Music in worship in the Churches of Christ and choral music performance in Church of Christ affiliated colleges and universities

The Church of Christ is a Christian denomination that sprang from the nineteenth century Restoration Movement in the United States of America. Music serves a definitive role in the worship service of the Churches of Christ by means of active participation in a cappella congregational singing. Except for a few congregations, instrumental music is not permitted in the church, nor are church choirs in the traditional sense. Special music presentations are rarely included in the services.;Singing schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the United States influenced churches to teach shape-note music reading to strengthen congregational singing. The Churches of Christ have kept this tradition since their origin and still sing from shape-note hymnals today despite the fact that many current members have never been trained to read this form of musical notation.;Although the singing of choral music, other than hymns, is not found in the worship services of the Churches of Christ, the denomination supports choral music programs in their affiliated colleges and universities. In many of these programs, the use of instrumental music is permitted. This paradox raises the question of how and why the church supports choral music and the performance of instrumental music in their schools but not during their worship services. This study will begin with a historical account of the development of the Church of Christ denomination, its doctrine, and its a cappella singing tradition.;Twelve Church of Christ affiliated colleges and universities are investigated in this study. Included will be the perspectives of choral conductors on how the church's a cappella singing traditions affect their programs. In addition to the discussion on collegiate choral music programs, the Church of Christ denomination's past and present music education practices will be examined.