The clear prescription of the New Testament is that pastors are teachers of churches. To put it more precisely, pastors are the teachers of their churches. Granted, in some sense all believers are supposed to teach, edify, and admonish one another. Nevertheless, the actual burden for the instruction of the flock rests upon pastors. The… Continue Reading
Martin Luther did not want to revolutionize completely the traditional worship of the Western church. He did, however, believe that preaching of the Word had been sorely neglected. In 1523, he published some instructions on the “Order of Public Worship,” and therein he identified three errors that were common in papal worship services: (1) the… Continue Reading
Prayer is a necessary practice of a sound church. The role of secret and corporate prayer in the life of a Christian congregation is sometimes overlooked. Mark Dever, whose insights we value, fails to list to prayer as one of his “marks” of “healthy churches.” (Dever concedes this point and briefly addresses it in his… Continue Reading
Last week I argued that, if we are committed to conservative worship, it only follows that we should be committed to perpetuating conservative worship in the next generation. We want to continue developing this theme as we post at the Religious Affections blog. What hymns might we teach children? Before I name some specific recommendations, there… Continue Reading
We believe that the great Christian tradition of hymnody should be perpetuated. We treasure the invaluable contributions of the saints to our corporate and private worship in the great texts and tunes. Artistically, we admire the great hymns’ beauty and profundity. Intellectually, we appreciate their imaginative but careful communication of great Christian theology. Experientially, these… Continue Reading
Introducing the Conservative Worship Symposium, a one-day, regional gathering of conservative pastors, music directors, and other church leaders. The symposium, held in several regions of the country throughout the year, gathers together knowledgeable teachers of conservative worship to instruct church leaders about: principles of conservative worship, implementing these principles consistently in the local church, and communicating these principles to their… Continue Reading
We are very excited to announce the publication of a new book, Sound Worship: a Guide to Making Musical Choices in a Noisy World by Scott Aniol! Scott Aniol presents the primary topics from Worship in Song in 6 brief, easy-to-read, engaging chapters. If you want answers to important worship and music questions without all of the… Continue Reading
We’ve been discussing the topic of teaching children to worship here for some time, and now I’d like to get your feedback. I’ve offered suggestions and examples of things I’ve done both at home and in our church to encourage God-centered worship among children, particularly with helping them learn and love classic hymns. What are… Continue Reading
I spoke today at the Michigan Association of Christian Schools Teachers Convention. This is the lecture I presented. My task today is to convince you that it is important that music be a part of your classroom. My goal is to persuade you that music is essential to your students’ educational development. For some of… Continue Reading