This coming weekend (Aug.16-18) at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC our church is kicking off the fall season with a hymn sing on Friday evening. Then, our choirs and orchestra will gather for rehearsals all day Saturday as we prepare music for the next day. It will even include a string workshop led by Frank Auer from Thistledown Strings. Then, on Sunday evening I’ll play a concert with Henry Haffner, Dr. Kevin DeYoung will speak, and our choir and orchestra will help me play the finale.
On Sunday morning we will use John Rutter’s arrangement of All Creatures of Our God and King. Then, on Sunday evening for the concert finale, we will sing You Reign. Betsy George (my mama) wrote the text based on Exodus 15, and I wrote the tune. Greg Wilbur arranged it for choir and orchestra. Big fun! And, whew, there’s a lot going on…
Take The Long View
Backing up, on Friday evening after we sing for a bit I will be talking about the importance of a multigenerational approach to music in the church. Why have adult and children’s choirs? Why include young players in the orchestra, especially if they are not always perfectly in tune? Why sing old hymns as well as new tunes?
Essentially my answer will be in the title to my keynote (great term for a musical weekend!): Take the Long View. This will point to three areas: 1. An effort toward excellence. 2. The Spirit’s work of shaping us after the likeness of Christ. 3. A covenantal plan: serving the body of Christ.
1. 2. 3. Go
First Area: In my context excellence does not look like gathering outside hired guns with amazing voices and killer chops. That can be good for a time or for particular purposes, but it does not generally build from within. Whether we are talking about small or large churches, taking the long view means getting your own folks involved, encouraging music lessons, and developing a love for serving one another with our best.
Second Area: Worship is the main discipleship arm of the church – not Sunday school, not Christian schools, not small groups, etc. All those things are wonderful and needed, but they are the result of weekly worship. The worship service is the fountain. Therefore, preparing music for public worship has a different purpose than school bands and choirs, homeschool ensembles, community orchestras, etc. Once again, all those things are wonderful. I’m thrilled my children are involved in them. However, taking the long view in the church context means that we prepare music for weekly worship while actively trusting that it changes us and trains us for all of life. Worship is discipleship.
Third Area: God has chosen to gather a family. He’s done this through a covenant, an eternal promise that knits people together by a redeemer and through a gift of grace. Though it may seem like a non-sequitur, note that he has not done this through a worship leader, but rather through a servant focused on bringing one generation after another to himself. I will contend that as we are shaped more like Christ we will be less like worship leaders and more like servants covered in robes of humble, joyful, service to God’s family, both young and old. Taking the long view implies that we are musical servants on a multigenerational mission from God.
As church musicians we are called to serve through musical excellence, thoughtful discipleship, and a multigenerational passing of the baton. That’s a calling with eternity in view.