Worship Music

Singers & Musicians Panels - Ghent Altarpiece
Jan & Hubert Van Eyck (1432) in Belgium

All Christian churches have music as part of their worship service (or Mass).  This is universal and a point of unity, as well as something beautiful - artistic and creative.  It spurs worship and opens the heart in ways other communication does not reach - since music has been described as the language of the soul. Thankfully, churches display a great deal of diversity in this area - it would be boring if they all played the same limited selection of music from a single songbook Sunday after Sunday till Christ returns.  Yet, its reassuring to play old classic tunes that have stood the test of time.

Eastern Nazarene College Cappella
Choir at Central Baptist Church

Almost all Western Christian churches use musical instruments to accompany singing.  (Orthodox Churches, including Eastern Orthodox, exclusively sing without musical accompaniment.)    One notable exception is the Churches of Christ (though other churches do so - while others do so on occasions - and have a cappella choirs for this).  They only sing a cappella (without instruments).  It actually sounds wonderful since they usually work out 4 part harmonies to all the songs they sing.  It's like being in a large barbershop quartet.  They claim the early church did not use musical instruments - and there seems to be some evidence to back this up - though I need to study this more.  Anyway, I think it is a great point of diversity - and I notice even in other churches - at some point in the song, the musical instruments will stop - and the congregation sings a cappella, and sometimes an entire song is sung this way.  It always sounds great.


The other great diversity between churches exists between traditional hymns and contemporary worship music.  The New Testament records the early church sang psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. (Col. 3:16)  Throughout the history of the Church, much diversity exists between many styles of hymns, including Gregorian chants.  Charles Wesley revolutionized hymnody by focusing on expressing one's personal feelings in a relationship with God.  This, along with the Second Great Awakening produced a new style of music called Gospel.  However, many gospel songs are now thought of as hymns - such as How Great Thou Art.

2nd Chapter of Acts

In contrast, Contemporary Christian Music started with the Jesus Movement, much of it based in Calvary Chapel.  It diverted from hymns and focused on music based on folk music as well as rock.  2nd Chapters of Act, Keith Green, Maranatha Music, plus several artists on the Catholic side including the widely known John Michael Talbot, were leading examples.  Today, there is a newer version of Contemporary Christian Music, which tends to focus more on rock - though it tends to be more a matter of newer songs versus somewhat older songs.  Chris Tomlin, Third Day, and Casting Crowns are examples of the newer Contemporary Christian Music.

Chris Tomlin

In various churches, the diversity expresses itself in that while some churches use traditional hymns, others have hymns at an earlier service, and Contemporary Christian Music at a later service.  (Of those who exclusively do hymns - some will include Weslyan-type hymns, while other do not.)   Others exclusively devote themselves to Contemporary Christian Music (though they will occasionally include a hymn - often a gospel song identified as a hymn).  Of those, some will exclusively use earlier Contemporary Christian Music, some will exclusively use later CCMs, while others will use a mix, tending to prefer one or the other.

While some insist on one type of Christian music or another - I tend to like it if it is good music.  However, I am looking forward to any comments about this - since I have found when it comes to music - while all like it - there are many opinions on it.