It Is Quality that Counts in Church Music Ministry

The Wind of Education Reform Came

　　In the past one to two decades European countries and the United States have carried out education reform. Deeply affected by the economy and culture in the West, Japan, Taiwan, and even Hong Kong have similarly conducted their own reforms. It is regrettable that the reforms implemented in these countries and regions have been, without exception, economically driven. Experts in financial management have been given the authority to be the spokesmen and set policies that affect the ideals, ideas, direction and policies of education. Predictably, the direction of education has changed from the more meta-physical educational ideals of “whole person education,” “developing a holistic personality,” and the “search for truth, goodness, and beauty.” Instead, the present generation of students receives an education based on the notion that our contemporary world is where “a person’s life is profoundly affected by the world of economy.”

　　In today’s pragmatic culture, the educational policy makers will naturally direct resources to the more measureable educational subjects and cut funding to the humanities. The elite professions of medicine, architecture and law are certainly given priority. Courses related to the use of a language are well-funded but literature courses are not. Mathematics and science get priority because they are useful to the industrial and commercial sectors. Then too it is taken for granted that those practical, business and vocational training subjects such as marketing, accounting, business management, and logistic strategy are treated as important parts of the standard educational content. The humanities and subjects related to character formation such as literature, history, philosophy, art, dance, music, sports, religious education are neglected. These subjects fall outside the categories of education that are considered worthy of support by “public money” and are now treated as dispensable “embellishment” of education at a time of limited resources for education! No doubt, resources are limited these days; and certainly a philosophical discourse, a poem, a statue, or a movie cannot fill our bellies. It is hard to measure quantitatively the efficacy and achievement of those who receive education in humanities. It is much easier for school systems to make themselves “accountable to taxpayers” by allocating their resources to practical studies! Of course, to be fair, students (To put it bluntly, we should say many parents and their children!) out of a concern for their future employment fuel the above educational atmosphere.

Contempt for a Person’s Ability to Master an Art?

　　Basically, a similar situation exists in our Christian churches. Art education? We are living in the so called “modern world” (Note: sociologists tell us that one of the characteristics of the “modern world” is that the social behavioral subjects such as religion, politics, education, and economics have been transformed from a state of integration to discreet, independent institutions). In this modern milieu, we in the church expect the school system to produce and supply musicians, dancers and painters for the church. We in the church have come to expect to sit back and enjoy these people’s contribution and through them we are able to offer up to God the most beautiful music, architecture, paintings, poetry, and literature. Little do we know that in today’s situation the majority of people today, including Christians, lack the discerning power nurtured by an education in humanities. The result is that people in the modern world are now captives of the pop culture and the “instant food mentality!”

　　Let me give an example. In the past, public schools in the United States expected students to participate in broad cultural and sports activities as compulsory humanities courses and prerequisites for graduation. These subjects included orchestra, choir, cheerleading team, track and field team, ball game team, an art class, and the debate team. In those days, a typical high school student might be on the basketball team and play the trumpet in the brass band. That same student’s winning painting might be displayed in the school’s annual art exhibition. At church, this student might sing in one of the youth choirs or that person might play the prelude for the Christmas worship service. The same person might have even designed the cover of the Christmas service’s program. Unfortunately, times have changed, even in the so called advanced countries such as the United States. Nowadays, few members of the younger generation can claim any literacy in serious music, not to mention the limited training in the arts and humanities they receive. No wonder in U. S. churches today, there is a gradual decline in the number of serious music groups such as mixed chorus and orchestras. This trend affects even a denomination with the highest number of churches and largest total church membership. Due to such a drastic decline in sales, its choral publication department with a history of almost a century has closed down and has only retained a small section to publish choral music items for those choirs formed by the retired.

　　Today, an increasing number of churches have changed the mode of congregational singing by no longer using the score with a standard stave to allow people to sing in parts. Instead, the churches go backwards to the time when music education was not widespread and when congregations were only provided with the lyrics. (Ironically, this retrogression continues to be done by flashing the lyric on a screen with a high-tech projector!) Coincidently, Hong Kong society and churches are following in the footsteps of their European and American counterparts! Please forgive my bluntness when I say such a trend denies people the opportunity to develop their God-given capacity to experience beauty and awe in worship. This trend also shows contempt for a person’s ability to master an art and somehow undermines the wholesome singing experience of those who can read the stave!

