Making Music - Why Excellence?

I attended the Association of Lutheran Church Musician's Conference and the ELCA Worship Jubilee last week - titled "Called To Be A Living Voice"

We spoke of many things, and we worshiped well! Evening Prayer, Morning Prayer, Eucharist - we did it all. We used many styles of music and different venues, instruments, languages and more. It was a wonderful experience to be with God and so many sisters and brothers in Christ worshiping in so many different kinds of art and musical experiences. My thanks to all who served to make that happen!

The theme "Called To Be A Living Voice" had much to offer. But I want to talk about one aspect: "Excellence in Worship" Why bring our best? How do we (as musicians) define that in each and every context or church? Is it the same everywhere, and if not - what does that mean?

The discussion and events of this last week have me thinking. I want to share those thoughts here:

As Christian Musicians, we lead the peoples' song. Our local church community has a relationship with God, and that is the context in which we lead the peoples' song. In using the word relationship, I don't mean each person's own personal relationship. I think we will do well to remember that our place is to lead music and musicians who are part of our local corporate worshiping community in relationship with God Almighty. That is no little thing! Living in that, we open ourselves up and are authentic in who we are. If we are Christian musicians, we participate in worship, in confession and forgiveness, in prayer, receiving God's Word in scripture and sacrament, and sing the church's song as best we can in our context. Know this - Christian or not - we musicians are part of the "corporate" relationship our community has with God. This relationship is deep and abiding. This is not merely some ritual - historic or contemporary - but a living relationship with God and God's people. That is why we yearn for music and arts in worship. Our deeper experiences cry out for expression from our artists! That is why we sing. This is a deep, abiding and lasting loving relationship that has a history and a future! And we are part of that.

So being a church music leader is not just about the ability to conduct a choir, read music or play a keyboard. Its not only about how good a musician you are. Each of us is unique and we bring our "self" to our situation every week at church. We know who we are, we know our abilities, we continue to hone them, to be open to learning and to do our very best as musicians. 

But each of us is in a different place. We each have a different skill-set: conductor, keyboard player, composer, singer, etc... We are not the same. When we bring our very best, (at whatever level we inhabit) others see that we are part of a community that accepts the Good News of Jesus Christ down into our very being so deeply, that we respond with all that we have, with all that we are. In that, they can see how Christ is transforming us. God uses us in our vocation to bear witness to God's grace in the communities in which we serve!

For some of us, that means making it through the hymns on Sunday without playing pedals at the organ, being thankful we got most of the notes! For others, it means spending the time working with that chorister who needs our help staying on pitch. For some, it means working more diligently on our planning. For others, it means more hours on the organ console, practicing! We all, in some fashion, spend time in rehearsal - individual and otherwise.

In all that we do, in all that we are - I believe we should remember who and whose we are. And in that, we respond to God's great gift of grace - through the incarnation, life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, who died for us. Knowing that, how can we give less than our best? And when you are giving your best, do NOT compare it to someone else's best. Give YOUR best that day, and God will receive it, and bless it and accept it as an offering. That offering is worthy not because of our work, but because of God's grace! Give it and let go of it, for it is in God's hands.

Soli Deo Gloria! (Glory to God Alone - signed by J. S. Bach on his church compositions)

Summer - a time in the Church Liturgical Calendar that has several names depending on where you are: Trinity Season - Pentecost - Ordinary Time - Time after Pentecost. This is a time when we deliberately dig into scripture and listen to Jesus Christ - opening ourselves up to grow.

It's summer - with summer rains, crops are growing, the grass is constantly growing! This is a good time of year to think about - well - growing! But I am going to speak a bit differently about this aspect of our spiritual development and our physical and emotional aging.

Yes, I used those two words - development and aging.  2 Corinthians 5:17 "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" Becoming new is a gift of God's grace - and it happens every time we develop - and we only develop as we live and breathe, which means we develop while we age. By the way - that is a good thing.

Do you have a favorite song or hymn? Many church musicians save those favorites for summer as there are fewer or no choir members in the loft, They use the favorites knowing the congregation will sing them with great gusto - becoming their own leaders. The congregation has learned over the years as they have aged - and music is a great mnemonic device! So, instead of having a weaker
sound in the summer, you might sing "O God, Our Help in Ages Past"- or in more modern worship, your congregation might already use "You Are Mine" for  communion - and you might marvel at the strength of the singing.

The singing of the hymn is part of the learning and a symptom of our growth. Music is selected to be paired with, support or introduce the scriptures for the day. As congregations get used to singing a hymn over and over, we develop a sense of where the musician will get louder or softer; and develop a relationship with the song and the musician. Through good times and bad, we often lock on to particular hymn texts, taking comfort and strength from them - attaching to them on an emotional level. On certain Sundays, if we are paying attention, we also develop a greater insight into the Gospel.  In this, we are made new!

All of this from a hymn? Why yes - or from any song or familiar psalm or piece of liturgy. How often have you heard that Alzheimer's patients can respond to the Lord's Prayer or Psalm 23? Music is a platform for even quicker learning and development for many people.

But wait a minute, what if your local musician isn't bringing out the old favorites - what if he or she is challenging you with (gasp!) newer music! Take a deep breath and listen to the music, join in where you can and remember that you are also growing in this music. You are taking baby steps. You are still being made new - whether you are 16 or 76!

Music - old or new, comfortable or not, is a chance to grow. Even if, especially if, you think you cannot sing or make music. No one is there to perform, but to experience worship - to praise God, to thank God, to be in a place and with the people of the church where God comes to you in Word and Sacrament. Music can support that if you will let it. Please open your ears and your heart and listen to what God is saying in the moment in this season of growth.

I pray your music is wonderful, beautiful and always new. I pray you receive God this week and re-present God to others with whatever means has been given to you - whether it is through music, bible study, being thankful and polite to someone at the store - but always - with a song in your heart!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Lent, the 40 days (not including Sundays) before Easter, is a time of re-turning to God. This is a time that is filled with a different kind of music than we have heard for the last 3 months; music that leads us into contemplation, confession and to a different kind of listening.

Yes, listening – something our culture doesn’t always do well. When I started this blog, I had hopes of writing every week or two, of posting my thoughts and experiences as a church organist. I started talking to my colleagues and other organists – but realized that it’s not that simple. We are a different kind of musician, you see – and that is hard to put into words.

Because even though we may play the same instrument, we often have to be many different things to many different congregations – and that variety is hard to sum up in a few words.

So, I stopped writing the blog and started listening.

As I carved out more time for silence and listening to others, reading more of what other organists are struggling with – I realized that Lent is never really gone for us. As organists, we are always aware of all of the noise in the room – and for those of us who are also choir directors, we are ever vigilant to how we will balance the instrument, the singers and the room – we are constantly re-tuning and re-turning everything to the Lord.

So we re-turn to the Lord every week, praying for guidance, listening to the choir, the room and the people. And during this time of year, many of us find that some of the folks around us in our congregations have stopped talking as much and are listening – at least a little more. And this is our opportunity to give them a reason to keep listening.

So if, in the next few weeks, as you listen to prelude and special music, if you hear more silence, remember it is all part of the music – including the silence. For in the silence – the music lingers, and it grows, attaching itself to us. It weaves its way slowly through our ears, our minds and into our hearts – re-turning us to the room, the day, and the presence of God around us. For God is with us in the music too. The music, for some of us, is where we encounter God early in the day – whether the music is in our minds – ringing in the silence, or in our ears coming from instruments or voices, it calls us to re-turn.

Lent – Spring, new life – in the music, however it comes. Yes.