This movement has a right to expect that ministerial graduates, turned over to our conferences by our colleges, shall have had a well-rounded training and a reasonable laboratory experience in the basic features of ministerial life and activity, ere they enter upon regular field work. Experience and wisdorn can, of course, come only with time, and no one justifiably expects these qualities of maturity at the outset. But adequate preparatory training, suited to our primary denomivational needs and objectives, is essential, and" is rightly to be expected from our training centers. And this definitely includes evangelistic music training.
Complaint has at times been registered, by our conference committees, against shortcomings in the distinctively ministerial aspect of the training in certain college theological departments. They have said that the training has not always been thorough, complete, and practical enough; that it fails to compass many of the primary responsibilities in the pastoral and evangelistic fields.
This complaint regarding inadequate training has, in instances, been altogether too well founded. And what is the cause of this weakness? Some of our Bible teachers have not participated in, much less conducted, an evangelistic effort in years—and, in instances, never. Small wonder, then, that such instructors impart largely theory, and often miss many of the practical essentials of evangelism. Their own personal ministerial efforts have been largely in pastoral lines, in connection with established churches. Yet evangelistic ministry is basic in this movement, especially in the training of ministers. A number of our Bible teachers, sensing their lack, are resolutely setting themselves to change the situation by personally connecting with evangelistic efforts. In this way, they will familiarize themselves with the problems at first hand, and thus be able to give the necessary instruction, based on experience and observation.
The same is true of our Bible worker instruction. Rarely has an experienced Bible worker been connected with a college to bring the real Bible worker vision and spirit to our young women, and to teach the field-tried methods that are imperative for truly successful Bible work. And the results are likewise tragically apparent. The movement has set itself resolutely to change this situation in both these fields, however, as the actions of the recent General Conference clearly attest. And the hour has also come to study the music side of our ministerial training.
Two Distinct Divisions of Ministry
Let us now turn directly to this music aspect of ministerial training, and study the college music teacher's relationship thereto. To grasp the problem of music and the minister, it is imperative, first of all, to realize that there are two major divisions of ministry in the advent movement—which movement, be it particularly noted, is not simply another church, but basically a world-encompassing, evangelistic, reformatory movement. These two general divisions of ministry are (1) the pastoral, and (2) the evangelistic.
For the purpose of this discussion, these two divisions will be treated as quite separate and distinct, though they are frequently blended in practice. The first, or pastoral, ministers chiefly to congregations of Adventists, who are already members of the household of faith_ The second, or evangelistic, is principally concerned with audiences of non-Adventists, whom we seek to win to the faith. While all ministry should have the same soul-winning objective, the methods in these two types of ministry are quite dissimilar.
In recent years we have drifted more and more, denominationally, into hovering over our churches. But a definite turn has come in that tide, as a review of the actions of the recent Evangelistic Council, just prior to the General Conference, as well as field reports, will clearly evidence. This important Council, with its recommendations adopted by the General Conference in session, unquestionably marks the dawn of a new era in this cause, characterized by a definite shift in emphasis, from hovering over the churches to direct evangelism. for the unsaved. This policy particularly concerns all younger men, and all new ministerial recruits, who are the subjects of college training in evangelism. These "evangelism first" objectives, be it remembered, are no longer simply ideals, but are adopted policies of the movement, which are to be increasingly stressed and applied. Note the gist of the actions:
1. Evangelism to have "a preferred place in the yearly budget."
2. Each pastor and district leader to participate in at least one evangelistic effort each year.
3. Opportunity for executives and departmental workers to do the same.
4. Unworked territories to be surveyed and entered.
5. Annual goal of ten per cent increase in membership.
6. Ministerial interns to be connected with three evangelistic efforts during their two-year internship.
7. Young evangelists of promise to be developed into city evangelists.
8. "That we encourage our young men who possess musical talent to give prayerful consideration to God's call to give their lives to singing evangelism by preparing themselves for effective congregational song leadership, and by training themselves to interpret the gospel in solo singing, emphasizing in their vocal work the touching of hearts through the tender influence of simple, effective songs; and that all our colleges be urged to provide training in song evangelism and music appreciation in our ministerial courses."
9. Definite expansion of radio evangelism.
10. Ministerial Association secretarial staff to include an Association secretary to foster evangelism, and an assistant secretary to foster the Bible work, through institutes, councils, field work, etc.
11. Our colleges to strengthen their training courses, and an advanced course for Bible workers to be introduced into the Theological Seminary.
In the light of this clear policy, I am persuaded that the music departments in our colleges must shift their ministerial music training emphasis from an almost exclusive concentration on pastoral music, to the evangelistic side. At least, they must enlarge their scope, if they are to cover this primary need. The chief college emphasis of the recent past has been upon acapella choirs, great choruses, and the religious music classics. The evangelistic need, on the contrary, calls for a fundamentally different concept, equipment, emphasis, and objective.
