I was looking at the Protestia website and noticed that they have a series in which they analyze songs and recommend whether they are good songs to use in churches. I found their method interesting and even consider that it might be applicable to the new song choices for The Sacred Harp. When they analyze a song, they consider five areas.
- Doctrinal fidelity – are the words/meaning biblically accurate? “Corporate worship should not require the pastor to add a footnote afterward explaining the congregation’s singing.”
- Doctrinal specificity – is the song direct and specific in the doctrines it presents, or is it vague and elusive? (For example, Could a Mormon be comfortable with the words? An agnostic?)
- Focus – is the song focused on God or man (is it directed Godward or manward)?
- Associations – do the associations or connections of the authors bring along possible baggage that is a distraction? With whom is it associated (for example, if it is written by an heretic or immoral person, it can distract or lead in the wrong direction).
- Musical usefulness – is the song singable for a congregation, and what is its musical effectiveness? (Note: this category received the least weight, and the first category, doctrinal fidelity, received the most weight.)
The author made this interesting point:
“Every song chosen excludes another, so merely being catchy, popular, or technically orthodox in parts is not enough. The song should justify its place through doctrinal fidelity, specificity, focus, associations, and musical usefulness.”
In other words, when the use of a particular song is included, the use of some other song is excluded. Is the included song good enough to justify excluding the other?
Note: The last paragraphs do not suggest that every song we use is of equal value, but rather that there are some songs that do not have enough value to be considered.
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