The Choir Room Podcast
This podcast exists to promote and encourage two long-time traditions in our society that seem to be dwindling…The Choir and Corporate Singing. We hope to revive the excitement and joy experienced with singing in a choir, as well as inform and educate the listener on all things singing, and all things choir related.
A weekly podcast featuring discussion and interviews with choir directors, choir members, and other guests representing church choirs, college and university choirs, community choirs, show and theatre choirs, composer of choir music, and other.
Segments include tips and instruction from skilled and professional disciplines within the choir community covering topics such as choir culture and community, choir directing, vocal training, ear training, sight reading, and more. A monthly virtual live audience episode allows the listener to engage with hosts and guests during instructional and Q&A segments via the live recording, chat, email, on various social media platforms.
A production of Metromusic & Arts, Inc.
- www.metromusic-arts.com
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The Choir Room Podcast
The Life-Long Benefits of Singing In A Choir: Greg Takes A Trip Down Choir Memory Lane and The Team Discusses Adjustment and Vibrato In the CRQ.
Remember when we used to stand shoulder to shoulder with others, belting out tunes like 'This Land is Your Land' and 'If I Had a Hammer' in our school choir? The thrill of those harmonies is no small part of our shared experience. We invite you to join us on a nostalgic journey as we delve into the importance of choral singing, and how it is undeniably interwoven with our societal fabric.
Have you ever considered altering your singing style to please your choir teacher? Spoiler Alert – Don't. Our conversation in this episode steers towards the importance of maintaining your unique voice. We bring you the insights from our high school choral teacher, the late Eugenia Powell, who reminded us that every setting requires its unique approach, especially gospel. We also explore the critical role of control in vibrato, how it demands practice and dedication, and the challenge it can pose.
As we round up the episode, we emphasize the essence of learning from other singers, and realizing that the beauty in music often lies beyond our comfort zones. We also delve into the significance of heart posture during congregational worship – it's not merely about hitting the right notes, but about reaching out to the Almighty with a pure heart. As we strip away the frills, we are left with the unblemished gospel, a reflection of what lies deep within us. Join us for this enlightening episode as we explore the joy, the power, and the unity that singing in with others brings!
Perpetuating and Promoting the Christian and Positive Idea Through the Medium of Music and Other Arts.
Welcome to the Choir Room. This is Season 1, Episode 21 of the Choir Room Podcast.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Choir.
Speaker 1:Room. I'm Greg Thomas, your host, and I'll soon be joined by my co-host, doreen Johnson. Welcome to the Choir Room, mi'eta Stanselfarar, and who we like to call the fourth wheel, coleman Smart, if you're joining us for the first time. This podcast exists to promote and encourage two long-time traditions in our society that seem to be dwindling away, and that is choir and corporate singing. We endeavor to revive the excitement and joy experienced with singing in a choir, as well as inform and educate the listener on all things singing and all things choir related. We've just come out of the Labor Day weekend and it seemed as if summer had just molded on the way. While summer is back and it seems to have reappeared with yellow school buses, schools are opening across the country, colleges and universities as well. This is usually an exciting time for students and instructors alike. High school choirs, colleges and universities, community choirs, are all starting to prepare For the fall season and, of course, for the holiday. We have much to talk about here in the choir room, much to share, much to learn. If you haven't subscribed already, make sure you do so by sending the words subscribe to the choir room at metromusic-artscom, or you can subscribe anywhere that you get your podcast, while summer seems to have returned with a vengeance, but school buses and morning traffic seem to remind us that the fall season is just a few weeks away. On last week, we had a discussion about why singing with others may be better for you, and our discussion was based on an article written by a writer in the UK, and for two years this writer followed a medical study that was centered around the benefits of singing with others. The people who were involved in the study were patients, caregivers, oncologists and other doctors, and when they got together each week, they didn't discuss the common denominator, which was cancer. They got together to sing and the study showed the benefits of singing with others. Now I'll get into those benefits a little bit later, but I do encourage you to go back to episode 20 and hear the discussion.
Speaker 1:However, as we go into this fall season of season one of the choir room podcast, and as our students and teachers prepare to go back to school, I'm reminded of the significant impact that singing with others has had on my life. I can remember the excitement I had as a kid getting ready to go back to school. For me, it wasn't so much about the new clothes although that was exciting. Making new friends was also something to look forward to, although the vast majority of us lived in the same neighborhood and we saw each other pretty much every day. But what made it really exciting for me was the fact that I actually enjoyed learning. Math and social studies were my favorite academic subjects, with science as a close third. Music and phys ed were my other favorite subjects and though they weren't electives, if I had the choice or the chance, I would have skipped math and social studies and I would have been in music and phys ed all the day long, all week, all year.
