An Excerpt from Paul Clark, Music Specialist with the
Tennessee Baptist convention.
Not every three year-old is wired to endure a full concert of music. There
certainly is no guarantee that just because a child gets exposure to music
that he or she will develop a lifelong love for different styles of expression.
The probability is high, though, that over the years a child will know the joy
of musical expression as a part of their spiritual language when they share
musical experiences with Mom and Dad (like the one mentioned above)
and other adults who become important in their lives. The ability to hear
music that speaks to the heart, the spirit, the soul is a gift from God, and
one that needs to be developed. The week-in and week-out work involved
in developing that ability by parents, teachers, graded choir leaders, musicministers, piano teachers and others is a wonderful
thing to give a child!
Herein lies the rub. How can we encourage the patience
required to develop spiritual sensitivity and musical
sensitivity in our younger generation in the midst
of a culture that tends to demand instant gratification?
How can music ministers maintain the trust of parents
and pastors to do the slow continuous job of building
disciples? How can denominations gain or maintain
relativity to support, resource, and connect the work of
the churches in mission and ministry? How can church
music educators balance historic academic integrity
with changing demands? And how can all of us--parents,
music ministers, denominational ministers, and
educators--work together to serve the Kingdom of our
Lord through ongoing ministry of music? How can we
serve so that “a future generation, a people not yet
created, may praise the Lord?”