘performance’? No. The goal is to bring hearts closer to God, not impress or entertain.
Gospel choir dancing…
-no one should sing who isn’t exemplifying what the song is saying
-choir membership is a priviledge; it isn’t open to just any member that wants to sing…
-being in the choir is really a place of prominance and even leadership; therefore they need to be very godly.
-being in the choir is a ministry; it is a ministry of the church; it is all about ministering….not putting together CD’s
-do you have to be ‘talented’ at singing and ‘know music’ well in order to be in the choir? Tough to answer…
-Christmas Cantadas are expected, but are overated; don’t do things just because everyone else is doing them
-is it reasonable to have children’s choir or even Teen choir? Yes. These can
help prepare them for the adult choir.
-singers should have spiritual expressions, not ‘blaah’; but most look this way!
Director needs to instruct on this a lot
-probably best not to have body movement from individual members (hand
raised, shifting of feet, itching, turning head)
-where should the eyes be focused at? eyes need to be kept up at director level,
not down; look at the audience also.
-don’t follow the Peter Principle; don’t go beyond your ability range as a choir;
the goal is not to impress with talent
-beware of strong CCM flavor to most choir arranged music that is available;
very difficult to find solid Baptist songs
-standard hymnal song arrangement is not necessarily the best for choir specials;
Morgan State Univ. choir too basic.
-be lively and spirited, not Cathedral-like; but avoid ‘Black choir’ style with
swaying, clapping, even dancing….
Soloists – Quartets
-should women give solo’s? duets, etc.? The issue is female prominance, leadership, and ministering to men
-behind pulpit or not (M or F)? I recommend to have only the preacher behind the pulpit, if at all possible
-hand held microphone? Avoid it if possible; it is too ‘showy’ and it is too sensual
-how much movement should there be?a little is ok; none is fine; but a lot is too distracting,
potentially
-taped accompaniment: never! It’s fake; it’s opening a can of worms into CCMism; it’s too
unpredictable
-duet or trio where the man is secondary to the woman doesn’t look right (even if husband and
wife)
-should a female sing a duet with a man that is not related to her? No.
-Music director needs to preview every song, in general (someone very trusted might be ok to omit)
-visiting guest singers/players ideally should have music previewed
-male quartets are generally dangerous because the standard is to sound like
a Southern Gospel styled quartet
-should they have the music memorized? Ideally; but not absolutely
-make sure that the accompaniment is very much secondary to the singers;
some pianists will ‘hog the show’
-it is not a performance but a ministering in music; don’t try and have some
impressive stage appearance
-the goal should always be to have the music and lyrics be used of God to
change people’s hearts and lives
-no applauding afterward by audience; no bowing by singer(s); no ‘thank
yous’; ‘Praise the Lord’ is fine… HeartlandBaptistCollege Studio
Instrumentals
New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir Large Pipe Organ
-non-standard instrumentation is to be used in a very guarded stance: Saxophone; clarinet; all types of guitars;
keyboard/synthetizer; any type of percussion; trombone; etc.
-orchestras are Biblical (O.T.)
-orchestras need to make sure to operate as ‘classical orchestras’ have for
centuries…don’t become modernized
-orchestral percussion needs to fall in the ‘classical orchestra’ genre: tympani,
cymbals, chimes…
-small instrumental ensembles are fine: a woodwin or brass ensemble
-soloist on an instrument (piano, guitar) needs to be careful not to have a ‘stage
presence’ look.
-can a female be used as an instrumental soloist? Piano? Carefully, just as one
would with a female involved with any aspect of the ‘main church service’. They
shouldn’t be the ‘featured attraction’; they should be off stage
-can a female be used for instrumental accompaniment of a male singer??? How
about one that is not related to her???
The only instruments allowed in Temple worship in the Old Testament were
psaltery, harp, trumpet, and cymbals. The Psaltery is an ‘instrument of 10 strings’.
Conductor of Cleveland Philharmonic Will something like this be in the Temple?!
Ps 149:3 states: Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. Tibrel-Tambourines and young girls dancing were usually associated with just civic celebrations, not ever with actual Temple worship. Thus, this was not done at the Temple, but out in the open as Israel, as a nation, celebrated what God had done for them. Dancing was indeed used to praise the Lord…much like David’s dancing; but it was not at all similar to the sensual opposite gendered dancing we see today! The timbrel, as well as the cymbals, were used to keep ‘time’; they were not used to bring about complicated polyrhythms like we see in today’s rock music; a cymbal is much like a bass drum, so it would not be able to be played very fast; the timbrel had more liberty with syncopation, but I believe that it was used as a smaller cymbal instrument for smaller ensembles where one wouldn’t want the loud crash of a cymbal.
Here is a listing of instruments associated with the nation of Israel: Cornet (trumpet-like), Cymbals, Dulcimer (double pipe), flute, Gittith (harplike), Harp, Organ, Pipe, Psaltery, Sackbut (harplike), Tabret (timbrel-like), Timbrel (tambourine-like), Trumpet, Viol (lyre).
Congregational Singing
-what is the goal? To glorify God; but the congregation usually doesn’t seem to have that focus! A challenge for the leader.
-some in the congregation won’t even sing…some won’t even open the hymnal!! What to do?....
-most will sing at about conversation level…’praise the lord’…; but why not “PRAISE THE LORD”!!!!! “Lift your voices”
-most of the hymns are unknown to most of the congregation; how to familiarize? Wed. nights? through specials?
-should you always sing all the verses? there is no scriptural mandate to; it can be ‘too much’ for some members
-how many songs/hymns should be done for each service? 1,2,3, more? Standard is 3; 10 could be ok, too!
-what about ‘favorites’ on maybe a Sunday evening service? challenging for the pianist; good for the members
-specials are nice; but congregationals get ‘everybody’ involved in praising and honoring the Lord!
-congregationals, therefore, should be the rule and not the exception in the church’s music program
-but the bigger the church gets, the more specials, and the less congregationals they will have…beware
-should the ‘song service’ follow a predictable, set in stone, format? Liturgical vs. crazy charismatic style….
-should there be a congregational song sung at the close of a service? (post-Lord’s Supper there was)
-how can someone sing “Have thine own way Lord” when their heart isn’t willing for this?... Instruct them in this
-does there have to be congregational singing in every service? Could the service be just the preaching?....
-don’t use singing to ‘fill a gap’ in the service, or to be done as a back up if someone isn’t quite ready.
LancasterBaptistChurch buildings
World’s 2nd largest pipe organ console
Charles Wesley’s exhortation for members singing would be well for each of us to follow:
“Sing lustily and with good courage; beware of singing as if you were half-dead or half-asleep; but lift up your voice with strength; be no more afraid of your voice now, than when you sung the songs of Satan!”
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