Speaker 1:You know, to this day I distinctly remember our elementary school teacher, mr U Banks, introducing us to songs like this Land is your Land. Now, go ahead and get your comments out and send them to me. I know you're sitting there chuckling to yourself and saying, well, how hokey and how fokey. Now, this is not the version we did in elementary school.
Speaker 1:Mr U Banks was a singer and musician and he had his own arrangement of this song and he taught it to us in third and fourth grade, as I remember it, and it was more of a choir arrangement. Now, having been brought up in church and sitting in choir rehearsals. You know that I immediately related to his arrangement because it was a choir arrangement. He arranged songs like If I had a Hammer. Now you're going to have to get past your style preference and listen to what they're saying.
Speaker 1:And how could you not enjoy the entertainment of the late Sammy Davis Jr? Yes, my elementary school teacher even had a choir arrangement of the Candy man. You can imagine third, fourth and sometimes fifth graders dancing around the classroom to the Candy man. I remember black, white, hispanic, indian and Asian students just dancing around the classroom enjoying the sound of music and singing, and you can't forget the exposure to the instrumentation and orchestration in this music. Now, I still welcome your comments about this. Now, elementary school was K through 8, and so 6, 7 and 8th grade was in the same school building, and so it was in these grades that we were introduced to a different style of music. Show tunes and movie soundtracks became popular Corgi and Bess featuring Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Did she say the Sea of Gallery? This was a time when you could sing the name Jesus in school and nobody was offended. If you didn't live in a home where Jesus was worshiped, that was okay. Nobody was offended by that.
Speaker 1:Now, how ironic that it seems every church film, school choir, college choir and even in the clubs they were singing this song. Now, I had grown up listening to this song and songs like it, and so this wasn't new to me. But for it to be introduced in school was amazing, and it made choir and singing together so much more fun. And as some of the songs we grew up listening to began to infiltrate and make its way into all facets of our society, then came this Based on the performing arts school in New York City, this soundtrack began to permeate every school graduation, including my own. By 8th grade, mrs Lucera was our new music teacher and Mr U-Bangs had retired, but, as you can hear, they're still choir, they're still singing together, and this soundtrack became the soundtrack for our 8th grade graduation. Now I remember clearly hearing the lyrics as she was teaching it to us and saying to myself I have heard this somewhere before. Well, as I was challenged by my music teacher to learn how to play this on the piano for our graduation, it occurred to me that this is an arrangement of a hymn never alone. Well, needless to say, I had a blast learning this song on the piano for our graduation and then, of course, learning that the hymn itself was something we would sing in church, but obviously the original arrangement. And by the time I was into high school, almost every song had the potential for being arranged for choir, from commercial jingles to sitcom themes, from radio tunes to film. In my head I could always hear a multitude of people singing a choir arrangement to almost any song, and a lot of those arrangements I actually did, but they were mostly for my own musical pleasure.
Speaker 1:Now, by this time, high school was about to come to an end and Lynel Richie and the late Michael Jackson got together, hooked up with Quincy Jones, the maestro himself, and penned the words to this piece. Don't fight it. I know you're sitting in the car or you're at the house or on the job and you're swaying back and forth and you're probably singing. Everybody knows this one. The brilliance of Quincy Jones to bring together artists from all cultures, genres and styles social status was amazing for the world. There hasn't quite been a choir like this since, with mission and unified purpose, leaving their personal preferences and uniting themselves while not losing their individuality.
Speaker 1:Well, you've figured out by now that this commentary is all about coming together. It's all about the joy and the pleasure and the benefit of singing with others, and so, yes, I agree that singing with others is better for you. It does reduce stress, it lessens anxiety, it stimulates memory, it increases lung capacity and brings ease to postpartum depression. That choir promotes social bonding and it contributes to a sense of belonging and joy. The researcher also shows that groups singing fosters trust, cooperation and social cohesion.
Speaker 1:The study has also shown that singing has numerous health benefits for older adults too Fewer falls, fewer doctor visits, fewer prescription drugs, better social connections and better cognitive function. So let me encourage you. You don't have to be a superstar like the we Are the World Choir. Everyone can benefit from being a part of a choir If you have breath in your lungs. This is an opportunity to make a joyful noise unto the God, who has given you that breath and has given you the innate desire to sing out loud. Join a choir school choir, church choir, college choir, community choir and experience the benefit, excitement and joy of singing with others. Dorian, take us to our hymn of the week.
