Music Ministry

I learned about planning worship from the best from my first church.  Sadly, I have found that not every church shares this vision of incorporating all parts of the service with a theme or approach.  Now of course music is a big part of worship - it can say so much that we can't do with words.  Even setting the mood from confession to assurance, from hope to lament.

I've planned services many times but never with such a limitation for the music.  A lead organist who is sometimes joined in with piano.  All psalter hymnal songs.  Now I'm not musically gifted but after some time of hearing others I know that the tempo for the music was normally too slow - and I suspect the same for every song.  Everything ends up sounding like a funeral dirge. 

But a local church in this small town brought in a very accomplished worship director from I think it was Winnipeg.  She was met with their diocese and also help open sessions for the community to teach how to sing as a group and for local churches how to plan a service.  In only my 2nd week I had this great resource!  I invited our music people.  The organist was surprised to learn that she is the lead.  Someone has to be and since I can't see her very clearly from the pulpit and the pianist is on the opposite side of the room wither her back to the congregation it may as well be her!

I was able to purchase some time to have the director listen to my voice.  She went through a scale with me and found my range she told me to describe it as C to the D after the next C.  Taught me a few Taize that I could teach the congregation.  No organ required.

Now how to get this into a service without upsetting the organist?   I asked if there were people wanting to learn new songs.  I had one very interested lady who was a visitor.  Finally I realized that I would have to just do it - chose one for before confession and one to follow.  Promised the congregation that if they hated doing the first one we would not attempt the second.  Bless them.  They were game and tried it and we did the 2nd one too.  People sang loud and I think God heard some beautiful music - he has gracious ears!  And the organist - well for the first time in a long time she was not available that Sunday.  I was able to give the congregation permission to think about what they can do as a group if there is no musician available.  A seed planted - along with other seeds planted by younger members who have wanted to play newer songs!

And what I am very pleased about is how I put forward the idea of change and let it go free.  Years ago I would have been working three times as hard to try to make it happen.  I'm learning to be gracious.

Scary standing there singing - could keep my eyes open as it breaks my concentration.  So a month later when my group is asked to lead worship at the retreat for all 3 Cohort years (about 30 people) I volunteered to sing Taize if there were absolutely no other options.  The chapel had beautiful acoustics which made me sound better than I am and people actually commented later on my voice - and the pleasure of using simple tunes during worship that they had not heard before.  I again closed my eyes - too nervous otherwise, but got through it.  Some people assumed that I sing like this all the time!  

It was a great summer of stretching myself.  We have an accomplished conductor in our small church that sometimes leads a choir at Christmas - I might actually see if I can join this year!