This continues to be one of the greatest challenges in church music: not only to perform the masterworks with authenticity and integrity, but also to choose and present the simple song or the prayerful response in just the right way.
—Howard Stevenson
A well-rounded worship service will allow people to express their individual gifts. Some can sing solos beautifully; others are trained at keyboard or orchestral instruments. Still others can perform drama or read Scripture effectively.
Yet how are these gifts recognized? How are these people chosen to use their gifts in worship? When and what may they perform? How should the congregation be encouraged to respond? These questions confront every leader of worship. On the one hand, we want people to share their gifts. On the other, we want to offer a unified service that engages the entire congregation in worship.
I’ve wrestled with these questions often over my years of music ministry. Many times after inviting someone to offer special music, I’ve had occasion to smile broadly in approval. Occasionally, I’ve moved into the shadows in embarrassment.
Here are some insights I’ve gained as I’ve striven to use people’s gifts in worship. Although I will focus my attention on the ministry of special music, these principles apply to dramas, readings, or any special contribution to worship.
An Appropriate Performer
A beautiful voice is not the only prerequisite to being selected to sing a special number. Appropriate ability must be combined with a gracious spirit, a life of faith generally recognized as above public reproach, a strong sense of integrity, and a dedication to the task that seeks no personal gain.
How much ability is required? Some people draw attention to themselves because their abilities are painfully underdeveloped. Others try to impress you with their technical expertise. The people we seek in worship are those whose abilities don’t get in the way of worship, who don’t have to impress you with their abilities, as capable as they may be.
Somebody once asked a world-renowned singer how many lessons were required to become a good singer. The reply was, “Enough so that you can forget about them.” The outward display of technique or the obvious lack of talent both have their liabilities.
So, how do we determine where people can best serve? In two words: prudently and patiently. I do not like to turn a captive audience over to soloists or Christian artists whom I have not observed in private and in different public settings.
Consequently, I feel most comfortable choosing people from our own adult Chancel Choir to perform special music. They are people who are “paying their dues,” supporting the music ministry week in and week out. I also have observed them in a variety of settings and can sense something of the musical and spiritual respect that others have for them.
Yet not all gifted soloists have the time or freedom to sing in the choir. With these people, I find it helpful to spend fifteen to twenty minutes in a private interview and audition. During that time I gather some impressions and learn about the person’s musical and spiritual background.
There can be a good deal of awkwardness when an individual’s style is not in keeping with our style of worship and public performance. So, generally it is a safer policy to allow a new musician in our church sufficient time to get to know us.
Sometimes I give a new musician a smaller or more informal venue in which to minister so that I can see what kind of response he or she might engender. Such settings include an informal hymn sing, an adult fellowship class, a social occasion, or an evening of song at a summer family camp or conference.
I recall first meeting a young man in our church who said he was interested in arranging music, especially for instruments. We agreed on one or two projects for small ensembles, and his talent became readily evident. Over a period of six months, I found him a capable arranger and a talented keyboard accompanist, familiar with the intricacies of electronic keyboards and synthesizers. Not only has our friendship grown, but I’ve also been able to give him more exposure as my confidence in him has grown with each project we shared.
I also have discovered it helps to know which musical styles musicians, especially solo singers, feel most comfortable with. Some prefer the more classical oratorio, cantata, or art song; some have their roots in the gospel hymns of previous decades; others feel at home with the more rhythmic and personal interpretations of contemporary songs and ballads.
Choosing appropriate performers also means deciding how often to use people from outside the church, especially the Christian artists who crisscross the country performing their concerts. In a church like ours, we receive five to eight calls per week from performers wanting to sing in this church. From time to time, we do bring in guest artists in music or drama, and we host groups from Christian colleges as a way of helping our people learn more about Christian higher education.
However, my philosophy as minister of music precludes administering a program filled with too much outside talent. For me it is vital that musically talented people within our own congregation have a chance to minister to their families and friends. In a church blessed with children’s choirs, handbells, youth singers, orchestra, ensembles, and soloists, I feel the development of these gifts within our church—and the privilege of leading in worship those who know and love them—should be our first priority. In some cases, a sincere but somewhat unpolished performance by people who are “ours” is more conducive to worship than a slick presentation from an outside performer.
An Appropriate Message
We prefer a well-integrated worship service, in both music and text. To propel a particular theme in worship, I find it most helpful to choose various songs and musical selections for performance. Because of that, I need soloists who have sufficient flexibility and humility to accept an assignment. It also means I need to know who among our possible soloists might be able to sing a particular song most appropriately.
At our last missions-emphasis month, we were focusing on “The World at Our Doorstep,” trying to catch a fresh glimpse of the internationals God was bringing to our community as well as the needy and underprivileged who live within a few miles of the church. While searching for suitable music, I came across the song “Lonely Voices Crying in the City” by Billie Hanks, Jr.
Musically, the song was simple, with a range of just a few notes. But its message was exactly right. So, I called one of our soloists and arranged to practice it for the service. We worked through the song, deciding where we would like to add interpretation, repetitions, interludes, and dynamics. The placement of that textual message in the service, combined with the artistic rendering of that simple song, made us more sensitive to the plight of immigrants and the homeless.