Confusion over this point is one of the chief causes of past difficulties and misunderstandings. Not all have had a clear conception of distinctions, spheres, and objectives in these two basic phases of ministry. With a clear understanding and a readjustment of emphasis, the difficulty can surely be removed. But the distinction must be recognized and the emphasis must be shifted in order to accomplish this necessary end.
Let us develop the differentiation between the pastoral and the evangelistic, as it involves the music phase. Pastoral music centers in the church, as a body of Christians assembling in the church edifice for worship, edification, instruction, inspiration, and service. This general "church" category includes, of course, the Sabbath school, the Missionary Volunteer Society, and such special occasions as the quarterly service, the baptism, and the funeral. Neither publicity handbills nor evangelistic song services are part of this type of service. The congregation does not have to be persuaded to attend, but assembles spontaneously for worship.
This is, of course, the type of music ministry to which the music teacher is constantly accustomed, in which he is trained, for which he is responsible, and in which he continuously participates. The religious services of the college are pastoral and churchly, wherein routine and quiet formality are natural. Here, the congregational hymn is the musical unit, and the center of the music of the church. The music teacher deals principally with a congregation of regular worshipers, a semicontinuous choir of voices, many of whom are under special training. There are usually large choruses for oratorios, cantatas, and heavy anthem renditions. These more impressive music features naturally find their center in the college church, comprised largely of musically inclined young people. A s such, they give a definite impress to the student concept.
In the instrumental phase of this pastoral field, the stress and constant requirement is for quiet preludes, interludes, offertories, or postludes, appropriate to the worship hour. Usually there is a pipe organ, which lends dignity and depth to the service. Thus the emphasis in the college has been chiefly upon the pastoral phase of music, if it may be so termed.
Function of Evangelistic Message Song
The other phase of religious music centers in the evangelistic meeting, which deals with an audience of listeners, not a congregation of worshipers. And there is a vast difference between the two. The evangelistic audience has to be gathered, held, and brought back again. Parenthetically, it may be added that although these evangelistic meetings may be held in the church by the pastor, nevertheless the same principle obtains for this type of service, irrespective of the place.
The evangelistic audience is brought together out of every conceivable sort of background, condition, attitude, and environment, drawn by publicity, personal invitation, sight of the meeting place, or hunger for the truth. Some come from quarreling families and broken homes, others from happy homes of refinement.
Some come out of sheer curiosity, with an hour to spend. Others come to scoff and to cause mischief. And still others come out of spiritual unrest and longing, drawn by the Spirit of God. Few have an interest to start with, nor do they at first expect to become regular attendants throughout the series. That is the typical audience—Catholic, Protestant, Jew, infidel, agnostic.
The evangelistic service for the public centers, not in the stately hymns of church worship, but in the evangelistic message song. With these are always intermingled, of course, the hymns of the ages which have become the heritage of the church universal—for the evangelistic service embraces worship in its scope, and eventuates in a body of believers added to the church. But the evangelistic song is as different from the worship hymn as the evangelistic address is different from the pastoral sermon. Each is appropriate in its place, but both would be out of place and ineffective if reversed. The content and form are different, and the music is for a different purpose in each case. There is no antagonism between them. One is not right and proper, and the other wrong and improper. They simply have distinctly different functions to serve. They have different content, method, objective, and results, be it ever remembered.
The musical center of the evangelistic meeting, then, is the song service, with the evangelistic message song as the musical unit. This has a definite evangelistic function to perform. The evangelistic song service is not to entertain or to entrance. It is not to display talent or win applause. Its purpose is to change indifference into interest, and ultimately to lead to decision and to acceptance of the message. But its immediate purpose is to blend a heterogeneous group of men, women, and youth, who assemble that particular night, into a united group of hearers, receptive to the evangelistic message of the hour.
This means the effective subduing of anxieties, sorrows, discouragements, antagonisms, indifference, cynicism, desperation, and hostility—as the case may be. These people must be changed, so far as is humanly possible, by participation in the song service, and by tactful, appropriate words upon the part of the song leader. They must be transformed into eager listeners to God's message. Here is scope for consecrated talent, the highest skill, and the greatest exercise of personality, in the mastery of assemblies. This is a field that is seldom exploited to the full. This does not mean or involve sensational stunts, clowning, bombast, banter, or cheap, syncopated tunes, but consecrated, winsome, compelling work for souls by the song leader during the song service, 'and during the remainder of the meeting.
___ To be concluded in March
*Address given at S. D. A. College Music Teachers' Convention, Washington, D. C., August, rot. Subsequently sent in mimeographed form to seventy-five of our leading evangelists, evangelistic song leaders, and professional musicians with evangelistic contacts. The responses revealed hearty and unanimous support of the positions set forth.
