The History of Music in the Church will examine how our ancestors of faith in both the Old and New Testaments used music in their worship. We will research how music of the early church would have been adapted to the times of extreme persecution and then evolved after the 4th century when the melodies we call chant were finally collected, codified, and franchised to the churches in the 4th and 5th centuries. We will study the sources of single melody chants in the liturgy of the Mass, trace its evolution into two, three, and even more melodies being sung simultaneously, and look at the beginnings of music notation. Students will explore the musical diversities created by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation: from the Lutheran Chorales to metrical psalm setting; from the cantatas of Bach to English hymn settings; from the oratorios of Handel to spirituals and revival tunes; and from the organ musings of Olivier Messiaen to the pop/rock influenced praise music of today. We will also touch on the music used in the churches of the near East, Russia, and Africa.