Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-02
Letters to the Editor
The Minister and the Music

r. the Editor OF the Eroria1 Pubic Ltdocr:
Sir am quite amused nt the in
terest that has been aroused by the ad-
dress which I gave before the l'reSby-
terian ministers ut their weekly meeting
Monday morning. I particularly mp
preciate your editorial in yesterday $
issue, the closing paragraph of which
, seems TO me 10 be- an invitation TO
write this letter. Could the news items
have stressed the gist Of my address.
feel sure that there would hav" been
no necessity for the question presented
in the editorial
The committee which invited me to
address the ministers suggested that |
use as subject the relation nf the
minister to the music of his church and.
after thoughtful consideration. chose
g a subject. "The Minister'S Musical
Machinery picturing music in III"
churches as II wonderful engine capable
Of pulling tremendous load which,
every one admits. the church is carry
ing at this time. My contention was
that the Who'll" question hinged on the
minister and for that reason chose
him as the engineer and stressed III"
following qualifications rs being nrcGs-
sary in n really good engineer;
First. lie must have keen vision.
Second. He must have Il steady
nerve.
Third. He mus, know his engine.
Fourth. He must know Whrr" he is
going and the route.
Fifth. lie must keep his "nsin" run.
ming smoothly.
Sixth. He must never tinker with
his engine.
Seventh. lie must command IN" re.
spect and confidence Of both his crew
and his passengers.
Eighth. lie must seq that there i
sufficient steam in III" boiler.
Ninth. lie gets hi, orders from the
dispatcher.
Of course. | dw"lt on each If ih"s"
divisions and mad" som" points which
aroused quite Il discussion and many
questions. Among them were: Should
the ministers wifi" sing IN the choir:
Which is pr"frrahl"--a quartet or
chorus? Doesn't most Of tn" trouble
come through tn" choir should tn"
sermon be long and the musical features
short. or vice versa:
The reporters caught most of the
questions and my replies. hut they
missed n good many other points which
] tried to make. | contend that. in my
eighteen years of experience and OBJ
eervaiion. most Of the diiticulti"~ be.
tween the pulpit and til" choir have
been by reason OF the fact that IN" MINI
lister failed To aprr""lat" his position.
think there ar" few VIII" ia!i 10
realize the tremendous attractive power
in music to the service Of worship. In
the case of the Congregational minister
which YOU cit" in your editorial. | t'ri
the whole difficulty would hav" been
eliminated if there had been n The rough
understanding and n closer relationship
between the minister aud the choir.
and it was this very thing that |
stressed on Monday.
Many an organist has not tn" slight.
ct idea n to what the minister vii!
use as his subject until h. anronrc"'
Il, and for that reason he is uuab!" to
select his music appropriately.
In the ease Of paid q!nrt"t>. DO
not, for one minute. bcliev" that they
serve no good purpose. However,
cOntended that quartet could not b"
really efficient IN 4 s"rvl"" "f worship
when it cared more for musical gym
nnstics than for providing Il real spiri :
tual atmosphere. According I" my way
Of thinking. the church is II" place for
an operate performance. This is We'll
provided in IN" opera. Nor Is il q con :
cert for showing of voices. but should
be n place that is provided in no other
manner. where every part of the pro
gram should lead to the real spirit ot
conservation and Worship.
The ministers agreed with me-. but
many accepted their present plan rs Tho
easiest way out. All recognized my
contention aS til" ideal and some wanted
70 know how it could Il" done. be-
lieve the one great essential is that