A primary concern for many, when choosing a church, is in regard to the songs and/or style of music played within the context of the worship service. Are the songs “contemporary” stylistically with drums and electric guitars or are they “traditional” with a piano and organ? Twenty-five years ago it was not uncommon to see a church split up their services: at 9AM they might have a “traditional service” with hymns, and at 10:30AM they might have a “contemporary service” with songs fresh from Christian radio.

Without getting too much into the weeds, I want to simply address our approach at Windsor Christian Fellowship. Through the years, I’ve had the opportunity to teach and speak on this subject both publicly and privately, and I’ve always presented what drives us here with a simple, two-pronged answer: 1) theological/biblical accuracy and 2) singability. 

Theological & Biblical Accuracy

This should go without saying, but the theological and biblical accuracy of a song should be, as the kids say, “on point.” Paul admonishes us in Colossians: Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. As you can see, the songs we sing should reflect the “word of Christ,” and it should go without saying they should reflect the Word accurately! 

The songs we sing are instructive to us. Notice what Paul says: teaching and admonishing one another. They get stuck in our head, and we repeat the lyrics again and again in our hearts. We remember a song we sang the previous Sunday and pull it up on YouTube to hear it again. Ought we not, then, labor to be sure our songs in worship are accurate? Another question that comes into play is: “If all we knew about God came from the songs we sing, what would we know about God?” What would you know of the character of God? What would you know of Christ’s person and work? 

At Windsor, we also extend these questions to the ministry from which the song is borne. If the church, denomination, or ministry the song was written by is suspect theologically or biblically, we will refuse to sing it, although the song itself might be lyrically fine. This is because the music from these various groups is often a gateway to the teaching ministry of that group, and we aim to guard our church from any group or so-called ministry that present false teaching (2 Cor. 11:13–15).

Singability 

Corporate Worship is not a concert. The intention is not for the congregation to stand and listen while professional musicians do the playing and singing (this goes for whether the style is traditional or contemporary). Worship that happens when the body of Christ gathers is corporate. Worship must be a time in which the entire congregation can corporately participate in all facets, not the least, of which, is the music. The congregation, then, should be able to robustly sing the songs the elders/chief musician choose without it being too high, too low, or musically obtuse. Some songs will take a minute to get a hold of, at times, and not everyone in the congregation is as sharp as others musically. If I only had a nickel for every time someone said, “Pastor, the Lord says to make a joyful noise, and that’s about all I can produce–noise!” And you know what? That is great. Let it ring!

All of this to say, the music itself should be tasteful, presented well, not be a show, and not so high or technical that members of the congregation get left behind. The songs ought to be singable for all.

Conclusion

So, at Windsor, our aim is to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs that are both accurate and singable. By God’s grace, may the music ministry continue to be a blessing to you each and every Lord’s Day!