Speaker 4:Thanks, greg. This week's hymn of the week is to God be the glory, another hymn by Fanny Crosby. Psalm 115, verse 1, says Not to us, o Lord, not to us, but to your name, give glory for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. And when we see that term, steadfast love, in some translations of the Bible some translations translated as loving kindness, it speaks of the covenant keeping love of God. It's a love that surpasses all of the obstacles. That would say that the love should not be shown towards that particular person. But God has shown his steadfast love for us and we will hear of that steadfast love in this hymn. We're also told in 1 Corinthians, 10, 31,. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. And so this hymn reminds us that, as part of our right response to what God has done for us, we are to give him all of the glory. Verse 1 says To God be the glory. Great things he has done. So loved he the world that he gave us his Son. No greater gift could be given but in his sending the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who reminded us of his God's great love for us, the Father's great love in sending the Son, in John 3, 16, and we're told in the second part of the verse why he was sent, told that he yielded his life an atonement for sin and opened the life gate that we may go in reminding us that Christ died for the sins of his people. He died for the sins of those that the Father foreknew before the foundation of the world and upon whom the Father had placed his great love.
Speaker 4:In verse 2, we're told a perfect redemption, purchase of blood to every believer, the promise of God. The vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus forgiveness receives. And we're reminded that, seen upon the cross, where one of the robbers who's hanging there with him, turns to Christ and in faith says to the Lord Jesus, jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And says in verse 43 of Luke 23,. And he said to him truly, I say to you today you will be with me in paradise. This man who had lived the life of sin, this man who is being punished for his sin rightfully punished for his sin, recognized that Christ was the innocent one, but recognized Christ as the promised one, the Messiah, and in turning and putting his faith in him received that great promise of forgiveness and the great promise of eternal life in heaven with him.
Speaker 4:And in verse 3, and he cross be, turns our eyes towards heaven once again, saying great things he has taught us, great things he has done, and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son. But pure and higher and greater will be our wonder, our transport or our overwhelming joy when Jesus we see First. John 3,2 says beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him because we will see him as he is. And that great refrain that so many across the world know, perhaps in different languages, says praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice. So come to the Father through Jesus the Son and give him the glory, great things he has done.
Speaker 4:Hebrews 1,1 tells us that in many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.
Speaker 4:And so we hear the voice of God when we read the word of God, when we see his great promises indicated to us in his word. When we're told that we're to come to the Father through Jesus the Son, we're reminded of what Christ said in John 14,6. When he said I am the way and the truth in the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And as we consider the great things that God has done, reminded also of these words of the prophet Samuel and his farewell address to the nation of Israel when he said in 1 Samuel 12,24, only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. As we consider the great things that God has done for us in Christ and giving us redemption in the work of sanctifying us, making us and conforming us to be more like Christ than the promise of glorifying us, what great things our God has done and he truly deserves all the glory.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the choir room. Here we are this evening with our CRQ, and our CRQ is as follows my school choir choral teacher says my vibrato was too strong. It's all I know from singing at church. Should I change my style of singing for her Help? This individual needs help Name attached to it, but they just need help.
Speaker 1:Are we even the ones to help him or her?
Speaker 2:I do the best that I can. It's interesting because I thought about this question and I'm thinking I wonder what where this church is, and then it dawned on me I could probably pinpoint exactly what type of church this is. That would bring this question. My simple answer is no. My simple answer is no. You do not change your style of singing for her, but what you could do is change your approach to the music. I was reminded when I saw the question. I started to laugh a little bit because Greg would know about this a little bit.
Speaker 2:We had a choral teacher in our high school Eugenia Powell was her name and this teacher she was a first lady in one of the churches in the Paterson area where we lived and her husband was the pastor, and so she understood the type of music we sang outside of the high school concert choir and I remember her saying to me one time that Mi'eta, gospel music ruins your voice.
Speaker 2:That's what she said. Now she's a first lady of the church, so it was kind of weird that she would say something like that to us, because what I'd later found out, the type of music that she sang, because she came from a Presbyterian background was very different, vastly different, than the way the Pentecostal and, I have to dare to say, the Black Pentecostal church we sang differently. So I understood better as I got older why she felt the way that she did and she was not. As I grew older, I understood that she was not entirely wrong, because we come from this and this is where this church. I was intrigued about the person who might have come from this type of church. In our churches, in our Pentecostal churches, in our choirs, we're taught two things One is to stay on key and two, give as much volume as possible.
