Sing to the Lord!
Tessa Briggs considers the importance of music in worship
Since earliest times we read about singing and song being at the heart of humankind’s relationship with God. For example, Miriam and Moses sang their gratitude to God after safely crossing the Red Sea; the Psalms are a collection of songs to be sung by entire congregations; Mary sang ‘yes’ to God in her Magnificat and the angels sing the praises of the Lamb in the Book of Revelation.
Some of the world’s most famous music compositions are sacred works. Who, for example, is not familiar with at least some of Handel’s Messiah? Then there is Vivaldi’s Gloria, Requiems by Verdi and Mozart and Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion. Performances of these and other such works frequently draw large audiences who are kept spellbound.
Hans Christian Andersen once famously said, "Where words fail, music speaks." Those with failing memories and failing eyesight can participate in singing familiar hymns which are often remembered from childhood days. Indeed, there is some evidence that music enjoyed between the ages of 10 and 30 is enduring and that the shared experience of singing can have a beneficial effect.
Some years ago, we at Holy Trinity Church, Aberystwyth, drew up our list of priorities for mission. Amongst these was that music should play as large a part as possible in our life and worship and that we should work to develop the choir.
Today, we have a regular, four-part choir on Sundays comprising around eight members. Sometimes we have special services when we are joined by others from the community. For our Advent Carol Service in December, we had an additional three people who all said that, while they will not be joining us on a regular basis, they would very much like to be part of the choir for any special services in the future.
We are fortunate that we have a rota of wonderful organists and accompanists and we have been told that our organ is excellent and well worth maintaining (sometimes at great cost!)
We are not a large choir in the greater scheme of things but a straw poll of our congregation indicates that music in worship is very important, even vital, to them and that they greatly appreciate the choir.
Hymns enrich services and encourage participation – they can be sung by everyone, regardless of musical ability. Choirs, of any size, lead the singing, encourage congregational participation and thus enhance worship.