Music, Church

   (See Hymns; Gregorian Music, Plain Song, and Even Song, also Intone.)

   Recognizing the fact that music always characterized the worship of God's Church both under the Old Dispensation and under the New, the essential thing is the character of the music in our churches to-day and the mode of rendering it. The organist, upon whom so much depends, should be a competent musician, with a good knowledge of the music of the church, and the music that he uses should be strictly sacred music. The choir should consist of the best voices and most cultivated singers available. They should be trained with care, not only in the music they are to sing, but also in the Church service. The late Bishop Thorold remarked on this subject, "We are all coming to feel that Church Music is a great help to worship. . . .But I also feel that if members of the choir accept from God and the minister the privilege of taking part in the services, the one thing they owe to Almighty God, to the congregation and to themselves, is REVERENCE. I know choirs where their singing is almost a means of grace; it is done so beautifully, so reverently and with so much care that it lifts up the whole service to a higher level. The one secret of all good and acceptable rendering of the Church's music is reverence."