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Why do we sing what we sing? Why do our corporate worship services look the way that they do? Does the Bible say anything about this? What does the Bible say about music, and what does it not say? These are important questions. And we are blessed to have had lots of faithful teaching over the years regarding what the Bible says about music.

• Pastor Conley did a three-part series in 2005 that you can listen to here, here, and here.
• Pastor Conley also has a couple other sermons specifically about music, one from 2008 and another from 2009.
• Pastor Coleman preached a sermon on worship in 2016.
• David Bell, one of our gospel partners, also preached on Ephesians 5:18-21 in our recent evening series.

God has blessed our church with great unity in this often-divisive area. No doubt this is in large part due to the clear, biblical teaching in this area over the past 18 years. Recently, I came across a written music philosophy from Pastor Coleman, written for our church in 2011. 2011 is a long time ago, the year Siri was invented and Angry Birds was all the rage. And yet, what impacted me as I read through it was how timeless the truths are. This statement is a good reminder of what we prioritize and why in corporate worship, particularly our emphasis on congregational singing. It is also a good reminder about what Scripture does not address and where there is flexibility.

The statement is below in its entirety with only a couple of edits made to the first paragraph to update the language to reflect our current leadership structure. Read, brothers and sisters, and be equipped to think biblically about music.

HPBC Music Philosophy and Policy
June 2011
Fred Coleman

Pastor for Music & Worship

The Pastor for Music & Worship should be a pastor who uses music in ministry and not a musician who happens to work for a church. He should oversee all of the music ministries of the church and is responsible to evaluate and then determine the most expedient choices of texts, musical styles, and venues/genres for use in the various music ministries of the church. He should be directly responsible to the Pastor for Preaching and Teaching, and they should share a practically identical philosophy of music and worship. In conjunction with the Pastor for Preaching and Teaching, the Pastor for Music and Worship should plan and organize all of the church’s gathered worship services.

Venues of Music Ministry

Congregational Singing

The New Testament mandates congregational singing in gathered worship (Eph. 4:18-21; Col. 3:16); it is the best musical venue for the purposes of gathered worship and, therefore, it should be the dominant musical venue in all of our gathered worship services.

The New Testament indicates that when a Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:18-21) and saturated with the Word of God (Colossians 3:16) he will sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs “to God” “with thankfulness.” Therefore, congregational singing is a type of prayer. As the congregation sings to God they are also teaching and admonishing each other biblical truths and doctrines. Therefore, congregational singing is also a type of creed; an affirmation of beliefs that also teaches. It is critical that the words sung accurately reflect the biblical beliefs and doctrines indicated in the church’s doctrinal statement and statement of faith.

Singing, by its very definition, requires that music be paired with words. It is important that the music be accessible (attainable) and meaningful to the majority of the people in the congregation. God created the elements of sound (pitch, duration, volume, color, and texture) and physical laws that govern those elements. People organize the elements of sound into meaningful expressions of thoughts and emotions. Because both language and music are inherently emotional, it is important that their pairing encourage the appropriate emotions of worship; grateful, delightful exulting in God as well as humble awe and reverence before Him.

The way a person combines the elements of music in various proportions and emphasis is called a “musical style.” A study of music in human history reveals significant diversity of musical styles between ethnicities, generations and geographical locations that is in flux and regularly changing. The Scriptures do not include a single example of musical notation and they do not define a particular musical style as being acceptable or unacceptable for worship.  So, Christians have struggled to evaluate musical styles and then determine which were expedient for gathered worship. Historically, musical preferences have played a large part in Christians’ grouping themselves into churches and denominations. Sadly, the testimony of sola scriptura and unity in Christ has been frequently damaged.

Musical style, as stated earlier, is the result of the performer’s motives (his desire to communicate an idea or emotion to a particular person or group of people). He may or may not choose to communicate those motives to others verbally. Sometimes, his actions and body language reveal his real motives. The Scriptures do indicate that motives matter to God but, ultimately, only the person himself and God can accurately judge his motives.

Musical style unquestionably affects its listeners’ thinking, feeling, and doing. The Scriptures are very clear about the morality of these responses. Some responses can be observed and scripturally evaluated by others. Some cannot. Again, ultimately, the person and God know the response. Therefore, music has moral affects.

Because musical styles are in a state of constant flux, they must be regularly evaluated by a church’s pastoral leadership.

Because they are leading in worship, all music ministry personnel (other than congregational singing) should be regenerate, baptized, and growing in sanctification. As a matter of accountability and organizational simplicity they should be members of the church. Exceptions may be occasionally necessary and should be determined by the pastoral leadership (college ensembles, evangelist’s music teams, etc.).

Adult Choir

After congregational singing, the principle of diverse peoples being unified in Christ is best evidenced in large ensembles. Large ensembles minimize individualism. The Old Testament has numerous examples of choirs in worship and the New Testament does not prohibit them in gathered worship. Therefore, members of the church who are willing to consistently invest the necessary time to rehearse may participate in the adult choir for the purpose of giving unified praise to God and testifying to others during our gathered worship services.

Small Ensembles & Solos

The New Testament does not prohibit the use of small ensembles and soloists but because of their inherent danger of individualism, performance mentality, and pride they should be used sparingly in gathered worship services. For reasons stated above, those who minister in this venue should consistently be a part of the church’s larger ensemble venues.

Musical Instruments

The New Testament does not include any example of musical instruments being used in gathered worship. However, the Old Testament has numerous examples of musical instruments in worship. Considering this and that the New Testament does not prohibit them, we will allow the use of musical instruments in our gathered worship services. An instrument itself does not possess morality. The expediency of a particular instrument in a particular ministry venue will be determined by the pastoral leadership.