Music @ Oak Island EPC
Is He Worthy?
Our great God is worthy of all praise and adoration. At Oak Island EPC we seek to use music in three significant ways:
- We sing God’s praise as part of corporate worship — “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” (Psalm 51:1-2)
- We learn psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs as part of our Christian discipleship — “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)
- We
use music to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to
the world — “All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all
your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your
kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man
your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom." (Psalm 145:10-12)
Our Hymnal
A
great place to begin to understand our music is
with your own copy of our church hymnal - the Trinity Hymnal. You may
use it to
preview the hymns for Sunday, familiarize yourself with new hymns, or
sing individually or as a group. Even if you choose not to sing, hymns
are brief poetic devotions based on Scripture that bear much fruit upon
reflection. The Trinity Hymnal also comes with selected Psalter
readings, historic creeds, and the full text of the Westminster
Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism. For your convenience, copies
are available through the church office at no charge. Great Commission
Publications, 1990.
Music Ministry & You
Music is truly a gift from God and a blessed way to express devotion and praise to Him. The Bible is replete with admonitions and commands for the believer to sing and make music to the Lord, while also being a depository of songs themselves. From Genesis to Revelation, from the song of Moses, to the song book of ancient Israel (the Psalter); the Scriptures are full of worship and singing. And from early Christian hymns, the recovery of congregational singing at the time of the Protestant Reformation, believers have united their hearts, voices, and instruments in praise of God.
We seek to prayerfully employ music that is biblically based, Christ-centered, well-composed, and helpful in directing God’s people to Him. This should not be surprising, for the heart of the faithful is a heart of gratitude eager to express love and praise to the Triune God, and this is what the church of Jesus Christ has been joyfully doing for centuries in music and in the singing of God’s covenant people.
The music ministry at Oak Island EPC is an important part of our congregation’s lives. Whether in congregational singing, or in the choir, we engage our whole person when making music—emotionally (heart), thoughtfully and with excellence (mind), and artistically (spirit).
We want everyone to be involved in music-making, whether in the choir, as instrumentalists, or simply as a member of our most significant musical ensemble, the congregation! Music can have a role in almost every ministry of the church: from children’s, youth and adult education, to outreach efforts, to mercy ministry to the homeless and nursing home residents.
For more information about music at Oak Island EPC and how you may be involved in our music ministry, please contact Donna Winrich through the church office.