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　　After I have expressed my disheartening feelings, I must now ask myself if we must finally accept this cultural current as irreversible. Apparently it is not necessarily to be so pessimistic. There remain some vibrant institutions which continue to preserve the arts and the humanities that give us a more multi-faceted picture and they give me reason to steady my emotions. I cite some examples as follows:

1. Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, The Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (in short, ABRSM) of UK’s Music Examination

　　Each year since the 1950s, local primary and secondary students have participated in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival in February and March. I am happy to report that the interest has been so keen that the number of primary and secondary students taking part is now in tens of thousands (In recent years it has exceeded one hundred thousand)! What a bustling scene it is as students participate, either individually or in groups, in hundreds of competition events to sing or play their musical instruments. It has been my privilege to attend the grand final of chorus competitions for several years, and I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat as I have witnessed the high quality of both primary and secondary school choir performances. I am thrilled to know that overseas adjudicators continue to praise them as “world class.” I have been astonished to see the choirs use every means possible to inspire their audience with their angelic voices! I have felt myself transported to a gothic cathedral, and have imagined myself standing in a deep forest, beside a raging sea, atop a snow capped mountain or amid the lonely English moors. In short, the performers affect the music lovers’ total being causing them to be caught up in the beauty of their music! I have observed that these finalist contestants are, almost without exception, from schools founded by Christian organizations.

　　Another cause for hope for the survival of excellent music is the ABRSM. The ABRSM has brought all kinds of music qualification examinations to the world, allowing people everywhere to take the examinations. We can even say it is doing an export “business” as it exports British humanities and art education globally. Even from a business perspective, we can say the high examination fees actually bring huge revenue to Britain through this thriving international “trade operation.” Partly due to our colonial history, Hong Kong has from year after year been the region in the world with the highest number of candidates.

　　Judging from the number of young candidates sitting for such the United Kingdom’s Music Examinations, the record-breaking number, the high standard of performance, and the high proportion of Christians among the contestants in the Schools Music Festival, the churches in Hong Kong ought to have a good number of quality musicians ready to take up the torch to continue serving God through the music ministry. Unfortunately, this has not been entirely the case! This is because many of those who study music in their primary and secondary school stage cannot find musical positions in today’s churches due to the current trends in church music. Then too, many students in their secondary school stage go overseas for further studies. Moreover, even if they remain in Hong Kong, it is hard for them to find fellow pilgrims who share their musical interests in their own churches or they cannot find musical ministry posts elsewhere. (This is what I can report from my own personal observation and experience: I continue to observe that churches too often fill musical posts with those lacking formal training. A number of young people who are serious about their music training are shocked by the poor standards of their churches’ music teams and as a result refrain from joining them!)

2. Continued Education for Pastors

　　Recently, I was privileged to teach the course “A Guided Tour of Music: What Modern Church Music Really Is” in the Seminary’s Pastoral Continuing Education Center. At the beginning of the course as participants were introducing themselves and sharing their expectation for the course, they began raising a number of questions. For example, they wanted to know how to blend “modern” and “traditional” hymns in a worship service. What criteria should be used in hymn selection? Not unintentionally, I found myself guiding their thinking by a few questions: What exactly is the so called “modern” music and what is “traditional” music? When should a song be regarded as a “hymn”? What exactly does “worship” mean? My students’ questions helped me affirm my belief even more that many pastors, elders, deacons and the music leaders of churches need to further clarify certain fundamental concepts about church music.

3. Church Music Ministry in Tertiary Educational Institutes

　　In 1963 (50 years ago), Baptist College (presently Hong Kong Baptist University) founded its chorus. Then, as choir members rapidly increased, the chorus was divided into the College Chorus, the Women’s Chorus and the Christian Choir. Of the three, the Christian Choir was formed for those dedicated to doing evangelism and serving God through church music. These music teams continued until 2000 when there were more than 10 tertiary institutions in Hong Kong but even then only Baptist University had a Christian church music team.

