Songs of the Journey

As I type, I’m listening to a CD our music director loaned me. It has a song I’ve recently fallen in love with thanks to the online Sing! Global conference a couple of weeks ago. A few days ago, someone translated the musical performed by a group of teens and young adults back in 1999 from VHS to digital and put it on youtube for all of us from that traveling team to watch 21 years later. The piano notes came back to my fingers quickly despite the time that had passed.

One of my favourite parts of planning worship is choosing music to complement the theme and where we’re going in the service. The vast amount of options - hymns, praise songs and other styles - can at times threaten to overwhelm me. I’ve learned to be attuned to the congregation where I’m leading worship and to choose things that will speak to their context, their musical sensibilities and their comfort level while still challenging them with the Word.

I was certainly blessed to be the daughter of a church organist and to have sung in choirs and taken piano lessons from an early age. It amazes me that all these years later, God is still using those gifts and experiences to bless others and to bless me. I knew I would never be a concert pianist or professional vocalist, but I have never regretted having a musical background. Musicians are sensitive to nuances that others might miss. They’re literally forced to serve in harmony, to hear the other parts and blend, to work together to create a beautiful sound. This is a powerful metaphor for the church.

The fact that current Covid-19 guidelines restrict congregational singing weighs heavily on me. I’ve been a choir of one for much of the last several months, leading those watching at home in their pjs and suits and dresses. Music and singing together is a huge part of the identity of Knox worship and that’s a wonderful thing. So I’m trying to wrap my head around a return to worshiping together on-site, whenever that is, and what it will look like in this pandemic.

I know that some churches are having a soloist or a few singers, far away from everyone else, who sing on behalf of the congregation and lead those watching from home. Some churches are humming with masks on. Some are ignoring the guidelines altogether and singing with masks or without. It remains to be seen what current guidelines will be once the time comes that we re-open our doors.

Regardless of what we end up doing, music will be integral. The praise of God through music is pivotal to our worship. Can we worship without it? Sure. But music does something that speaking alone can’t do. So in the meantime, we will lead people in singing from their homes, we will engage the musical gifts of people from the congregation safely, and I will continue to post inspirational songs I come across on facebook or in our weekly congregational e-mails because I know the power of music to inspire, to encourage, to revitalize and to restore us.

This week I thank God for music, the many gifted musicians among us, and the power of the words and melodies that stick with us long after most sermons and which spark memories and cradle our faith. May God continue to be praised by our music as an offering from hearts of gratitude.