It is acknowldegely difficult to separate biblical standards from cultural norms which have become integrated with biblical standards.  We nevertheless believe that certain standards must be met in Christian music.

a)            The focus of Christian music.

(i)  We believe that music that mindlessly repeats meaningless phrases or utterances is unfit for Christian worship.

(ii) We acknowledge that there is a place for Christian music that focuses on the singers response to God, e.g., "I love you," "I worship you," "I commit my life to you," etc.

(iii)  We nevertheless believe that the focus of Christian music should be, in greatest proportion, hymns or songs of praise about God, not about ourselves.  We include, by way of example, songs reflecting on God's creation, God's dominion over the universe, God's sending of his Son to participate our humanity, to suffer, and to die in our place, the resurrection of Christ, the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, the freeness of God's gift of eternal life, the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ, the future reign of Christ, the blessings and promises of God to His children, and the mercy, patience, love, fellowship, comfort, guidance and illumination that God has bestowed, and does bestow on us.  The focus of worship should be God, not man.

b)            The musicality of sacred music.  We believe that music can be divided into two general categories:

1)  Participatory music, such as hymns that the average congregant can learn to sing; and

2) Performance music, such as Handle's Messiah, for which the average congregant does not participate in song.

Although we believe there is a genuine place for performance music in a worship service, we believe that most worship services should be comprised primarily of participatory music.  We believe that participatory music must, by its very nature, have a meter, cadence, and musicality that is regular and fit for singing.  We note that much "Christian music" of today leaves congregants staring mindlessly at a rock band in front of the assembly hall, occasionally mumbling a lyric.  Whether this failure of worship is due to the volume of music, the arrangement and combination of instruments, or an irregular meter, cadence or syncopation of the music, we believe that music that cannot be sung enthusiastically and with musicality by congregants is unfit for participatory worship music.

c)            Leadership in Christian Music We believe that having a love of music, or a gift for music, does not qualify one to select, write, or arrange music for a worship service.  We believe that pastors and Christian leaders have a duty to disciple Christian musicians, teaching them to evaluate the theology of music, its capacity to reinforce important truths or lessons from Scripture, and to perform music that speaks to truths of God, or truths of human experience in the framework of our relationship to God, and our responsibilities before Him.  We further believe that Christian leaders should train musicians to evaluate the musicality of the songs they seek to perform, to distinguish performance music from participatory music, and to insure that participatory music is both theologically meaningful and genuinely singable.  We believe that, by abdicating such responsibilities to baby Christians, pastors and Christian leaders have fostered within the church a musical culture in which shallow, meaningless, and/or un-singable music has become the staple of worship at far too many churches.

d)            Deconstructionism, Post Modernism, and Sacred Music           We recognize that some modern musicians have produced music of sound theology and genuine musicality.  Having affirmed this, we nevertheless note that much of the Sacred music which developed in the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries stood on the foundation of the Reformation.  With the belief that one must love the Lord with their mind as well as their spirit, we note that Gregorian chants were gradually abandoned for hymns having melodious but complex four-part contrapuntal harmony and theologically sound lyrics, thereby cultivating worship that was intellectually complex aesthetically rich, and theologically sound.  We further note that the hymns of this tradition stood on the shoulders of men of profound musical gifts and discipline, such as

J.S. Bach

George Fredric Handel

• The Messiah (Oratorio)
• I know that my Redeemer Liveth

Franz Joaeph Haydn

• The Creation (Oratorio)
• Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken[1] (Lyrics by John Newton).

Felix Mendelssohn

• St. Paul (Oratorio)
• Elijah (Oratorio)
• The Reformation Symphony[2]
• Hark, the Harold Angles Sing (Hymn)

Ludwig Van Beethoven

• Ode to Joy From Beethoven's Ninth Symphony[3]

While not limiting Christian music to the four part contrapuntal harmony that developed out of these traditions, we believe that it is foolish for any generation to completely turn their back on musical traditions that developed over centuries, and were laid on a foundation of musical giants, and, in most cases, theological excellence.