Philosophy of Worship and Music
We grieve to see the divisions that matters related to the style of worship has caused in many churches. We do not believe that any particular style of church music is more beneficial or more spiritual than any other.
After years of thoughtful consideration and significant experience in discerning the best approach for our particular congregation, we have specifically decided to not follow the current trend that is visible in many churches of exclusively embracing a style of worship built on the sole foundation of Contemporary Christian Music. Rather, as a matter of respectful conscience, we have come to see authentic, time-honoring worship take the center of all we do in our worship services at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
We have come to understand that worship is our vertical response to God’s life-transforming work in the world in general, and in our lives in particular, through the redeeming power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ and through the in-dwelling power of the Holy Spirit. All other programs of our church—that is, the horizontal aspects of our ministry—stem from this corporate pursuit of worshipping the holy God who loves us and gave His Son for us.
Therefore, in our worship, we choose to honor God with the very best “language” we can find. Just as we treasure the roots of our Presbyterian Reformed heritage and Biblical authority, we value our foundation of Christian hymnody—sacred music at its time-honoring best—further enhanced, when most appropriate, by the careful selection of music purposefully chosen from a wide variety of musical styles, including the folk, gospel, and Contemporary Christian Music genres.
We believe that a mature understanding of our faith is accompanied by a mature appreciation of our use of time-honoring church music that connects us to the millions of Christians down through the centuries who have sought to love and worship God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Just as our Christian Education targets a person’s theological awareness of Scripture, we intentionally make appreciation and understanding a focus of our musical education for adults, youth, and children. In other words, we are not content merely to cling to a particular style of music in worship. Rather, we make it a point to very carefully and thoroughly educate the people in our congregation as to why we choose to use certain music in our worship services. This gives us a greater appreciation for the depth of the texts, as well as for the beauty of the musical settings.
Musical ensembles, beginning with our children, not only develop musical knowledge and an ability to lead our congregation in worship, but also give our children the opportunity to learn the theology behind the texts they sing. Thus, our Christian Education and our Music Ministry remain necessarily and beneficially entwined.
In addition, we celebrate the Liturgical Year, not slavishly, but with as much consistency as the calendar and preaching schedule allow. Through the observance of various holy periods and special days, we remember our Christian heritage and our connection to believers who have gone on before us. Through these special festivals, we teach our children, and new disciples in the faith, the Christian story as it is found in Scripture and as it has been expressed down through the ages by those who have devoted themselves to worshipping God.
Whether it be through liturgy, hymnology, creeds, or Scripture, we believe in the historical foundations of the Christian faith, and we seek to celebrate them with the best resources we can bring to worship.