　　In 2000, the Executive Committee of the Baptist University’s Christian Choir set up a medium-to-long term plan: to introduce the “Christian music team,” a mode of ministry learning, to all the tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. In the following 10 years, this “impossible mission” has actually transformed the ecology of Christian student organizations in tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. From planning to implementation beginning 2004, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2004), Lingnan University (2006), Hong Kong University (2006), Hong Kong Institute of Education (2007), Chinese University of Hong Kong (2008), City University of Hong Kong (2008), Open University of Hong Kong (2009), and Hong Kong Shue Yan University (2011) have now successively formed their own Christian Choirs. At present, there are over 400 members in these more than ten music teams. Members come from different churches, study in different universities, and major in a variety of professional disciplines. But they have one common goal: to serve people groups both inside and outside the school so that through music they give witness to their faith in Christ Jesus and function as light and salt in our society.

　　Over the past ten years, Hong Kong society has become primarily dominated by popular culture. We can say that the generation of those around 20 years old has grown up to be typical pop culture young people. In order to “entertain” these youngsters and out of a fear of not fulfilling their wishes or catering to their interests, the churches has blindly packaged worship services with a strong dose of popular culture. Of course, that would include the music used in the so called “worship,” (the way congregational singing is conducted) as worship leaders ingratiate themselves upon the younger generation. However, it is interesting to note that those members of the Christian choirs and Christian bands in different universities are youngsters who fall into this same age range and they discover, in the more solemn, serious choral singing and ensemble music, an alternate music world which has almost been forgotten by our churches. This music style comprises multiple classical elements, for instance harmony, timbre, form, texture, dynamic, meter, tempo, rhythm, tuning, interaction between music and text and so on. In today’s culture where most people only pay attention to melody, these musical elements are once again introduced to the hearts and souls of choir members! The success of the university choirs and bands attest to the assumption that we do not really need to worry about the appetites of the younger generation. When it comes to things that are good and of high quality, we must not worry so much about “market” reaction. To quote a Cantonese saying: “Don’t worry about not knowing the quality of the goods; by comparing different kinds of goods, you will see which is better!”

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What Is Familiar Equals Plain?

　　Returning to the present scene, many Christians say they find serious music, or so-called classical music, boring and too difficult. They engage in self-teasing by saying they are “blind to music.” Yet, at the same time they like to wear a “walkman” headset all day long, or sing in the karaoke, or even learn to play the bass drums or join the praise band. These Christians also choose to attend the praise service for worship. To them, “Alas, after all, music, well, I think I still like it!”

　　I think behind this phenomenon there is a deeper and more latent phenomenon. The mass media, which is dominated by popular or trendy culture, threatens the content of the humanistic study program through its brainwashing. As time goes by, we unconsciously judge the sound effect of the music we often hear and prefer pop music which seems so approachable and plain. In today’s world, we seldom hear classical music and would therefore judge it as too profound and inaccessible! But if we look closely at the scores of these two kinds of songs (I try to use this general but not necessarily accurate way to distinguish the two), we will find that upon a careful comparison, the level of difficulty of many of the pop style songs is actually no easier than that of classical music. In short, every music style has its difficult pieces and its simple ones. The truth is this: we always tend to consider whatever is familiar to us is easier to handle.

Quality Is the Key

　　I often discuss and sometimes even get into argument with one of my mentors in the music ministry: what are the reasons that most Christians claim it difficult for them to assimilate or accept music requiring more rigorous basic training. Does it have something to do with a person’s quality or changes in the learning environment? Does it result from the trendy culture, teaching methods, or the problem of promotion? Do problems arise from personal tastes, horizons, experience, or the faith or vision of the music leader, whom I like to call the “gate-keeper”? Maybe this kind of debate will never be resolved. We often hear people say: “I have no talent for art or music!” Yet, I have discovered that beauty, which is the very basis of art itself, can always move people. This is what everyone, even those without so called a “talent for music,” experiences! Take choral singing as an example. Music can touch almost everyone’s soul when singing is sincere and up to a certain artistic standard of voice, harmony, intonation, rhythm, harmony, dynamic, balance, articulation, and emotional expression. On the other hand, the above-mentioned argument of “having no talent for music” and being unable to appreciate music will be valid only when the singing is bad. People often comment that the church choir seems to put on a show. To respond to this comment, I would say, only if a choir fails to sing well enough in order to communicate the core message of the anthem, its singing would never be reduced to “putting on a show.” Therefore, I think to sum up, it is the quality of the music or the quality of ministry that counts!