'Miss Manners' On Applause in Church


It's a pleasant surprise to hear a word of sanity from the secular priestess
of manners, Judith Martin. In Miss Manners Rescues Civilization, she answers
a question about applause in church with, "Having forgotten church manners,
people are substituting those that would be proper for a performance...Hard
as it may be to imagine, musicians in church are supposed to play or sing
for the glory of God, not the pleasure of the congregation (which people
interestingly slip and call 'the audience'). That is why there should be no
applause in church. Not even for small children, who particularly need to
have the purpose of the performance explained to them."

In response to the protest that the Bible authorizes clapping (as is Psalm
47:1), Miss Manners proves herself a better theologian than many evangelical
worship leaders. "Where," she asks, "is the Biblical reference by which God
commands applause to honor musicians...?"

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