Church Music

Several weeks ago my wife had an idea that we could check out a movie. Nice idea with a kind of quaintness and charm that typifies her relaxed approach to life. Although not necessarily a movie fan, partly due to my not being much of a visual person and partly due to my lack of emotional response to most movies, I was of course (like any good husband) willing to support her idea. We both knew that I would either fall asleep during the film or would read or work on the computer. Still she liked the idea and started brain-storming about what kind of movie and what snacks would accompany our experience.

Asking what movie I should get and where, we began to discuss the options: Hastings, Red Box, Pay-per-view, Walmart? I knew not to mention my preference for a heavy, serious theme or a "man" kind of movie about fighting and decided to search for a comedy or family film or maybe a combination of comedy and family in a sort of Romantic girl type of movie. Going together, we first stopped at Hastings and headed toward the movie section. Quickly overwhelmed with thousands upon thousands of choices, most of which seemed inane, I found myself in a state of confusion due to the seemingly infinite number of movies from which to select. Gravitating slowly but deliberately to the books where I was in my comfort zone (and yes I do recognize the inconsistency of being comfortable among thousands of books but not among thousands of movies), my wife settled on a nice animated version of Rapunzel.

The emotional anguish and confusion, even bewilderment, is actually greater than the pleasure of the opportunity and almost the movie itself. This is due to having too many options. While freedom of choice is of course preferred, wouldn't it be easier to have fewer selections from which to pick? Obviously the easy answer to this problem is to raise standards to a high point, thus reducing the options to the few deemed worthwhile. I like this plan, but it then requires an analytical approach to entertainment that most people cannot embrace. When entertainment demands the same level of academic analysis that learning in the classroom requires, then it almost ceases to be entertainment. If I have to work hard to relax, is it really relaxation?

The life of a church musician is both similar and different to finding a movie. Luckily church music is not about entertainment, it is about worship. This gives the process a higher purpose that is neither selfish nor individualistic. Instead church music is about God and the collective process of worshiping God.

The problem comes not from the purpose and the goals but from the immediacy of the musical needs. Too much music from which to choose. In the old days, music ministers would pick up the hymnal and select from the 50 or so hymns that most of the congregants seemed to prefer. While it could possibly create a built-in stagnation, and likely did, it sure was a simpler time for church music. Reduce the choices, simplify the decisions. Fast forward to now, and we are often paralyzed by the sheer amount of music available at our fingertips. Songs, hymns, and choruses number in the thousands with several more arriving with the writing of these words.

The typical music minister in a Baptist or non-denominational church with the obligation and yes opportunity to select 4 perhaps 5 pieces of music must choose from thousands of sacred selections to form a worship service that meets the needs of God and the people in the service. Pretty tall order for sure. Add in the questions of choir vs. praise team, organ, piano, drums, guitars, other instruments, plus hopefully provide some kind of theological consistency and Biblical accuracy, and suddenly we have an impossible task. Why do I do it then? Because I love the challenge!