Congregational Singing and the Pastor, Featuring Mark Dever

Episode #307
March 3, 2017
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Podcast Episode #307


Mark Dever joins us on the podcast to talk congregational singing, politics, DC life, and ecclesiology.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

  • “In the 1960’s church services started changing into rock concerts.”
  • “I see too many churches get tied up in battles over music, which is a shame.”
  • “Most pastors like good congregation singing when they hear it, but haven’t thought a lot about how to get it.”
  • “You want accompaniment and songs that will encourage the congregation to sing instead of plastering over them.”
  • “If we don’t have a solid definition of what a church is, all kinds of things begin to run out.”
  • “A church is a regular assembly in which the Word of God is rightly preached and in which the ordinances are rightly administered.”
  • We won’t all make it into the future. We have to get others to carry the gospel into the future for us.

About Mark Dever:

Mark serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. A Duke graduate, Dr. Dever holds a M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a Th.M. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Ecclesiastical History from Cambridge University. He is the president of 9Marks Ministries and has taught at a number of seminaries. Dr. Dever has authored several books and articles, most recently, The Compelling Community and The Church: The Gospel Made Visible. Earlier books include What is a Healthy Church?, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, The Deliberate Church, Promises Kept: The Message of the New Testament, and Promises Made: The Message of the Old Testament. He and his wife Connie live and minister on Capitol Hill, with Connie giving much of her time to creating a children’s curriculum (PraiseFactory). They have two adult children.


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Resources Mentioned in Today’s Podcast