Thursday Reflection from Archdeacon Brian 3/30
Let Us Sing!
We love to sing. It does not matter if we can carry a note, or not: we love to sing.
I love to sing. Do I sing well? Possibly not.
In the late fifties, a very musical family moved to our community. They had each mastered a number of instruments; and they could all sing--on note. They were a real gift to our small community and they improved the music program in our small rural congregation in a big way.
All was well! Except...
Except, in preparing for their first Christmas in the community, the father of the family decided to gather a ‘youth’ choir.
The choir was assembled, comprising mostly of young adolescents, girls and boys. With delighted enthusiasm, off I went to the first practice, too!
After the first few attempts to manage us into sections, the self-appointed choir-master halted the process. He turned to me, and suggested I might consider “lip-syncing”, so my voice might not spoil the singing.
You can imagine how that event affected me then, and to this day.
An ordained person in the Church, has many things to learn.
One of those learnings is about music. We are all passionate about music--possibly, even more than we are about theology, or the quality of the sermon.
Music is fundamental to our life of prayer and faith. Songs are prayer.
Music is integral to the shape of our spiritual lives.
One of the first notes about music is: it is constantly changing.
I often think about how music has changed in the life of worship, even over my generations.
As "baby-boomer" teens, the music we brought into the life of the parish was very different from that of our parents. I recall a contemporary of my grandmother, asking her if she, my grandmother, knew what I was singing.
I am sure Gen Z has praise music they would welcome in worship!
Choosing music for worship is a complex task, and involves reviewing many music books, and other resources. There are the scripture readings; the suggested hymns; the parish repertoire; the seasonal themes.
Then, there are the favorites: we all have them.
There are so many options, and so many things to consider!
One question is: do we tailor the music to the people in the pew, the people we hope to see in the pew, or for the spiritual growth of the worshipers in the pew?
This past Sunday, in our prayer petitions we gave thanks for the music leadership at St. John’s.
Parish history tells me, 'this parish has been gifted by many music leaders'. For this, we give thanks.
At the same time, from my personal perspective, I rejoice in the Parish’s willingness to learn new music. [I know, as long as it is not every Sunday.]
As we travel to Jerusalem with Jesus this week, and walk with him as he enters Jerusalem (on what today we know as Palm Sunday), we will rejoice in those favorite Palm Sunday Hymns. We will rejoice in their spiritual guidance, as we walk with Jesus to the cross, and stay, waiting for the resurrection on Easter.
Blessings,
Archdeacon Brian+