All at Churches of Christ, for once, might strum, pray

From an AP article of the same title by Murray Evans appearing on Tacoma, WA's NewsTribune.com:

The turning point for Jeff Walling came two decades ago at a church youth conference. Sitting with arms folded, he listened to 3,000 teenagers singing and praising God with a guitar accompaniment - and felt ashamed. Walling, the son of a Churches of Christ preacher, had adamantly held to his group's teaching that using instrumental music in worship was wrong. But as he heard the youths worship, he began having doubts. Now Walling and other Churches of Christ leaders are at the forefront of what could be a seminal moment for their fellowship: a possible reconciliation with a group of independent congregations 100 years after the two became recognized as separate... Local congregations, known collectively as the "Churches of Christ," shun practices not contained in the New Testament, in particular the use of musical instruments in worship. The "independent Christian" or "instrumental" churches, use musical instruments and generally associate with the annual North American Christian Convention. But the two groups have common roots... The two groups claim a combined 2.6 million members in 20,000 U.S. congregations. But some, particularly within Churches of Christ, aren't excited about the possibility of reconciliation, as they believe that to compromise on the instrumental-music issue is akin to risking one's salvation. They maintain there is no New Testament example of instruments being used in worship, and that Christians need to be silent where the Bible is silent. "While we love our brethren very much, we don't feel that we can approve unauthorized worship," said Phil Sanders, the minister at the Concord Road Church of Christ in Nashville, Tenn. "Until we can get past that issue, we can't approve the reuniting of our fellowship."

The article goes on to discuss in some detail the history of the "Restoration Movement."