Our worship

In our congregation we sometimes also use musical instruments to accompany songs of praise during Sunday worship. In the New Testament we find congregational singing. We do not find an explicit command or prohibition regarding instruments.

We know that Christians read this silence in different ways, and that the question historically divided the Restoration Movement. Many Churches of Christ take it as a prohibition (“where the Bible is silent, we are silent”) and worship a cappella; it has been and remains one of the most deeply felt fractures between a cappella and instrumental churches. We take it as liberty: if Scripture neither requires nor forbids, the local church may choose. We do not present this reading as obvious or unanimous. The starting point is shared: letting Scripture guide worship even where it does not speak explicitly about instruments. From there the readings diverge: some take that silence as prohibition, we take it as the freedom of the local church. For us it is a difference of interpretation, not a reason to deny fellowship to other churches. When we host believers from non-instrumental Churches of Christ, we refrain from using instruments out of respect for them: for us it makes no difference.

Songs remain a congregational offering, not a performance: we all participate. When instruments are used, they accompany the voice of the community; they do not replace it. The Psalms remind us that praising God with music belongs to Scripture; we do not treat them as a direct command for Christian worship. Ephesians 5:19 calls us to sing together to the Lord. We have chosen this local freedom without making it a criterion for judging other churches.