宗教改革後，基督新教進行禮拜改革，加爾文主張聖餐與講道要並行，以聖靈臨在詮釋聖餐意義，他盡力在表達上帝奧祕與人的理性中間尋找一個平衡點。因為聖靈，我們在聖餐中認出耶穌與我們同在，聖靈的能力展現不只在聖餐，更普及於教會一切事工。長老教會禮拜以講道為中心，禮拜的特質偏向理性，而禮拜音樂則十分豐富。音樂本具和諧、淨化、治癒、抒發情感和教育之功能，能夠言說某些無法以言語清楚表達的東西。在宗教裡，人的情感需要適時地表達，而人與上帝接觸的神祕經驗，亦是宗教不能忽視的。想要在禮拜中表達宗教奧祕性，並使人的情感得到抒發，音樂是個可行的方法。台灣長老教會禮拜中的音樂，所要呈現的是上帝話語的信仰教導、非理性上帝的奧祕和支撐人類情感之歸依。透過音樂的運用，使禮拜不再只是一個盡基督徒義務的枯燥乏味儀式。

After Reformation, Protestant Christianity conducted the worship reformation. Calvin advocated sacrament and sermon should be parallel. He interpreted the meaning of sacrament with the presence of Holy Spirit. He tried to find balance of expressing God’s mystery and human reason. Because of Holy Spirit, we can recognize that Jesus is with us. The power of Holy Spirit is expressed not only in the Sacrament, but also in all ministries of church. Because of context, the Presbyterian Church worship is centered in sermon. The church worship is more rational character, but worship music is very rich. Music has the function of harmony, purification and healing; besides, it expresses human emotions and education. It can say something that cannot be expressed clearly in words. In religion, human emotions need to be expressed timely, and the mystery of the encounter between irrational God and human cannot be ignored. If we want to express the religious mystery and human emotions in worship, music is a suitable method. The role of music in Presbyterian Church in Taiwan is to present the belief of the Words of God, the mystery of irrational God, and support of human emotions. Through music, worship is no longer a boring ritual to fulfil Christian obligation.