©1998 & 2001 Khrysso/CRWagner
THE IMPERATIVE FOR MUSIC IN WORSHIP
It always surprises me to discover that it doesn't go without saying that music is a vital (i.e., necessary to sustain life) part of worship. It is vital to the message, and it is vital to the participants.
Melody is a particularly powerful vehicle for remembering important ideas and spiritual principles in the lyrics it accompanies; if those lyrics are thematically consistent with the whole of the worship event, they will have lasting sense and significance for the hearers.
It is important for everyone to be a participant in, not just a passive observer of, the liturgical art of music: it is edifying and needful for people to create beauty. Being a co-creator of a beautiful music event contributes to each individual's self-esteem--and thus openness to the proceedings--and collaborating on a beautiful music event attunes congregants to one another physically as well as emotionally. I have been singing in groups for over thirty years; trust me on this: do not underestimate the strength of the bond created among music-makers who know that they have just performed a song well.
GENERATING MORAL AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR LITURGICAL MUSIC
Congregations owe it to themselves to examine ways in which they may improve their worship programs. If leadership is reticent to believe the foregoing assertions, I have these observations to submit:
Congregants are likely to have more confidence--which translates to healthier pledging--in leadership that is open to improving the Sunday morning worship experience. Demonstrating that you are willing to make life more interesting, pleasant, and meaningful is just as important to your congregation as it is to your family (especially since the congregation is all the family some people have).
Spending a bit of money on one or two really good music events led by worship-oriented musicians to test people's response to worship music is a good gamble, because the expenditure has limits and feedback can be immediate.
There is considerable empirical evidence that membership--and the attendant pledge money--increases when music programs are prudently enhanced.
At the first church that hired me to create a music program, the program was so successful that the music budget was able to increase from $175 a month to $500 a month within about two years, and we had a notoriously conservative finance committee who wouldn't have dreamed of approving that kind of expenditure without ample evidence that there would be money to back it. The main qualities that I contributed were consistency, inclusivity, and enthusiasm--I had fun, and that fun communicated itself to the congregation.
Moral support can and should breed financial support. It does take a risk, but it can be a calculated risk, and the creatively-minded group can come up with ways of generating a viable music program. Slow, small steps are just as valid a way to begin a journey as long strides are.
BUILDING CONFIDENCE AND ENTHUSIASM IN THE RANKS
You can have the finest virtuosos perform at your society's Sunday worship services, but until all congregants can be co-creators of the music, the music program does not truly belong to your entire congregation.
There are ways to get non-singers to sing, and they all involve confidence. A strong musical lead--a songleader or a sensitive and powerful accompanist--is crucial. Sometimes an instrumental lead lends the proper guidance; at other times, unaccompanied music gives individuals an opportunity to hear that they're not such bad singers after all.
Perhaps the most important way to woo the timid into singing: introduce music slowly and repeatedly so as to develop their familiarity with it. Choose low-impact, repetitive music such as the songs of Mary Grigolia. Give people abundant opportunities to hear music before they are ever called upon to sing it themselves. And nothing says that everybody has to sing all the verses; invite folks to join in just on choruses, which tend to be more memorable, when you're first introducing songs.
I've had good results distributing small "shakey things" to the congregation, allowing even the rhythm-impaired to participate without throwing the rest of the assembly off the beat.
There is almost nobody who really dislikes music, and most people will at least give intellectual assent to the proposition that it's a good thing to have around, so once people develop the confidence that they can do music, the enthusiasm is likely to follow.
DEVELOPING A CHOIR
A choir is, essentially, simply a group of people who have agreed with one another to sing compatible music all at the same time in the same place. A choir does not have to have a choir director. It does need cooperative members.
My casual observations have led me to conclude that the average church choir numbers 10 to 15 per cent of the total church membership. If your choir is small and leaderless, they can still do a great job as long as they observe their limits: selections must be appropriate to the skill and training of the members, to the size of the ensemble, and to the amount of rehearsal time that they want to contribute.
Many churches organize ad hoc choirs: whoever shows up an hour ahead of the performance is in the choir that day. That's how I started the choir at the first church at which I was music director. When the time came for me to leave my post there and the church hired a part-time permanent replacement for me, she had the time, training, will, and salary to justify demanding a greater time commitment to a more complex repertoire. And that's working for her.
GUEST MUSICIANS AS AN ADJUNCT, NOT A SUBSTITUTE
If a society's music program consists of nothing more than a string of guest performers who don't involve the congregation actively, then it is not a music program but a concert series. But when the music program belongs to the congregants-as-co-creators of the music and they understand that the music program is not a spectator sport, then virtuoso performances by guest musicians assume their proper place in worship: as an adjunct to the music program. Solo and ensemble performances by instrumentalists and vocalists (including the congregational choir) provide an important opportunity for reflection and quiet that best function as punctuation in worship events.
People who have devoted time to music know that personal proficiency in music enhances appreciation of others' music when others' music is done well. Those who know from experience how difficult a piece is are more acutely aware of how wondrous it is to witness that piece being performed well. If the congregation is given the opportunity to devote time to music by being involved actively in congregational music on a weekly basis, it will better appreciate the guest musicians who are brought in, both because absence makes the heart grow fonder and because they will be more acutely aware of what is appreciable about the guest artist's performance.
DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL MUSIC STAFF
Professional music staff can be brought on board in a music program at points that usually reveal themselves. My suggestion is that it's best to start broad and inclusive and then add specialists along the way. For example, I have been planning worship music since my teens, I have a strong and pleasant lead voice, and I'm good at including people in the music that I lead. But though I play a number of folk instruments, I don't excel at any of them. Someone with my skills is an excellent choice to bring in to get a music program off the ground and to generate enthusiasm and stability. But if a congregation wants a fine pianist or organist to lead its choir or play postludes and offertory music, or if they want the choir to start performing classical repertoire, they'd be well advised to look elsewhere--it's time to expand the music program.
These are a few of the kinds of staff musicians that a congregation might consider:
Music Coordinator--works with worship or program committee to select theme-appropriate music for worship, schedules music leaders and guest artists for all services.
Choir Director--recruits, convenes, rehearses, and directs choir; selects repertoire, plans special performances.
Songleader or Cantor--serves as a visible presence and model to provide vocal leads for congregants.
Accompanist or Church Musician--performs instrumental music, solo or with other singers or the congregation, at worship services.
Music Director--may perform all or most of the foregoing functions, or may function mainly as a facilitator or overseer. May serve in a more visionary, conceptualizing capacity.
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Khrysso, formerly known as Chris Wagner, was the founder and first director of the music program at Dublin UU Chruch in northwest Columbus, Ohio and has been both a traveling and fixed workshop and UU worship leader. He is available as a consultant, performer, or worship leader.