singing


The church is a gospel centered community on mission. How should this affect the music?

The musical aspects of the church gathering should focus attention onto God not man. That means avoiding both ends of the distraction spectrum - the music should not be a performance but should not be a mess. To be gospel-centered, the lyrics should communicate biblical truths, helping us to learn and remember who God is and what He has done. Singing together (in community) is different from listening to a song on your own, we are singing both with and to each other. To be missional the songs should be accessible to non-Christians. This is not necessarily about style, as preferences will vary between each person, and communal singing is an unusual experience in itself for most non-Christians. Making music accessible is about considering whether people can actually sing it (not technically too difficult) and understand what they are singing (avoiding unexplained jargon).