After reading Bradley's thoughts on music as a tool on the one hand for community building and on the other hand for fascism, I ask myself about the implications of these ideas for the church choir director. Similarly to Bradley's experience with the South African freedom songs, the Christian hymns and service music that I teach my church childrens choirs are a part of a powerful tradition. They stand as pillars of our faith, and are, for many Christians, the most effective vehicle to worship. They are community building, and singing is one of the few ways that the whole Christian congregation can participate together in worship. When children learn the hymns of the church and settings of the psalms, they are empowered with the ability to participate with their parents and community in worship. They are further empowered when they LEAD the congregation in worship when they sing an anthem. (I only WISH our congregation would dance and sing along like the South African delegates!)
However, while the outward message taught to the children in our church is to live like Christ and to love and serve all people, an underlying message is that our heritage of hymns and prayers are so powerful that all else is subordinate to them. Even within one church, elitism can become quickly apparent in the selection of hymns. Are the hymns selected only from the American/ European tradition of hymns, or are freedom songs, hymns from Africa, Asia, and South America present? Are contemporary hymns included or excluded? The hymns selected by a congregation, by ministers, and by choir directors preserve certain cultures and traditions, and reflect significantly on the church as a whole.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
This for me is different. I dont know why I feel this way but I feel for me, a member of the RCC, that tradition lies at the center of worship. Call me a fascist, and I suppose I might be, but I found community and joy from singing old hymns that Catholics have sung for generation. I also love the mass in Latin because it is more traditional but that is a story for another day
There is something in the mystery of worship that traditional hymns can help to reveal to our children and to ourselves in the connection to the past. I do think some churches miss out on the experience of worldwide corporate worship by excluding worship from other cultures. An interesting thing from my church, the Mennonite Church, is that our newer hymnals have been revised to include the tribute to traditional worship with the older hymns, but also include just about as many songs from other countries, cultures, and languages besides our own relatively small one.
Post a Comment