Archive for the ‘Congregational Participation’ Category
“I don’t feel like singing”
For a few months, this blog has been making one sustained argument: that the most important thing music should do in church is get people to sing. I am trying to paint a picture of corporate worship in which the people in the pews are co-creators of a beautiful sound together with the music leaders, [...]
Filed under: Congregational Participation, Corporate Singing, Singing, Worship | 8 Comments
Tags: responsibility to sing, Singing, singing together
Imagine a skeptic visits your church. She is not sure what she thinks about God, Christianity, or organized religion in general, but she came because her friend invited her. She walks in late and the first thing she encounters is the music at your church. As she absorbs the scene–the musicians up front leading, the [...]
Filed under: Congregational Participation, Corporate Singing, Evangelism, Leading Worship, Performance, Singing, Worship Leaders | 11 Comments
Tags: attractional worship, christianity, Evangelism, skepticism
In my last post, I argued that making music is a great experience that God intends for everyone, not just musicians. And it’s the musicians’ job at church to lead music in such a way that it invites people into the experience of music making. To underscore this point, I want borrow a sentiment from [...]
Filed under: Congregational Participation, Leading Worship, Worship Leaders | 7 Comments
Tags: 1995, Mr. Holland's Opus, Richard Dreyfuss, Stevie Wonder
If you’ve read any of my recent posts, you know I’m making a perhaps overly exhaustive argument for the importance of corporate singing. I believe with all my heart that God intended human beings to sing and make music together, and I have been outlining all the reasons why I think so. Today, I want [...]
Filed under: Congregational Participation, Corporate Singing, Harmony, Image of God, Leading Worship, Unity and Diversity | 4 Comments
Tags: Corporate Singing, Leading Worship, singing together, Worship Leaders
In my last post, I argued that music is inherently “relational,” for lack of a better term. The actual physics of music are such that music asks us to collaborate, to blend our many voices into one voice. But why did God make music this way? Today, I will suggest that God made music relational [...]
Filed under: Congregational Participation, Corporate Singing, Harmony, Image of God, The Trinity | 4 Comments
Tags: Jeremy Begbie
We experience corporate singing as significant because it creates a chemical in our brains that gives us a feeling of connection with the people with whom we sing.
Filed under: Congregational Participation, Corporate Singing, Music & the Brain | 6 Comments
Tags: loneliness, music and the brain, neuroscience, Oxytocin