However, since it is impossible for one music minister to be aware of all the potential solo repertoire, it is good to give some freedom of choice to musicians. In other words, at times I choose the singer first, picking someone, perhaps, who has not had occasion to sing for some time. I will ask that person to select three or four songs that speak to the theme we’re highlighting. Then we discuss the songs together and agree upon a selection. This dialogue gives the singer a chance to work within a known and familiar repertoire, and perhaps to introduce me to some new music. And it gives me occasion to maintain the focus of the service.
An Appropriate Style
After years in music ministry, I’ve found that what makes special music special is the way it’s handled and prepared. Musical artistry is not just in what you sing or play, but how you present it. There can be unusual beauty in a simple folk song accompanied by guitar, or a lovely hymn sung by a dedicated, sensitive singer, or a five-part polyphonic motet. Each one, in its place, performed with care and craft, becomes an artistic experience. This continues to be one of the greatest challenges in church music—not only to perform the masterworks with authenticity and integrity, but also to choose and present the simple song or the prayerful response in just the right way.
One Good Friday, I conducted the Brahm’s Requiem at First Evangelical Free Church. We had come to the end of Communion and had said the closing prayer but hadn’t added the “Amen.” In a sense the prayer never ended. The cellos started on that low F, and the music itself became a continuation of the prayer, a great unfolding of truth.
I remember coming to the part where we hear the shout, “Death, where is thy sting?” when Brahms sounds high strong chords so full of anticipation that we’re all waiting, wondering, What does death have to say now?
There’s no answer. The grave is silent. Christ has won the victory!
Then out of this silence comes the grand fugue, “Lord, thou art worthy!”
Not only the content but also the mood of the piece matched the service perfectly.
Another time we celebrated the Resurrection using a jazz piece with a rock beat from the musical Celebrate Life. We had people stream into the aisles, shouting to one another with the exhilaration of that throbbing beat: “He is alive! He is alive!”
At times the worship moment requires solemn contemplation, at others a gentle expression of joy. It’s a matter of picking the right tool for the job, the right style for the right moment.
An Appropriate Response
How worshipers respond to the performance of a group, a choir, or a soloist can either enhance, hinder, or, yes, even destroy the spirit of worship. I’m referring not to what people do with the truth they’ve heard, but to their immediate response to the special music itself.
Sometimes applause is appropriate in worship, especially as an expression of praise, affirmation, or celebration. I look back with some amusement on the great Southern California Billy Graham Crusade in Anaheim Stadium in 1985. When Graham gave the familiar invitation to come forward, from various places in the stands would come sporadic bursts of applause. He repeatedly asked people not to do that. But it didn’t stifle the joy and delight of some of the ethnic groups at seeing one of their own step out to accept Christ. That applause became one of the celebrative trademarks of those meetings.
After our orchestra and choir have sung and played a piece with a loud and dramatic ending, people frequently seem to want to do something to identify with it. There is nothing wrong with that kind of conclusion to a musical presentation, but it elicits a response—applause—that some would say is inappropriate. Yet is it always inappropriate or contrary or sinful? Applause could be yet another way of saying “Amen,” “Yes, I agree,” “Me, too.”
By the same token, we have all sat in a place of worship or concert or recital hall when we felt that silence was the much better response. Someone has said that silence, even more than music, is the best way to express the inexpressible. Who has not cringed when, after a particularly powerful song, the moment has been shattered by unthinking, insensitive applause?
It is possible, however, to subtly prevent people from clapping if we feel applause would be counterproductive. For instance, when a soloist comes to the last note of her piece, she can remain intent, in effect holding the bubble in her hand, not releasing it, even after the last note has died away.
A thoughtful worship leader looks ahead and discerns the dramatic moments of the service and plans for an appropriate response. One Sunday our orchestra, choir, and congregation rendered a powerful, almost symphonic, setting of the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy,” arranged by Bob Walters. The orchestral instruments and full choral part of the grand climax beautifully amplifies the text: “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” It rises to new heights in a choral coda with three dramatic restatements of the word. Holy.
We foresaw the applause that would naturally follow, but thought silence would be a more meaningful response. So I told our organist, “The moment we finish the cutoff, I’d like you immediately to take the softest stop you have and play just the melody notes and perhaps the simplest transparent harmonies of “God in three persons.…”
That was all it took to be transported from the dynamic of full orchestra, choir, and pipe organ to the slightest whisper from the organ pipes. But it was enough to capture a completely contrasting side to the theme of that great hymn and help us meditate quietly upon it.
As the sounds of the organ slipped away, I stood at the pulpit, not releasing the congregation to sit down, and quietly said, “Worshipers are silent in the presence of a holy God; take and use this quiet, personal moment to adore.” No words, no music, for thirty seconds!
Yes, applause may occur spontaneously or even haphazardly, but we can do our part to allow it or to inhibit it for a reason—to enhance the spirit of worship.
At their best, special music and other special contributions to worship are sacrifices to God. We are the performers, the actors, the prompters on the platform; God is the audience. Soli Deo Gloria!
Special music, then, is done on behalf of the congregation, leading them to send their thoughts and praises to God. That’s what makes the offering special, and that’s why we need to take care that it is done well.
Copyright © 1990 by Christianity Today
