Squirrel!

A funny thing happened to me the other day whilst I was serving in the music ministry team at church. A lady fainted in the back row during the third song.

Of course, this wasn't funny for her, and huge props must go to her husband who caught her. I'm glad to report that she is okay.

The funny thing was me. This all happened whilst I was leading a song, and what surprised me was how easily I managed to disengage my brain from what I was doing and turn my attention to the mild chaos in the back row. I still carried on singing the song and playing the right chords, but my mind was elsewhere. The people closer to the front may not have even noticed.

This led me to consider two things. As musicians serving in a church, I think it is good to cultivate a certain 'multitaskability', because things are going to happen around us that might throw us off. But for the sake of serving, being able to be aware of what is going on around you in the service and being able to carry on with your ministry is a very good skill to cultivate.

On the other hand, how easily are we distracted when we've been doing this for a long time? Have we gotten to the stage where we know the songs, with the words and the music so well, that it's like hitting 'play' on CD player? Do our hands and voices do their thing whilst we look around, watching the weather outside, look at who's in church today? If we're very good, we might even be able to do this without our faces even giving it away. Of course, you need a very convincing 'worship face' for that!

To serve well in this ministry, we need to engage with the songs we sing first. Once we have engaged, we can lead others and encourage them to engage with them. Our time of singing in church is a special time of praise to God our Father, who has gloriously saved us by his Son Jesus Christ. Let's make it that and try to shut out the distractions.

Very Useful Article on Micing Singers

Shure Notes Issue #43 - Engineers' Round Table

Worship Leader Magazine - Your Comments Please!

Commercialisation or helpful resource for gospel-centred ministry? Real church, or glossy-paged, celebrity-worshipping quasi-Christian subculture?

Have a read of a free edition http://blog.worshiptogether.com/worshiptogether/2010/10/free-septoct-issue-of-worship-musician-magazine.html

...and have your say here!

O Holy Night - ou est-il?

O Holy Night is one of the best loved Christmas carols of the last 150 years. I currently have a beautiful version by Kerrie Roberts on my iTunes, and it has been covered by everyone from Mariah Carey to Andrea Bocelli.

The song was originally written in French as Cantique de Noel, with music by Adolphe Adam, and words from a poem by wine merchant Placide Cappeau, in 1847.

What is fascinating about the song is the richness of Biblical imagery and ideas in the French version, that gets sadly lost in the English version. I suppose it wouldn't have attained it's great popularity if the lyrics had retained their hard-hitting talk of original sin and the wrath of God!

To compare the French, literal English and popular English texts, go to Wikipedia.com. Just to give you a taster, have a look at this line from the third verse:

French:

Le Rédempteur a brisé toute entrave :

La terre est libre, et le ciel est ouvert.

Il voit un frère où n'était qu'un esclave,

L'amour unit ceux qu'enchaînait le fer.

Popular English:

Truly he taught us to love one another,

His law is love and his gospel is peace;

Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,

And in his name, all oppression shall cease.

Literal English:

The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle:

The Earth is free, and Heaven is open.

He sees a brother where there was only a slave,

Love unites those that iron had chained.

Seems like Placide Cappeau was onto something! In verse 3's talk of liberation from slavery and oppression, which has become so political in our time, we have lost a Christmas reminder of our slavery to sin (Romans 6v17-18), Christ's destruction of the power of sin and death (Colossians 2v13-15), and Jesus Christ gladly considering us his brothers and sisters! (Hebrews 2v10-13).

So, who's going to have a crack at singing the literal words this Christmas?

Leading Songs

Too easily our song leading in church can become mechanical. The service leader announces the next song, the musicians play the intro, the singing starts the singing ends, and then the service moves on. Box ticked.

Here are a few principles to think about as we lead songs.

• Because we worship in song in response to God's revelation of himself in his Word, the leader should 'lead' the gathered church into the song from God's Word.
• The musical introduction should be part of the journey, setting the appropriate feel and atmosphere, as well as leading into the song musically. Think about the length, musical complexity, and instruments involved in order to do this.
• Mean the words we sing! Communicate this to the gathered church in our facial expressions and body language as we lead.
• Grasp the opportunity provided by musical interludes in songs to reflect on what you're singing, and enjoy praising God.
• Lead out of the song appropriately. Ensure that you put it down gently, and don't drop it! Note that you can even drop an uptempo rocker - you need to bring it to good end in order to move on in the flow of the service.
• After the song, leave space to breathe before moving on in the service.
• Perhaps it is appropriate to pray to God about something the song has raised.

These ideas all serve to ensure that the main thing is kept the main thing - God's people gathered to hear God speak and to worship him together. A good exercise if you are a muso or a service leader is to grab a song from your reportoire and go through these points with that song and see what you come up with. It might change the way you approach your church service!