To Be or Not To Be: Use of the Organ in Church
One of the questions that arises in our weekly YouTube live show and from some parishioners is the why do Orthodox Churches in America use organs? Isn’t this against our Orthodox tradition? Some conservative Orthodox will answer with the very strict interpretation that instruments such as pianos, drums, or guitars and yes, organs, artificially stir up emotions that are not appropriate for Orthodox worship.
Now this is not necessarily without foundation as the Early Church recognized the association of the organ and other instruments being used for pagan ceremonies. During the time of the Early Church in the 4th century organs were used in the circuses of the Colosseum and Hippodromes leading a number of the Church Fathers to speak out against the use of such instruments as inappropriate for Christian worship…