Christians should not neglect the importance of joy -- celebration and enjoyment. What will our listeners think if, while looking to their radios for entertainment and relaxation, they often find heavy, serious, issue-oriented subjects and presentations?
A role of programming is to demonstrate what we have to celebrate and how we celebrate it. Music and other art forms are ideal ways of expressing this. But do we do enough of it? Singing has always been one of the characteristics of Christianity. It is a sign of joy and happiness -- attributes that communicate powerfully with the human spirit.
Of course, we need to consider what is appropriate in different programming contexts, so that we don't give the wrong impression to our audience and create misunderstanding. Authentic expressions of joy, praise and worship must be found for each culture so that they will be recognised, have meaning and be understood. Radio can do much to propagate and popularise these expressions of worship.
The Papuri! (Praise!) project in the Philippines offers an excellent model for this. Papuri! was set up in 1979 to encourage the development of authentic musical expressions of Christian faith within the Filipino culture. For too long the Filipino church had depended on western music.
FEBC- Philippines staff felt the time had come for change (this, by the way, does not only apply to the Philippines!). Project organisers encouraged Filipino Christians to write their own songs in a national competition. A panel selected the best fourteen entries from around 300 submitted. The music was arranged by accomplished musicians and the resulting songs were recorded in the FEBC music studio. A cassette album, launched at a series of concerts, was compiled from the winning entries and was accompanied by a songbook with complete music and lyrics. This became an annual event. The cassette albums are sold in department store chains and other outlets throughout the Philippines, and among Filipino migrant workers in the Middle East.
The quality of music, style and depth of expression improved and changed over the years. In the beginning the music tended to reflect personal testimony. Since then, the range has widened to include themes such as praise and worship, missions, Christmas and children's music. Sometimes, in response to certain social trends in the nation, the competition was based on a central theme. For example, during the turbulent years of political and social unrest in the Philippines in the mid-1980s, the 1986 Papuri! theme was The Sufficiency of God.
Popularity of the music also prompted the development of an award-winning radio program of the same name. This program was made available to other radio stations and helped them satisfy the government requirement for a daily minimum of original Filipino music. Another by-product of the project has been the concerts it spawned in local churches. Papuri! singers formed themselves into an association. They are drawn from both FEBC and non-FEBC staff and are guaranteed a minimum number of performances a year. Churches contact FEBC, requesting Papuri! singers to perform at special events such as anniversaries.