MUSIC POLICY STATEMENT:

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It is the responsibility of every local church to define its own standard toward music. Although every Christian may exercise Christian liberty in the types of music that they listen to at home, music that is a part of church worship must conform to what the local church defines as acceptable. The purpose of church music is to enhance worship, not to entertain or give the musician an outlet for personal expression. The Lakeland Baptist Church family has an open but conservative, more traditional attitude toward music. It is our intent therefore to identify the types of music that bring the greatest blessing to our church family. It is not our intent to impose a musical standard upon anyone in our church. Our purpose is to provide a standard for music used in our corporate worship that is most likely to be edifying, and least likely to be offensive to anyone. While not satisfying the personal tastes of everyone, a more conservative approach to music is most likely to achieve our objective. Excellent Christian music will contain all of the qualities that make sacred music worshipful and spiritually edifying (as listed below) and none of the qualities that cause it to seem worldly:

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 1. LYRICS: That upholds and exalts the person of Jesus Christ.

 2. MELODY: That creates a worshipful environment.

 3. HARMONY: That supports the message and spirit of the piece.

 4. RHYTHM: That is subtle, not dominant or abrasive.

 5. MESSAGE: That is doctrinally correct.

 6. STYLE: That is distinctively spiritual as opposed to worldly.

 7. PRESENTATION/DECORUM: That is tasteful and honoring to our Lord.

 8. APPROPRIATENESS: That responds to the occasion and purpose.

 9. EDIFICATION: That is directed toward the hearer, and not self.

10. OBJECTIVE: That is a ministry, not a performance.