Music in the church service

Abstract

The present treatment is limited to a consideration of music in the Christian Church, both Catholic and Protestant, as represented by religious groupings in Wichita, Kansas. The material was obtained principally from three sources. (a) A questionnaire was sent to fifty ministers representing various Christian religious groups. Thirty-seven replies were obtained .representing a seventy-four per cent response. (b) Twenty music directors of representative groups were interviewed using a set of uniform questions.3 (c) Representative religious groups were visited, not to subject them to an objective scale, but to gain impressions and a general acquaintance and understanding of the effects of music on the services of the various groups. In making this presentation, the following treatment is followed. The psychological setting of music as it affects the individual and the group is followed by the historical setting with the hope of establishing a background for further development. Then, a survey of recognized objectives, as seen by the music directors, serves to set the stage for a study of the individual and group factors in the music program. Finally, there is the consideration of the administration of music in the church service which includes the problem of music education in the church. From this approach we may expect to more clearly see the office and function of music in the church service.