Is music in church contributing to a quickened sense of our Christian mission? To a higher demonstration of health and harmony? It will when we see it as our own individual expression of praise to God. Not that we have to personally perform all or any of the music. But we should acknowledge that the music's purpose is to glorify God, and this acknowledgment will help us transpose glimpses of spiritual harmony, rhythm, and melody into more meaningful levels of order, energy, and inspiration in our human experience.
Church music is an area of church activity that can contribute a special sense of harmony—though occasionally it seems to be an area vulnerable to attacks of inharmony. Our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, counsels: "Beloved brethren, have no discord over music. Hold in yourselves the true sense of harmony, and this sense will harmonize, unify, and unself you." And she adds: "Once I was passionately fond of material music, but jarring elements among musicians weaned me from this love and wedded me to spiritual music, the music of Soul." Message to The Mother Church for 1900, p. 11.
Because the Church of Christ, Scientist, has been gradually spreading around the world in response to Christ Jesus' command, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," Mark 16:15. the question of what music is appropriate in church deserves continuing consideration. This is especially true as Christian Science takes root in non-Western cultures. It is to be expected that Christian Science services will be accompanied by musical styles other than nineteenth-century Anglo-American, just as services will be housed in buildings of styles other than New England colonial. How far afield can the musical style go and still accomplish its purpose?
