We Sing to You, O God The Role of Music in Worship at The Old South Church in Boston by Gregory Peterson, Organist and Director of Music

It is no secret that music plays a prominent role in our Sunday service, including fifteen minutes of organ prelude, four hymns, two anthems, a choral response or two, the Doxology, a choral benediction, the organ postlude and occasionally a children's song or handbell piece. In order to help deepen your understanding of the importance and significance of these musical elements in shaping our worship service and giving it focus, I would like to touch on the philosophy of music in Protestant worship and comment briefly on each of these major elements."

Karl Barth, one of the most important twentieth-century Reformed theologians wrote, "The praise of God which constitutes the community and its assemblies seeks to bind and commit and therefore to be expressed, to well up and be sung in concert. The Christian community sings. It is not a choral society. Its singing is not a concert. But from inner, material necessity it sings. . ."¹ I believe this is the essence of music in worship. My philosophy of music in worship has been shaped by my Lutheran upbringing and having served professionally as a musician in Lutheran, Episcopal and Methodist churches before coming to Old South Church and the UCC. This philosophy is rooted in the belief that music is a great and glorious gift from God and that all good music can and should be used in the worship of the Creator. I believe firmly that music in worship is part of the assembly. It is the voice of the people, the congregation. Choristers are the rehearsed voices of the congregation, and as such, support the hymn singing in addition to singing in behalf of the congregation. Truly, the Christian community is a community of song.

Scholars cannot credit Martin Luther with inventing the hymn, however it is possible to say that Luther was an important early advocate of the vernacular hymn, sung by the congregation, as a primary vehicle for praising God and returning thanks to the Creator. For Luther, music was praise and worship in and of itself, not an appendage to the liturgy and sermon, but integral to the whole. Luther was an amateur tenor, lutenist and hymn writer who appreciated both the art music of the celebrated Renaissance composer Josquin Des Prez and the simple melodies ordinary folk sang at home. Each had its place in the service. Luther knew that good music coupled with strong theology could both teach and proclaim the gospel of salvation in Christ Jesus for all believers. John and Charles Wesley also espoused this belief, and like Luther, made a significant contribution to Christian hymnody which to this day crosses several de-nominational boundaries. Indeed, from the book of Psalms, which can be called the first hymnal, to the present time, Christians around the globe have written hymns from a variety of human experiences and with a diversity of expression.

Organ preludes serve to prepare the worshipper for the work she or he is about to do. (Liturgy means the work of the people.) Organ music can provide a glimpse of the grandeur of God and serves to effect a mood appropriate for a given Sunday in the church year. Preludes in Lent, for example, might be more contemplative. Often, I choose to begin with a work from the great canon of organ music stretching from the baroque period (1600-1750) to the twentieth century. I usually conclude the preludes with a setting of one of the hymn tunes which will be sung in the service in order to prepare the worshipper to more fully enter into the meaning of the hymn text when the time comes to sing the hymn. In this way, the organ not only sets the tone for the service, but begins to demonstrate its chief role in leading the people's song.

The people's song is the singing of four hymns and the Doxology in the service at Old South Church. The ministers carefully choose the hymns to fit the scripture lesson and sermon theme for each Sunday. Attention is also given to the specific function of each hymn, i.e. processional, before and after the sermon, and closing hymn. The processional is usually a hymn of praise, something which unites the congregation in its purpose. It also needs to be a hymn which lends itself to the entrance of the choir and ministers. Jim Crawford prefers not to walk in to 3/4 (waltz) time unless the tune is Westminster Abbey! The hymns before and after the sermon reflect the particular focus which the preacher brings to the interpretation of God's word. Both Jim and Lael Murphy often try out new texts and tunes for one of these hymns. The Doxology is the musical high-point for the congregation when the assembly returns thanks for all God's gracious gifts. The closing hymn is again a big hymn of praise which, as Jim Crawford says, "gives everybody a lift."

Choral anthems are an aesthetic musical offering for the spiritual edification of the congregation. The first anthem, often a psalm or other scripture text, serves as a bridge from "The Gathering" to "The Gift of the Word." I try to choose anthems which reflect the mood and theme of the day in order to give the worshipper further insight into their meaning. The Offertory Anthem is usually a song of praise, not necessarily connected to the theme of the day, but chosen to inspire "The Offering of Ourselves, Our Prayers, Our Gifts." Although the majority of choral anthems come from the historic canon of sacred music, I try to use music from a variety of cultures and eras. Likewise, the choral responses and benediction reflect the diversity of the Christian community with recent selections from the African-American tradition, South Africa, Taizé community in France and the Caribbean. Children's songs and handbell music also resonate seasonal themes and serve to expand the involvement of Old South's members in the ministry of music.

The organ postlude, like the final hymn, serves to bring closure to the service. For some people it is a lift; others use it to continue in a spirit of prayer or meditation. Whether or not the postlude is based on one of the morning's hymns, I try to choose music which keeps with the spirit of the day. This means the postlude is not always loud. An editorial comment about applause: though appreciated for its affirming characteristic, applause after the postlude pushes the music from the realm of worship into the arena of performance. I think it more appropriate to not have applause following the postlude.

A hymn by Gracia Grindal (1985) serves as a cogent conclusion to this article.

1. Church Dogmatics, IV, Part Three, Second Half, trans. G.W.Bromiley, Edinburgh: T.& T. Clark, 866-867