Every religious organization, music operate with a standard system that ensures balance, documentation, and continuity for unborn generations, as celestial Church of Christ is not exempt from this principle.Over the years, the Church has been bedeviled by administrative challenges, particularly in human and structural management. These inconsistencies have gradually filtered into various sectors of the Church, including music. Today, concerns are being raised about modernization, secular influences, and now, the introduction of staff notation into the Celestial Hymnal.
MY PERSPECTIVE OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY.
Ethnomusicology teaches that music expresses social attitudes and cognitive processes. As John Blacking (1973) rightly observed, music is effective only when it is heard by receptive ears that share the cultural and experiential background of its creator. Celestial Church of Christ is a deeply spiritual and prophetic Church, rooted in divine revelation. The Church hymns has always been a powerful vehicle for propagating salvation, healing, and deliverance within the fold. Therefore, Celestial hymns must be examined not only musically, but spiritually and culturally.
Scholars such as Late AVSE Adetiran, the former music director of our Church have identified strong elements of Yoruba music in Celestial hymns, including:Pentatonic melodies (five-note scales), Call-and-response patterns,
Parallel 3rd and 5th harmonic movements in one of his paper at University of Ibadan. These features align with indigenous African musical structures and, in some cases, Highlife stylistic influences that are common in the Church today.
Late Professor Vidal of Obafemi Awolowo University noted that early Church music globally was shaped by Western traditions during the Medieval, Baroque, Classical, and early modern periods. Composers such as: Claudio Monteverdi, Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ludwig van Beethoven etc developed structured hymnody grounded in orthodox Christian traditions, often separated from secular expressions. However, Professor Emeritus Nkeita once emphasized that indigenous churches developed musical traditions distinct from orthodox Western churches, singing in native dialects, using traditional instruments, vibrant rhythms, and expressive spiritual engagement. Celestial Church hymns falls into this indigenous-spiritual category. Harmony Structure: Then and Now, Traditionally, Church music adopted the four-part harmony (SATB):Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass However, modern arrangements now sometimes expand into six-part harmony (MS, S, A, T, BA, B): Mezzo-soprano, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Bass.
The question is not whether expansion is musically possible, but whether it aligns with the prophetic origin and spiritual mandate of Celestial hymns.
THE DIVINE HYMNS OF THE CHURCH
The emergence of Celestial Church of Christ was not a human ambition but a divine assignment through the Pastor-Founder, Samuel Bilehou Joseph Oshoffa. The hymns of the Church were never composed by trained musicians applying theoretical frameworks. Rather, they were spiritually received through trance by prophets, prophetesses, and evangelists. These hymns were delivered as divine messages for HEALING, DELIVERANCE, BREAKTHROUGH, INSTRUCTION, AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE. They were not written to satisfy Western notation systems. They were given as instruments of grace.
Professor of Music Faseun, who is also a Celestian in a 2008 presentation to the Nigerian Musicologists Association, affirmed that Celestial hymns have performed miracles through unified, unison rendition. Their power lies in spiritual authority, not technical sophistication.
CONCERNS ABOUT THE NEW STAFF NOTATION HYMNAL.
As a trained musicologist, I raised certain professional questions regarding the introduction of staff notation: Have pitch inconsistencies in original renditions been critically reviewed? How will rhythmic complexities rooted in prophetic spontaneity be accurately captured?
Are there risks of altering the original tonal intentions? Were parish music directors and trained musicians within the Church consulted? Unfortunately, responses remain unclear, and many qualified music scholars within the fold appear uninvolved in the process.
THE CORE QUESTION
The issue is not opposition to documentation, Standardization can preserve legacy. The real question is this: Are we preserving divine originality, or are we reconstructing prophetic revelations to fit academic frameworks?
Hymns in Celestial Church of Christ is not merely art. It is ministry. It is revelation. It is spiritual technology. Any reform must therefore balance; Spiritual authenticity, Cultural identity, Musical accuracy, Administrative transparency because without this balance, we risk building a parallel musical future disconnected from our prophetic roots.
This is not a condemnation. It is a call for inclusive dialogue. If the hymnal is to be revised, let it involve; Theologians in the Church, Musicologists in the Church, Prophets within the fold, and the Church Music Director who is a music scholar, a PhD in Music and a lecturer at the Polytechnic of Ibadan (Music Department). Let the process reflect unity, scholarship, and spiritual sensitivity.
The Celestial hymn is more than melody; It is heritage, IT IS DOCTRINE.IT POWER.
S/L Akinleye Emmanuel
A Concerned Celestian
Sound Engineer
B.A (Music) Ife, M.A (Music) Ife, PhD (Music) in view, Ife.
08059997281
