On Sunday April 19 , 2021 the worship community lost one of its finest . After a threeyear battle with a brain tumor our friend Rick Muchow went home to be with the Lord . Rick was the founding Worship Pastor for Saddleback Church ( 24 years ), a Professor of Worship , Director of Practicum and Worship Artist in Residence at California Baptist University and was a mentor to the worldwide worship music community . Personally , he was a friend to me , always encouraging me in what we do with [ WM ] Worship Musician magazine and the Christian Musician Summit conferences . We will miss him dearly . In honor of Rick we are going to re-print his last article that he wrote for us from 2018 . Read it and see why Rick was such a treasure …
HOW TO GET YOUR CHURCH TO SING DURING WORSHIP Aristotle said , " Music has the power to shape a culture ." An advocate for congregational singing , Martin Luther said , “ Next to theology , I give the first and highest honor to music .” Realizing the power of congregational participation as Saddleback began to explode with growth , Pastor Rick Warren wrote , “ In the first years of Saddleback , I made the mistake of underestimating the power of music so I minimized the use of music in our services . I regret that now .” One of the purposes of the church is gathering together to engage in worship .
Is your congregation singing or just watching during worship ? Many churches have lost the gift and joy of congregational engagement in worship . This can be frustrating but it ’ s not hopeless . Worship is a powerful witness and even more powerful when it comes from the people in the seats not just from the people on the platform . In their book , Lovin ’ on Jesus , Swee Hong Lim and Lester note participation is a marker of contemporary Christian music . Rory Noland writes , “ Worship is participatory ; it is not something done to me by a worship band .” In fact , congregational singing is imbedded into the spiritual DNA of the church . In this article , I will show you how to choose great songs for your church and how to ENGAGE your people to sing more during worship . First let ’ s look at a very brief history of singing to God in the church .
Ryrie writes , “ The New Testament exhorts both private and public singing as a facet of worship .” The biblical and historical evidence points to the importance of congregational singing . Historically , the worship song ’ s music and lyric has been vital to the congregational singing experience . After the songs from the early church were written , dating back to the third and fourth centuries , composers like Ambrose of Milan valued congregational singing and wrote specifically to encourage participation using musically simple songs . The Council of Laodicea ( 363-364 AD ) halted congregational singing ( in the Western Church ) for one thousand years . Martin Luther ’ s leadership helped bring the song back to the voices of the congregation . In 1903 , the Pope encouraged participation in worship with his Motu Proprio decree . Lowell Mason and writers of his day wrote music in a warm devotional style , combining simplicity and dignity . Ira Sankey ’ s