The Ohio Independent Baptist, November 1971

gets just that. The third guide line is... Dependability ... I wouldn't give you two cents for a good singer who named the name of Christ and wanted to sing in your church choir but never showed up for the practices and came only when they wanted to or when it was convenient. If they are allowed to be a member of your choir, you are telling the others in the choir that this kind of behavior is permissable and you are really hurting the entire choir. They will take off whenever the sky is blue ana say, 'If Alice can do it, so can I." Records should be kept at every choir rehearsal and cards and calls should be made to every delin– quent. People don't do what you EX– PECT but what you INSPECT. We have now captains in our Adult choir who are responsible for the where– abouts of all those in their row. If a choir member is absent, they must call their captain and inform them. This is part of their responsibility as a choir men1ber. The teen choir has a secretary who does this while the Pri– mary and Junior choirs have choir mothers who sit in on all rehearsals, keep Jaw and order and are in charge of attendance records and sending cards to absentees. Faithfulness is an essential in serving the Lord. The next guideline has to do with our getting along under all circumstances. Pliability . . . A good choir mem– ber should be able to function in the third row as well as the first row or wherever the director thinks they can serve best. There are many little irritations in working with · all kinds of personalities and we must be pli- - able to people and situations that might arise. Some one might have taken your robe by mistake and you discover it just moments before you are due in the choir loft. Do you rip your robe from their back and bawl them out for being so stupid for such a mistake or do you quietly use another robe and settle the problem after the ser– vice? The choir baby sitter doesn't show up in time so you announce to the director, in front of the entire choir that, "This is my last week in choir unless you do something about the situation immediately!" Or, do you look around for some teenager and engage her to sit for you, and next day give the choir director a call and discuss the matter? Then there's the raspy alto who won't sing if she has to stand next to Mrs. Smith. "Her voice is so shrill'\ s.he explains. So you see it is absolutely necessary to be able to fit into any situation if you want to be a pliable choir member. Then, last but not least, a choir mem– ber should be aware that along with our service to the Lord comes. . . Accountability ... We are one day going to give an account of the deeds done in the body. We are going to be held accountable for our service and the spirit in which we ministered for the Lord. But while we are on earth, we are accountable to others. God has given us under shepherds and leaders and has told us to "Obey them who have the rule over you." All choir members must be accounta– ble to me for their lives and testi– monies and faithfulness in service. If a choir member has a poor testimony or is spasmodic in their attendance, they should be dealt with and if -this persists, be dismissed and their place in the loft be given to a more eligible person. We are accountable to those who are over us. So in the program of music in the church we should be spiritual , dependable, able, pliable be– cause we are accountable to our earth– ly leaders and one day will stand be– fore the Lord and be held accountable for the way in which we served HIM. Music, in your total church pro– gram can also be . . . An Arm For Evangelism I have found that many people have been brought into a church as a result of good God honoring music. In fact I spoke with someone just tonight who said that the thing that first drew them to our church was the good music, the spirited congrega– tional singing and the large choir who had something to sing about. When we use youth choirs and children's choirs where the boys and girls come from unsaved homes, I have seen these Jost parents sit under the sound of the gospel for the first time when their "Susie" sang in the choir. At Christmas time, we at Emmanuel Bap– tist put on what we call our Annual Holiday Musical which was held this year in our local High School with more than 1300 in attendance and I would guess that over 200 of those in the audience were unsaved, un– churched people. They heard the well rehearsed music of all our choirs and special groups and listened to our pastor as he shared with them the gospel of saving grace. Many heard it for the first time and some have come to our church as a result. Music can be an evangelistic arm of your church. Lastly, music is a means of spiritual. . . An Arm For Expression Music is an expression in a vocal way of an inward change. The Bible says in Psalm 40: 3 and "He hath put a new song in my mouth even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." Christ has put something within the believer which must come out. My heart goes out to those who will have (Continued On Page 13) Emmanuel Baptist Church, Toledo - Children's Choir THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST NOVEMBER, 1971 5