As Laura mentioned in the announcements on Sunday, she is looking for feedback on music. Receiving feedback from everyone at once will at times be overwhelming, but it also helps her discern the musical talent and taste of the congregation. Some people love the old favorites: “In the Garden,” “Harvest Time,” “How Great Thou Art,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” etc. Others hunger for us to sing a new song to our God—a song that has poured forth out of the heart of a Spirit-inspired artist within the last decade, a song that doesn’t sound like a hymn so much as other music that surrounds us.

And it’s tradition for Christians to sing music in church that sounds like the music that surrounds them in the current popular culture. We borrow musical styles and sometimes entire melodies.  As perhaps you know, “What Child Is This?” borrows its melody from “Greensleeves.”   “Finlandia” lends its tune to “Be Still, My Soul” and “This Is My Song.”   The latter we will be singing this Sunday. “God, the Omnipotent,” which we sung in service about six weeks ago, is a hymn with words dating as far back as 1842. Its tune was the melody of the Russian Empire’s national anthem from 1833-1917. The list goes on.

We will be attempting to discover new music thoughtfully, but it won’t always be comfortable. We will have to sing a new song multiple times before we know if we truly like it. We will have to figure out how best to introduce new songs into worship. Some of us learn by ear. Others love to have sheet music before us. But all of us are called to honor one another above ourselves—to value not only our own taste in music but the taste and comfort of others. Sometimes worship doesn’t consist of how good we feel as we sing but considering how good others feel as they sing. Sometimes the best way to worship is to serve others. Perhaps always.

We are working toward creating a space where we can worship inter-generationally with joy. Where many songs are what we are currently singing and can be found in our hymnbooks, and other songs are new and speak to the heart of the young. Perhaps we will even be taught by children?

You can quickly find this Sunday’s music on YouTube by searching for:

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

This Is My Song Finlandia

Psalter #384 The Searcher of Hearts Hope PR School 2016 Psalter 315 – Foundation Brass Band

Sheet music will be provided in service.