Speaker 2:Right Project project project and project project, not the back wall of the church completely out. That's what we're taught to do, and so that's what we did on the weekends. You know, we did that from Friday to Sunday night. We were screaming and hollering, screaming and hollering, screaming and hollering. We did that for three straight days, three straight nights. By Monday, completely wiped out and I realized that we were not protecting our voices at all. We were just not protecting them. So that's why I say you don't necessarily have to change your style, but you do have to change your approach. When it comes to vibrato in particular, in most cases it is a natural vocal issue. Not an issue, but it is a natural vocal. You have that.
Speaker 2:It's a tendency, it's what we have. Some people have a little heavier than others, but you do have it the best way, I think, and I've been in the situation with a young lady who had a very heavy, heavy, heavy vibrato and I explained to her that usually comes out the louder you get. So if you just kind of bring your voice down a little bit, sing a little softer, it can keep that at bay. You know, the heaviness of it can kind of control it a little better. And she found that that happened. So again, I would not say change, but I would say just approach it differently and sometimes just singing a little quieter, quieting down a bit, will kind of, you know, keep that at a level where the choral teacher can be okay with it. Any thoughts.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 3:I yeah, I have some thoughts. I've actually found myself in this situation a lot Personally. The extent of my vibrato has often been my cross to bear as well, so I can identify with this singer and I, on the other hand, would kind of argue that it depends on the context that you're in, because your voice, you have so, so many sounds and capabilities in your voice. What I would argue that we need to learn how to do is well, first of all, we need to familiarize ourselves with our voice. Second of all, we need to explore all the possibilities that are there. It is possible to to extend and reduce the extent to our vibrato. That's something that I was very grateful that my classical training taught me, and as well as some of my commercial training. Just like sounds that we can make in our voice and timbres, we can also change that vibrato extent. So if I am singing gospel music, I'm gonna let the vibrato rip, and if I'm singing in classical settings, that's another place that it will often be okay.
Speaker 3:But I've sung in a lot of settings before where a big, heavy vibrato extent is not necessarily appropriate, such as some choral music, some other things, some other situations where you're trying to create a really nice blend with other voices. That can sometimes cause your voice to stick out and that kind of thing. So I've been in all those different situations. So, like Paul says, be all things to all people. I think we can do that as singers and that's what makes us great singers is to be able to step into diverse musical situations and be able to sing in such a way that complements that style. So I would say, kind of similar to what you said, mieta don't lose your voice as a singer, Don't lose who you are as a singer. But I would say it's okay to adjust based off of the context that you're in.
Speaker 4:Yeah, especially in a choir setting, the whole idea is that one person isn't sticking out. But this is a singing aggregation. The director is trying to produce one sound and so, yes, there are individuals, but ultimately it's about the sound that is coming from that group. My initial reaction was, yes, change your style. But Mieda and Coleman have helped me to take the edge off of it and say adjust, and that's important. I think that's even important in a congregational singing setting. I've been in congregational settings where someone is just singing loud I mean they're singing well above the volume of the people next to them and well above the volume of many people around them. That's just not right. The Bible tells us that things should be done decently and in good order. So when you're just creating a lot of volume and not aware of those around you, that's not when you're singing in a congregational or an assembly of some sort. That's just not what the goal is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I took an analytical approach to this question because, first of all, I immediately thought it was a woman. I don't know why, but just something in the wording tells me it was a female. Now, much like you guys, my immediate response was no, you should not try to change your style. However, I had to take a step back and look at the question that was being asked Now, being careful not to add my own inflection. The question reads should I try and change my style of singing for her, her being the choir director.
Speaker 3:Help. See that changes everything for me.
Speaker 1:Try See, that's how it works.
Speaker 3:Yes, you should try, because it will make you better, it will make you better, so to me it's not a permanent change, but it's an adjustment.
Speaker 1:If you want to sing barbershop, then you've got to sing a certain way. If you want to sing in a quartet, you're going to have to sing a certain way. If you're going to sing classically, you're going to have to sing it a certain way. Hey, if you're going to be in a gospel choir, you're going to have to sing it a certain way. So this is a temporary adjustment in order to fit in with that group.
