What is interesting is how emphasis is put on singing in parts and unity. Any thoughts on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s view on singing in parts is actually promoting dis-unity and attracts attention to the individual singer? I think we have all stood around a person that wants to be heard badly so they sing loud and in a different part.

Thank you so much for your ministry and look forward to seeing you in July/August! That is if I don’t get the call to go to Korea and bring home my son!!

Great is His faithfulness!

Rick

I think in most cases the size of the notes and lyrics might be too small to be seen if projected. But it’s certainly worth a try.

You highlight a number of the reasons it can be beneficial to use hymnals. Thanks.

I was telling my wife on our date night how much I appreciate these kind of interactions. I can’t thank you enough for sharpening my thinking in these areas.

Yes, I would agree that there would be a loss if “all instrumental accompaniment of congregational singing were to disappear tomorrow.” I also think that evangelicalism tends toward “discarding what is inessential yet still valuable.” I think this frequently happens when we prioritize what is inessential in lieu of what is essential (God’s Word and the Gospel).

My burden is to guard against making what is inessential sound like it’s essential. In the process, I don’t want to sound like secondary issues are irrelevant and unnecessary. God gave us music to celebrate and reflect His glory. Harmony, rhythm, dynamics, etc. can all contribute to that goal. But at the end of the day, a congregation can sing unison a cappella for 100 years and never lack in its expression of God-honoring biblical worship, only in its appreciation of the many ways God has given us to express that worship musically.

I wouldn’t argue that melody alone is insufficient. In fact, I’d be quick to add that vocal melody alone is sufficient even when unaccompanied by musical instruments, but I suspect (the excellent a capella Glad recordings notwithstanding) you would agree that there would be a loss if all instrumental accompaniment of congregational singing were to disappear tomorrow. I can (and have) worshipped in churches that were committed to unaccompanied exclusive Psalmoldy, and believe that is genuine worship, yet I appreciate what hymns and instruments add. The distinction between what is primary and what is permissable is vital, but there is also a danger (and one that I think evangelicalism more often tends toward) of discarding what is inessential yet still valuable. It’s analagous (roughly) to your earlier posts on theology. It might be enough to believe that Jesus loves me and died for my sins, but the simplicity of that belief does not allow one to discard the pursuit of deeper theological understanding.

I remember that awhile back you wrote an article that presented how one is to blog as a means of worshipping God. I have just posted my article “Blogging in the Context of the New Testament Church,” which I hope places blogs in the proper Biblical perspective. This is a difficult subject of which I have much to learn.

Thank you,
Evan.