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Charles Wesley and the Contemporary Music Controversy

A historical perspective can sometimes help those who resist our using contemporary forms of music in our ministries. Take Charles Wesley, for example. In the 1700's, John and Charles Wesley were used powerfully by God to bring renewal and awakening to lifeless churches. Methodism was born with their ministry. Charles Wesley wrote many of the church's most beloved hymns, including "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Where did he get his tunes from? "Wesley adopted new melodies that drew from both the popular opera and English folk melodies. His compilation, Hymns of the Great Festivals and Other Occasions, contained twenty-four tunes by a German composer of comic opera. (James Sallee, A History of Evangelistic Hymnody (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1978), p. 14.) Additionally, he combined folk styles and actual folk tunes with religious texts to form his hymns. The tune to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was written by Mendelssohn not to worship God but in praise of the printing press!" (Hymni Lutheri animos plures, quam scripta et declamationes occiderunt (1620), cited by Koch, vol. I, 244; quoted by Hoetty-Nickel, Luther and Culture, p. 170)

Hegel on History

"What experience and history teach is this - that peoples and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it." (Georg Wilhelm Friedrick Hegel, The Philosophy of History, translated by J. Sibree (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1956), p. 6).

Church Music in Times of Renewal

"?the history of revivalism has seen a repeated flowering of new sacred music forms which sprang from secular roots." (Donald P. Hustad, Jubilate! Church Music in the Evangelical Tradition (Carol Stream, Illinois, Hope Publishing, 1981, p. 18. "Each time the church has expressed its beliefs in a contemporary way it has surged forward in evangelistic outreach, bringing scores of people into the church." (Donald Paul Ellsworth, Christian Music in Contemporary Witness (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Book House, 1979), p. 18)

Peter Lord on Tradition

"Those who are resistant to the present move of God are often those who were a part of the last move of God." Overheard from pastor Peter Lord.

The Past as a Different Country

"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." (L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1953)

On Canonizing Musical Form

"History indicates that the [church] body that canonizes musical form and style begins to 'fossilize' right there." (Gordon L. Borror and Ronald B. Allen, Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel (Portland, Oregon: Multnomah, 1982), p. 166.)

Seven Last Words of the Church

Someone has said that the seven last words of the church are "We never did it that way before."

Church Tradition and a Painful Cultural Circumcision

"Our congregations demand from every new member not only a conversion but also a change in culture. [The new member] has to abandon some of his contemporary behavior and to accept the older patterns prevalent among the majority of the congregation. The new Christian has to learn the old hymns and to appreciate them. He has to learn the language of the pulpit?. In brief, he has to step back two generations and undergo what one may call a painful cultural circumcision." (God's Lively People (Huntington, N.Y.: Fontana, 1971), p. 206; quoted by John R.W.Stott, Christian Mission in a Modern World (Downer's Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1975), 122-123)

On Winning Souls and Pleasing Saints

"The toughest thing to do is to win souls and please saints at the same time." (Steve Haggerty, "On the Road for God," Charisma (Nov. 1985)

Buffett on Traditional Wisdom

?Traditional wisdom can be long on tradition and short on wisdom.? Warren Buffett, America's greatest investor

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