Okay, let's assume that EP is correct/biblical. Then, by implication, the singing of anything else, is not correct/biblical. So, you think you should submit to a Pastor even if what he's commanding is not correct/biblical? I suppose, then, you'd have no problem if he commanded you to observe the "church calendar"?

__________________
Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCGA
Facebook - The Calvinist Vent
Board Rules - Signature Rules - Suggestion Box

It is God that multiplies our sorrows.... God, as a righteous Judge, does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows; as many as they are, we have deserved them all, and more: nay, God, as a tender Father, does it for our necessary correction, that we may be humbled for sin, and weaned from the world by all our sorrows; and the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them, will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatly soever they are multiplied. - Matthew Henry

I really don't know, Joshua. God has given me my pastor to be my covering. If he is wrong about hymns, he does it out of ignorance just like others do baptism incorrectly out of ignorance. Where should I go to worship? It took me forever to find my church which I love dearly. Should I not submit to my pastor? That seems wrong to me.

__________________
sarah
WI
OPC
My Pastor's Sermons: Mark Jenkins...he's awesome!!!

I've thought about this, too. I'm currently a non-EPer in an EP congregation, but I'm not firmly convinced of either position. I would say that I'm divided something like 25% and 75% between EP and non-EP. If the balance should shift (as it plausibly may, after more time in an EP congregation) to something like 60% EP and 40% non-EP, could I still in good conscience submit to the judgment of a non-EP session at another church and sing hymns? I think I could, as long as I still thought both positions were biblically plausible. But at some point -- if, for example, I was 90% convinced of EP -- I would have to refrain from singing hymns. All that to say: I think it's a sliding scale.

__________________
Evie B.
New Members Class, RPCNA, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. -- Isaiah 43:18-19 (ESV)

Sarah, first let me clarify some things:

1. I'm not implying that you should necessarily go elsewhere to worship.
2. I think your pastor would probably be understanding in true/justified matters of conscience.

As an anecdotal support, I used to be a member of a non-EP Church. I think the godly process would be this:

Approach the elders with humility and teachableness. Tell them the case of your conscience. Since I believe EP is both confessional and couched comfortably in the History of the Reformed Faith, that your pastor would understand and be sensitive to your conscience.

So, I'm not telling you to go elsewhere, necessarily, but I am saying that you should be free, if you believed EP, to not sing in cases of uninspired hymnody.

For what it's worth this is what I did and as a result I simply stand there during the singing of the hymns during the corporate worship service. There are times that we do sing from the Psalter (much to my delight) and it is at that point that I participate.

__________________
William F. Hill, Jr.
Immanuel Presbyterian Church, (PCA)
Norfolk, Va.

I also stand in silence during the singing of non-inspired texts. The elders and minister are aware of my convictions. It is a blessing that my congregation is predominately Psalm-singing. We have been told that the consistory understands the URCNA church order to mandate a predominance of psalms in worship.

__________________
Bryan Peters
Providence Reformed Church (URCNA)
Des Moines, Iowa

Doctrinal truth should be preached always, openly, without compromise, and never dissembled or concealed. There is no offence in it; it is the staff of uprightness.
~Martin Luther~

I sit during parts of the service I cannot participate in with a clear conscience; but readily stand and sing when it is a psalm. What we need to avoid is an implicit faith; which is what I think we end up with if we simply do what the pastor says because he's the pastor. WCF 20.2.

__________________
Chris Coldwell, Lakewood Presbyterian Church (PCA), Dallas, Texas.
• Naphtali Press: Presbyterian & Reformed Books
• Westminster Letter Press
• The Confessional Presbyterian Journal
• The Blue Banner Archive

The Regulative Principle: The Scriptures are the “only infallible rule of faith and practice, no rite or ceremony ought to have a place in the public worship of God, which is not warranted in Scripture, either by direct precept or example, or by good and sufficient inference” (Samuel Miller).

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions? Joining PB's Politics & Government Forum

I definitely agree with this; my position above was more along the lines of, "When I am unsure of what to think about a difficult issue, I am comfortable deferring to my pastor."