The use of instruments in worship has engendered great controversy throughout the history of the church. The following article describes the most important issues at stake in these controversies, highlighting important principles that can guide our use of instruments in worship today.
Like the music from Taizé described earlier, prayer chants may be comprised of one textual and musical phrase that is repeated. This kind of chant focuses the attention of the worshiper and allows the worshiper to experience God’s presence without the need to be concerned about the mechanics of the music.
From its location on an island off the coast of Scotland, the Iona Community has done much to influence the music of the world church, especially in North America. They have done this by providing the music used in their own worship services and by collecting songs from the church on every continent.
Roman Catholic liturgy, like that of many of the more liturgical churches, features texts that are sung in each liturgy or service. These are called ordinary texts. Often these texts are sung. Settings of these texts, and other frequently used texts, are called service music or liturgical music. This music is part of the liturgy itself, not something that interrupts or is added to the liturgy. Since the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, Catholic churches have had more freedom in choosing service music. This has resulted in vast numbers of new compositions, many of which are valuable for churches in many worship traditions.
Shape-note singing was an important part of the social and religious life of rural America before the Civil War. Entire communities gathered for all-day singing. Some of these gatherings, called conventions, lasted several days. In some parts of America, these shape-note singing festivals are held yet today, offering a very unique and vibrant style of music that could well be sung in churches of many traditions.
According to this author’s view, there is no distinctive hymnody that prevails in Asian-American churches, but there are certain characteristics and trends that typify these congregations. In providing detailed distinctions among the various Asian groups, this article does give some perspective on the music used in Asian-American churches and the challenges that these churches are facing.
Recently published hymnals have included a wide variety of congregational songs from Hispanic churches. This article describes the experience of Hispanic Christians in America and the music that is often used in Hispanic-American churches.
There are considerable resources for black songs among African-American denominations and churches that are now widely available for churches in every tradition. This article is especially helpful in describing the different types of songs that have developed from the black worship tradition.