A megachurch in China's southeastern coastal Zhejiang Province held a worship service, playing sacred music that incorporated Chinese traditional culture.
Sicheng Church in Hangzhou, the capital city of the province, held two Sunday services in the morning and evening, with the theme of "Localization of Sacred Music" on September 11, said the church.
In the first session, the Changle Folk Band accompanies the congregation to sing "Gracious God, Our Father", and "May Thy Divine Life", using erhu (a two-stringed bowed musical instrument), guzheng (a plucked zither), pipa (a four-stringed musical instrument), flute, and ruan (a plucked string instrument). It also accompanied the Changle Choir to present the hymn "Praise the Lord", reported Sicheng Church.
In the second session, in order to highlight the theme of localization, they used the erhu as the accompaniment instead of piano or pipe organ, with the chorus singing "Tears of Gratitude".
"Augustine said, 'The beauty of all things is their voice of praise to Him.' We say Christianity is a religion of 'praise', as Christian music, the sacred music, expresses praise and praise to God. Since Christianity was introduced into China in the Tang Dynasty, Christian music has collided and merged with Chinese local music," the church said.
Sicheng Church can accommodate 1,800 people with 5,000 churchgoers.
- Translated by Livingstones Shi
