Congregational Singing History

Every weekend, thousands of people flood through the doors of local churches to gather as a body and worship together. Yet, as they walk into the church, say their hellos, settle into their seats and prepare to engage in praise and worship, do they ever really consider how the Church has come to where it is regarding congregational singing? When one considers what interesting facts our history might tell them about the journey to our present state of worship in congregational singing and to whom can we attribute for their contributions to congregational singing, there are some significant musicians to highlight.
Before moving into the topic of significant musicians, one might consider the following question: Why is congregational singing important? Not that congregational singing necessarily requires professional musicians or any musicians for that matter in order for a congregation to engage in worship; nonetheless, it has been found throughout history, that significant …show more content…
Garlock in the importance of congregational singing is, “it solidifies and teaches spiritual truth.” The apostle Paul in Colossians 3:16 confirms this; “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Aligning with this verse, Dr. Garlock presents a quote from Robert Shaw, “The basic premise of music is communication…expressible best by music or possibly even only by