Jan. 2, 2007

Largest A Cappella Church of Christ Adds Instrumental Service

By Adelle M. Banks

© Religion News Service

The nation's largest a cappella congregation within the Churches of Christ has decided to add an instrumental worship assembly on Saturday evenings.

Statements on the Web site of Richland Hills Church of Christ in the Fort Worth, Texas, area said the decision came after a lengthy period of fasting and prayer.

"After a three-year period of much study, prayer and fasting, the leadership of the Richland Hills Church of Christ has decided to add a third weekend assembly that will include instrumental praise," reads one statement on a Web page titled "The Both/And Church."

An additional statement from elders of the church said the period of reflection inspired them to "become a more externally focused church."

The congregation, located in North Richland Hills, Texas, is the largest of the 13,000 a cappella churches in the Churches of Christ, reported The Christian Chronicle, a denominational newspaper.

For more than 100 years, instrumental churches and a cappella, or noninstrumental churches, have remained separate while sharing their roots in the Stone-Campbell Movement of the 1830s. Some opponents to instrumental music say instruments are not mentioned in the New Testament.

The newspaper said Rick Atchley, senior minister of the church, has been a national leader in recent efforts to improve relations with instrumental Christian Churches. He told a Dec. 3 Bible study at his church that the decision will permit the congregation "to reach more people who need Christ" and also will ease crowding at the church's two Sunday morning services.

"I greatly appreciate a cappella praise," Atchley told congregation members. "There is no intention of this leadership to force anyone to worship any other way if that is their choice. ... But I firmly believe that if Richland Hills is to be most faithful to God's word and Christ's mission, we must become a both/and church with regard to instrumental and a cappella praise."

The new service is scheduled to launch on the second weekend of February, the newspaper reported.