from YouTube, World Cup Channel- The Experience- Lee Kormish asking,“ How can we make this song sound as impressive as possible?”, perhaps we should sometimes be asking,“ How can we help the people in this room sing?”
3. MIXED MESSAGING To me, if you’ re going to perform music as an expression of worship, do that. Do it well. Or, if we want to lead our congregation to worship God by singing together, do that— and do it well. But mixing those two purposes together can easily leave everyone— congregants and the team on the platform— a bit confused, with neither objective being achieved particularly well.
The question isn’ t whether the music is good. The question is: What is the music trying to accomplish?
There is a profound difference between creating a great musical moment and creating a moment in which everyone participates. The first can be thrilling. The second can be transformative.
4. JUST A GENTLE REMINDER The Bible instructs us— the church— to sing together. Just sayin’.
Notice what happens when a soloist takes over the anthem. The room shifts. We move from singing with someone to listening to someone. Those are two very different experiences.
Perhaps we have sometimes made a similar shift in the Church. We can become so focused on creating a compelling musical experience that we unintentionally turn the people in the room into an audience. The musicians sing. The congregation listens. The musicians demonstrate. The congregation observes. The musicians carry the musical responsibility. The congregation becomes increasingly unsure whether their own voices are actually needed.
But they are.
That World Cup moment in Seattle made me think about this differently. More than 60,000 people were gathered for a football match. They weren’ t assembled as a choir. They hadn’ t rehearsed together. They weren’ t professional singers. Nobody was standing in front of them demonstrating vocal gymnastics. They were simply given the opportunity to sing their national anthem. And they did.
It was almost as if they were brimming with
eagerness to sing, given the right situation.
Perhaps that’ s one of the things we underestimate about people in our churches. People want to participate. They want to contribute. They want to use their own voices.
But participation doesn’ t happen automatically. It has to be invited. Our congregations need to know, both musically and psychologically, that their voice is wanted. Their voice is not merely permitted. Their voice is the imperative.
Perhaps the question for those of us who lead music in the gathered church isn’ t,“ How can we make this musical moment better?” Perhaps it is:“ How can we help our congregation sing?” Oh. And by the way: The USA beat Australia two nil.
Grant Norsworthy Grant is the founder of More Than Music Mentor- providing online & onsite training for the heart & the art of worshipping singers, instrumentalists & technicians. Grant’ a passion is to IMPROVE musicality, INCREASE participation, INSTILL unity & INSPIRE worship in The Church worldwide. An Aussie who also lived in Nashville, TN, USA for 17 years as a pro CCM muso, today Grant lives and works from his Nelson New Zealand home base.
MoreThanMusicMentor. com Facebook. com / GrantNorsworthy
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