Several years ago, I was invited by the pastor of a prominent congregation to spend a weekend working with the choir. A long-tenured music director had left, and the choir was threatening mutiny—not my favorite assignment of all time. I spent the first part of the day running music they had in their active repertoire. Amazing musical sound—virtually no attention to what they were singing. There had been complaints from the congregation that the music seemed to be emotionless and spiritually flat. I began to understand why.
The second part of the day I dug deeper. We took the same pieces of music, but this time I focused their attention on the text: when was it written, by whom, and why? What could it be communicating to contemporary people? How did this musical interpretation bring out the nuances of the Scripture or poetry that was being sung?
Midway through this session, the paid alto section lead threw a fit. Clearly I was wasting her time and the time of everyone else in the choir. Who cares what the text is about as long as we sing the correct notes exquisitely? She threw down her folder and stormed out. I asked if anyone else had something more important they needed to attend to. No one moved. We finished the day focusing on the “what and why” of the music for the next morning—they had the “how.” In worship the next day, the choir sang the liturgy beautifully—without the alto section leader. The telling part came with comments from the congregation after worship: “Wow! What happened? This morning the choir sang like they believed something.”
I tell this long story to bring sharp focus to one specific point—the job of a musician is to create music, by yourself or with the ensembles under your care. The job of a church musician—or a music minister—is to nurture the faith and witness of the musicians under your care and, by extension, the congregation you and your ensembles are called to serve.
That last verb is critical. Team or choir, band or organ, our calling as church musicians only begins with getting the notes right. As worship leaders, we are drawing our congregation out of themselves and into the praise and worship of God. This includes giving them music they can access, helping them see its beauty, understand the text, and own the experience of worship. The team or choir is there to help—galvanizing the singing, modeling undistracted worship, reflecting authentic joy. The team or choir can’t offer what they don’t personally possess. Where to begin?
- Study the music completely before you introduce it. Many musicians focus on learning the notes, identifying the challenging parts, and mapping the rehearsal flow.
Excellent. But you’re not ready yet.
- Now study the text as completely. Do you know what it says? Many people are content to simply know what the words are—that’s like knowing a piece is in E-flat major without looking to check the range of the individual parts. What are the words communicating? Are they Scripture (God’s Word) or human words? Are they poetry or freeform? Is the language archaic or modern? What is the text saying about our understanding of God (theology) or our relationship with and responsibility to each other (socioecology)? How are these thoughts amplified by the music?
Excellent. But you’re not ready yet.
- How will your ensemble receive this piece? Will this be affirming or challenging? Will the music itself take so much of their attention that they’ll need extra time to own the text or vice versa? What about the congregation? How will you make this piece an accessible component of worship, not just “something they sang in church”?
Excellent! Now you’re ready.
Why is this so important? Can’t we just learn and sing music? Obviously we can, but that’s not all we’re volunteering to do. Church musicians have answered a specific and particular call. The Holy Spirit has inspired us to be followers of Jesus—part of God’s plan and purpose to bring the Good News of his Kingdom to the people under your influence. As we’ve said before, this begins with your team or choir:
- Making rehearsals more than notes and blend
- Building a compassionate, Christ-centered ensemble that will care for each other and inspire each other to personal ministry just by being part of the team or choir
- Including time for text study and prayer as a central part of every rehearsal
- Modeling humility and servant leadership
- Realizing you are shepherding souls as well as shaping sound
By extension, this can carry into the congregation. Despite the meltdown of one persnickety alto, the congregation in the story above experienced their choir much differently after just one reformulated rehearsal. Imagine what you can accomplish over time!
It all comes down to this: Christians are called and set apart by God solely for the purpose of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. We do this by continually growing more Christlike. Worship is a critical component of that growth, and music is an essential part of worship. We can either perform notes we’ve learned, however beautifully, or we can use the music God has inspired to nurture God’s people and share our faith—bringing notes and texts to life for ourselves, and inviting others into a deeper relationship with our living Lord.
These thoughts were part of a devotion that a director shared with a choir at a startup gathering a few weeks ago:
It is not enough to just sing about faith, we must be saved by it and live by it.
It is not enough to just sing about Good News, it must become a reality in our lives.
It is not enough to just sing about praise, we must exhibit a grateful and dependent spirit.
It is not enough to just sing about Christ, it must be he who is evident in our lives at all times.
—Rob Hewell
I couldn’t agree more!
