A Place for Choir and Organ in Liturgy

In considering whether organs and choirs have a place in liturgy, you could say that the burden of proof lays with our Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran brother's who've relied on their use for hundreds of years.  Because the Bible doesn't command them, the Calvinist stands on surer ground.  Nevertheless, organ and choral music are useful to enhance congregational singing and lend majesty and splendor to worship which ought to be present.

Nicholas Wolterstorff has written a very honest article articulating the Reformed position on choirs and organ in liturgy.  He seems to assume the Regulative Principal rather than explaining it outright.  His closing point about simplicity is very good and I think acknowledges the flow of redemptive history.  Christ's redemptive work has drawn us nearer to God than rich outward signs of the OT were ever able to do.  Going out on a limb, we might say that "the look" of our worship should mimic (and prepare us for) the glorious scenes in Revelation even more than OT ceremony.

Ethnocentric Church Music

For all that evangelicals say condemning racism, it remains present in contemporary church music.  Grasping at idol of relevance inevitably leads to marginalizing slices of the populace.  Certainly we ignore the covenantal (i.e. multi-generational) aspect of worship when we turn to pop music as a model for worship song.  But perhaps more subtly, a lot of contemporary church music I know tends to appeal to white people, finding its inspiration often in rock or celtic styles.  Church music can and should have its own local flavor, but for the sake of unity, church music should also have broad appeal: "there is one Church, one Lord, one Baptism..."

Old hymns (texts and tunes together), particularly from the 16th century until the Second Great Awakening, remain the best congregational music the church has created.  These hymns teach Biblical truth in a way that is rather easy to sing and sing together as a body of believers; they move the affections while avoiding unhelpful sentimentality.  This style ought to form the model of new worship song.