Speaker 1:Now, the other thing I took away from the question is that the choir director must have heard something that was significant enough that it needed to be addressed, because that vibrato could have a negative impact on the overall sound of the group, the impact of the song, the choir's ability to execute that song well, without that one person standing out with all the vibrato. And then the last thing I thought when I read the question was I don't know if the choir director told you this during an audition or if it was after you participated in a rehearsal, but either way I would consider it a gift, because the last thing you want to do is be out there with all the vibrato doing a performance, sticking out and disturbing everybody, and if you were told during an audition, then consider that a gift, because then you avoided the latter. So, ma'am, sir, no, I wouldn't try to change my style, but I would certainly make an adjustment in order to sing with this group, thus meeting the requirements of the choir director.
Speaker 2:It's a moment I promise you, it's a girl you don't even have to. Don't worry about it. Men don't really have this issue, I promise you this oh girl don't be that kind of struggle.
Speaker 1:So I think we are in agreement that if you want to sing with this choir, yes, make the adjustment and grow from it, and if you find that difficult, get with your choir director and see if they can help you learn how to sing without vibrato. If that doesn't work, then find a choir that sings with a lot of vibrato.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 1:You know, while we were responding to that CRQ, another thought came to mind, and that is the fact that we haven't addressed how to control your vibrato. And even though that question wasn't asked, I think because we are the choir room and it's all things choir and all things singing that something will cover with our guest contributors. However, I will add this thought I noticed that singers with a natural vibrato who don't think about it, when they try too hard to stop it, they end up being pitchy, either too sharp or too flat, and I've experienced it myself trying to control vibrato and it is about control. It is something that you should practice both in private practice and in public with the group Coleman.
Speaker 3:Yeah, just a second ago, Doreen commented on me because I was pointing at my abdomen, as in the diaphragm, and you have to have that muscle working because control it's all about control. So it's not something that you can figure out in a day either. It's something that you've got to spend time, lots of time. I don't think that it's something I've completely mastered and I've been working on that for years. But, yes, having a good sense of control in your voice and where that sound, where your vibrato is produced, learning that and trying different things to see how it feels. You know, what does it feel like when I reduce it? What does it feel like when it's more rapid, that kind of thing. Man, one of the things that you just touched on, greg, with pitch and everything.
Speaker 3:I remember vividly the first time because I had a friend in college who was really, really, really into Barbershop and Barbershop music. Singing with vibrato is like the cardinal sin and so it's straight singing and very pure, that kind of thing. And so when he would try to get me to do it with him, I felt like I just felt so shaky. I'm like where's the pitch going to go? You know that kind of thing, but it was so good for me to learn how to do that and try to get some experience with it. Maybe we need to ask one of our vocal coaches whenever we have them on the show. But it all goes back to that control from the diaphragm and everything like that. But I just wanted to make those quick comments that a lot of people they have been singing a certain way all of their life and they just think, well, this is just how I sing.
Speaker 3:That's how I sing period and to quote Danny Murray, who I worked with for years, who we had on one of our podcasts, he would say no, that's how you choose to sing, and so it just goes back to we have control over the sound that we produce. We just have to learn our voice enough to be able to actually utilize that control over Sure. So, anyway, I'm rambling at this point.
Speaker 2:You're absolutely right. There's one thing that I would say it's all right to listen to other vocalists as well. Sometimes, as vocalists, we think we have everything in control. You know, because, and because we've been doing it as long as many of us have been doing it, we don't really think that we can learn, glean anything else from somewhere else. And and there's something, because I am I am over the moon with Broadway singing, show tunes and things I love. Julie Andrews.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 2:My goodness, I think she has the most pure voice a woman could have. I really do and, and the sound of music is my thing, right, so I like Hearing her sing. The hills are alive with the sound of music. I think she has the most pure vocal and, and, and if you want someone to glean from, she's one, if you're just trying to straighten out a note, because she had such precision when it came to that and, and that's why it's it's, it was, it was magical, it really was magical.
Speaker 2:So you listen, if you kind of tune in To other singers that may not have that heavy brothel and see, try to, you know, kind of Glean what you can from that, glean what you can from that, you know, tap into some other vocalists Outside of what you would normally listen to. Sometimes we, we just kind of box ourselves in and just listen to one Particular vocals, and it doesn't necessarily have to be your ethnic background either, you know, because we get stuck, we can, we can get stuck, and so you know we try not to do that, but we can. So if you just try to tap into some other, hear some other vocals and see what they sound like, that can also Be a tip for you. You don't necessarily have to emulate it, but just hear it, you know. At least hear it and get a sense of what it should sound like.
