Music conference in Rostov-on-Don

“The Lord is my strength, and the Lord is my song.” Isaiah 12:2

It was especially joyful to see the direct participation of prominent church leaders, by which this remarkable event took place. Kirill Goncharenko, Director of the Sacred Music Institute and President of Logos Christian Center, shared his reflections on music, its influence on a person, and his spiritual state. Music, being essentially a form of language, on one hand, conveys to us the experience of ancestors - their feelings, faith, joys, experiences, sorrows, understanding of life, etc… On the other hand, it is a form of preaching the Gospel to modern man, capable of having a strong creative impact. At the same time, the destructive power of music was also noted, sound examples were presented on all the above issues. "Beloved! believe not every spirit, but try the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Unfortunately, today, not everyone understands that music and songs can easily be those false prophets that lead believers away from truth, inner harmony, spiritual growth and unity. We often fill ourselves with music that carries the spirit of aggression, emptiness, lust, stupidity, mediocrity, and simple carnal entertainment. We seem to be listening to these false prophets who say - this is what you need, listen and fill yourself with our substitute imitation, instead of the beautiful and eternal ....

The serious attitude to these issues on the part of the Rostov UECB Churches was inspiring. The conference participants were active in discussing complex, but extremely important issues, because the musical ministry in the church has another strength - the strength of unity: “Man is a collective being, and music is a means of transferring experience on the basis of which unity is born. Singing together has tremendous power to preserve the church spiritually. When a church community sings together, it lives together, is united and will resist any danger and temptation,” Goncharenko noted.

Also, experienced Institute of Spiritual Music teacher, Natalya Skachkova, gave a master class on vocals and presented a report on the importance and need for teaching music to children, not only in terms of influencing their development, but most importantly, as a significant part of educating future music ministers for service.

The next day the conference continued in Novocherkassk, reflections on music in the church continued. In the evening, in the Rostov-on-Don church, an "Evening of Praise" was held, which was attended by more than a hundred youth. It was gratifying to see the ministry of various singing and worship groups, the large youth choir. Unfortunately, sometimes the general singing sometimes weakens, being replaced by the “performance” of singers from the stage of the church. During this wonderful evening, Kirill Goncharenko also revealed important and complex issues of music ministry, emphasizing the fact that young brothers and sisters, regardless of age, are already preachers of the Gospel and conductors of God's grace, through their music. At the end of the evening, many questions were raised and answered.

Press service of HC "Logos"