Review – Protestant Worship Music

Dashing the music of pop culture upon the rocks is not enough.  The problem is not out there; it within us, in the orientation of our hearts.  Since the Church is the God-ordained means to change the heart, the most effective way to counter degenerate music is for the Church to pursue regenerate music.  Though my qualifications to pontificate on this topic are slim, one helpful guide I discovered, quite by accident, is Charles L. Etherington.¹ 

Etherington’s Protestant Worship Music (1962)² was written on the eve of a collapse: the collapse of both traditional morality and traditional music.  His account of the progress and development of worship music is not at all nostalgic, nor does he pine for any “golden era.”  He is brutally frank on the disaster (now a rosy-hued vestige of the good old days) we call the “gospel song”.  The chief problem, not surprisingly, with the Sankey tunes of revivalism is their overweening self-centerdness.  But, Etherington does not simply want to restore Victorian hymnody, which some people now think is the pinnacle of the old order.  On the contrary, Etherington dismisses many Victorian hymns as sub-standard.

Etherington refuses to obfuscate the issue and places the blame for the degeneration of church music squarely on the shoulders of the clergy.  Seminaries also take a hit, as few seminaries, at the time, provided any musical training.  (Chiding my own team for a moment: how many of our “Truly Reformed” pastors are taught anything about music, either?  We should heed Luther’s advice—don’t ordain any man who hasn’t been musically trained.) 

The influence of new technology on the Church is not a new problem.  According to Etherington, the theater organ also played a role in worship music’s demise.  Silent films needed a soundtrack, and organs were cheaper than an orchestra.  Soon, the church organist could make more money (and play to a more enthusiastic audience) by playing in the theater.  Conversely, people began to expect the frills and trills of the theater in church.  Sounds kinda familiar …

Most importantly, Etherington understands that our worship is not atomistic.  What each congregation does, and sings, affects all of Christendom.  Music fades away and dies within seconds.  It must be continually created: “It cannot be handed on to a next generation by a passive people.  There must be active and repeated recreation.”

Notes
1. Let me plug another insightful guide, Greg Wilbur.
2. Amazon currently has this book listed at $85.00! However, there are a few used copies available at a reasonable price.

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