Guiding Worship
For those who plan and lead worship events.
Sing a new song
an interview with John Bell
Why is congregational singing so important to the life of the church?
First, because everyone can join in doing it. That sense of being a corporate body comes out in the song of the church more than anything else. We are doing something together for God.
Congregational singing is an identity-shaping activity. Are we sectarian, denominationbound Christians or are we universal Christians? The song of the church will tell us that. It will also tell us whether we are male dominated or whether the body of Christ is made in God’s image as much through its female members as its male members. A great deal of our singing has had images of soldiers and warriors, but never of midwives. God blesses midwives in the Bible, but we’ve never sung, “Midwives of God arise.”
If the church in the Northern Hemisphere does not in the next ten years use songs that come from Asia, South America, and Africa, it’ll be deemed racist.
The church’s song also reminds the world that voices are meant to do other than just talk. A repeated phrase in the psalms is: Sing to God a new song. The expectation is that this directive applies to everyone, not just the choir or the temple musicians. And in the book of Revelation we read that in heaven the saints and angels are singing a new song. Part of the job of the church is to both be faithful to God’s command and to anticipate heaven.
Since you’ve mentioned the “new” song, how do you deal with the tension between singing the “traditional” songs and singing the “new” songs?
It’s important to recognize that the church has always had different kinds of music. For the past 400 years church music has been shaped by the organ. Now, I love the organ; it’s my favorite instrument. But when the monks sang plainchant, they weren’t using the organ. When people set music to folk tunes as Luther did after the Reformation, they weren’t primarily thinking of organ music. When Moody and Sankey in America wrote their songs, they didn’t have the organ in mind. But in parts of the church there has been a subconscious effort to try to make everything sound the same, thus losing integrity.
Since the 1950s, people have been writing music for accompaniment on the guitar. They sometimes say: this is the way all church music should be. Such a stance is as arrogant about the dominance of the guitar the other is about the organ.
One of your critiques of contemporary Christian music is that it emphasizes only one aspect of human experience.
You can look at much new songwriting that has come out of Australia, Europe, and the U.S. since the 1960s and not get a sense that Christ was incarnate. The songs talk a lot about enthroning Jesus in our praises. You never get a Christ who argues, who’s angry, who deals with women, who heals people. You never get the full story of faith. In the end these songs are debilitating to faith.
Someone once said that congregations that only sing one style of music want only one kind of person.
And if you have only one kind of person you are able to see only one kind of God. If the church in the Northern Hemisphere does not in the next ten years use songs that come from Asia, South America, and Africa, it’ll be deemed racist. It will be seen as a case of musical apartheid. Most Christians in the world are black and are poor. They’re not white and affluent. If that’s the body of Christ of which we are members, then we have to share the joy and the pain of fellow members.
Any pointers on selecting music and involving the congregation?
One thing to do is ask whether a song is meant for a congregation to sing or for a choir or for a band. A lot of contemporary music is really meant for a small group to sing. And then we have to ask how different songs can best be articulated. “Amazing Grace” is a soul song—it’s a personal testimony. So why not have one person sing verse one, to take us into this intimate relationship, and then people can join in on verse two.
Also, you can ask whether it is a verse and chorus song. If so, don’t all sing the verses. Have somebody sing the verses and the congregation sing the chorus. Is it a folk tune? Forget the organ. Is it a syncopated tune? Forget the organ. Just look for the diversity and think about how it is articulated— that allows it to be a good experience for the people.
Of course, you have also to keep in mind where the song fits in the flow of the liturgy. Is it a song that helps the community to gather? Does it celebrate or comment on the gospel? In that case, let the preacher be aware that he or she does not have to say what the song has already said. You can intersperse a reading of a Gospel passage or a psalm with a short song. The songs of Taize can be used as a response during a prayer. Where does it say that every church service has to have five hymns and they all have to be five stanzas long?
Reprinted and abridged from an interview that appeared in the CHRISTIAN CENTURY July 25, 2006.
Used by permission.
John Bell is a church musician and song writer from the Iona Community in Scotland. He has appeared in many Mennonite settings in North America. Some of the songs he composed or arranged are in Sing the Journey, Hymnal: A Worship Book, Supplement I (Faith and Life Resources). He’s written The Singing Thing: A Case for Congregational Singing (Wild Goose Publications).