by William McConnell
Small and mighty are not mutually exclusive terms. Not in life, not in the church and certainly not in music ministry! With a little creativity and persistence, a small group of dedicated congregational leaders can transform Sunday mornings into exciting and uplifting times of spoken worship and musical praise!
But wait, you say — there are realities to consider. We have six choir members, our piano is out of tune, our hymnals are old, the music in our choral anthem files was purchased when the choir was much larger and we haven’t been able to hire a music leader, pianist or organist. Our music in worship isn’t like what it used to be.
To that last concern, I reply: You are absolutely correct. Music may not be like it once was. But is that necessarily a bad thing? Can there be a new and exciting reality — smaller, leaner and built around the particular strengths and gifts of your members? Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, what are the riches residing among your congregation’s members and friends?
Might there be a member of your congregation with a strong and confident — though not necessarily, or even desirably, operatic — voice? Would that person be willing to lead the congregation in unaccompanied singing? What about a child or youth who sings in the school choir?
Might someone with a little piano skill be able to lead a limited number of hymns? Did you know that the melody of many hymns can be played using just the black keys of the piano? Amazing Grace, How Firm a Foundation, Jesus Loves Me, I’ve Got Peace Like a River, and many spirituals like Amen, Steal Away and Guide My Feet can be played this way. Try it.
Are there instruments lurking in members’ closets that haven’t been played in a while that might be coaxed back into service to help lead the people’s song?
Have you determined the hymns and songs that your congregation best knows and most loves — and then creatively considered how to include those favorites in worship? Could a less familiar, though theologically rich, hymn become a choir’s anthem? Could that anthem, sung several times by the choir, move from new and unfamiliar into the realm of comfortably familiar?
Community grows when congregations focus not on what they don’t have, but on what riches they possess. When conversations after worship recognize abundance rather than scarcity, even limited resources take on holy significance. When congregations celebrate with gratitude the gifts God has given, “what used to be” becomes blessed memory, and “what possibly can be” becomes energizing, inviting and empowering.
Music in worship as it used to be may not be today’s reality. What once was may not be possible right now. But what can be — an engaged congregation using its own musical resources to glorify God and build up God’s people — can be a mighty witness to the abundance that continues to reside among God’s faithful people.
William McConnell is executive director of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. He has held music ministry positions in Presbyterian, United Methodist, Episcopal and Mennonite Brethren congregations. He currently lives in Louisville and is a ruling elder at Highland Presbyterian Church.