Speaker 2:Even if you can't produce it right away, you do it. You should have the information of what it should sound like. Here's I have a problem. I have a problem. I just want to know why didn't Coleman Dorian and myself sing this choir room song? What happened here?
Speaker 1:But because the four of us are so separated by distance, I needed to try and get it done quickly, and I still didn't have it before we launched the podcast.
Speaker 1:Well, the fact is, this song was Really a spin-off of something I had written some time ago for production, and I just changed the lyrics so that I could have something as a theme song for the podcast. But since you asked, I'll use this opportunity as a springboard to lightly introduce the idea of the choir room podcast theme song challenge. Now, that's a title I just made up. Now there will be a challenge. The challenge will be for choir directors and choirs around the country to present their own Arrangement of the choir room theme song. It can be a cover of the original, it can be an arrangement of the original, but it must be done with a choir, and we'll come back later with a full announcement about the challenge, as our Sponsors decide what the prizes will be. And there will be prizes, and so if you're listening to this podcast and you are part of a choir, let your choir director know that there is a Choir room theme song challenge on the way and that your choir should be a part of it.
Speaker 3:Well, how about this, dorian? I call tenor, so you take soprano.
Speaker 1:Okay, Coleman, let's get our thought of the week.
Speaker 3:Well, hey, everybody, it's so good to be back in the choir room with you. Recently, the song Heart of Worship has been on my mind. I've been thinking about the theme of the song and I've been asking questions like what does it mean for me, as someone who has the title of worship leader, worship pastor or worship guide, as Greg likes to call it? What does it mean for people like us? I believe that every single one of us who step on a platform, whether that's with a mic in our hands or behind an instrument or an acquire, are worship leaders to a degree. So what does that mean for us?
Speaker 3:John 4.24, the words of Jesus read God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. In other words, we must worship with our head and our heart. One writer said our spirit stirred by the Holy Spirit and worship over the true things about God, his son and his gospel. That was his interpretation of that verse. So, beyond spirit and truth, everything else is extra. The trappings of 21st century church music are just a means to an end the songs, the melodies, the instrumentation, arrangements, the equipment and lights, and that. It all may be good and they're often anointed. But the question lies in the condition and posture of our hearts. I've been guilty of getting so busy and caught up with the music that I forget that worship is more than a song. There's a song by Jimmy Needham that basically says and this is paraphrase, but it basically says take it all, set it all ablaze, and if that's what it takes to get to a place where we understand that worship is more than the stage, that worship is more than a song.
Speaker 3:Well, about 25 years ago there was a church in Watford, england, that decided to do just that. Matt Redman was the music minister there, and one writer told the story like this the preaching pastor sensed that their worship gatherings were going flat spiritually and that the congregation was going through the motions and worship wasn't flowing from the heart like true Christian worship must. There was a dynamic missing, said Redman. So the pastor did a pretty brave thing. He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season and when they gathered together with and they gathered together with just their voices, his point was that they'd lost their way in worship and the way to get back to the heart would just be to strip everything away. During the season. The pastor challenged the congregation to be participants in worship, not consumers. To come ready to engage with God for themselves, from the heart, not just watch with their eyes. He wanted them to come as worshipers, not concert goers. With the band and the sound system gone, it made for an unforgettable time in the life of the church, as they sang acapella only, and for an unforgettable lesson about worship. Before long, said Matt Redman, we introduced the musicians and the sound system as we gained a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus and he commands a response in the depths of our souls, no matter what the circumstance and setting.
Speaker 3:The heart of worship simply describes what occurred. So I believe the whole story can be told in just a few lines from this song the heart of worship. So listen to this. I'll bring you more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required. You search much deeper within.
Speaker 3:Through the way things appear, you're looking into my heart. There's so much that we can do to our worship to add beauty and wonder and majesty and grandeur to it, and I'm all about it. So don't think for a second that I'm advocating for congregational worship that has not been prepared or practiced or rehearsed. And don't think for a second that I believe that things we do to enhance congregational worship in our churches is bad. It's not, not at all. I love it. In fact. I believe that all of those things that we add can add to the sweet aroma that the Bible talks about our worship being to God. That aroma only begins to turn unsavory when the posture of our hearts turn toward the means instead of the end, which is the exaltation of God. So here's what I'll leave you with If the music fades and all is stripped away, what's found in the depths of your heart?
Speaker 1:And remember, if ever we put the messenger before the message, we have failed to present an unblemished gospel. I'm Greg Thomas. Join us again next week right here in the choir room.
