Category Archives: Worship
Singing a Carol
Well, summer has finally hit my home town of Brisbane – it’s hot, humid and just a little uncomfortable! With the arrival of summer comes the acknowledgement that Christmas is almost here…now for my northern hemisphere readers – stick with me even though the concept of a hot summer Christmas might be a little odd. Personally I love the festive season. I love putting up the tree – even though I get all scratched-up by the synthetic pine needles. I love taking a few weeks annual leave from the frantic pace that occupies the rest of the year…and I love singing Christmas Carols. There I said it! I love singing carols, I love hearing carols – I love Christmas Carols. Actually, I think many of us are unprofessed carol lovers…go on…admit it…you’re among friendsJ.
My love for Carols and their unique sound commenced during my childhood in Lismore, NSW. One year I presented, along with my classmates from St Carthage’s Primary, a choral presentation of a few classic carols. There was something about that ‘very ordinary’ childhood experience that cemented a fondness for the Christmas Carol forever into my psyche. I cannot explain what was so special about that experience and why it has lived with me as a distinct memory ever since – but since that 1980’s summer evening Christmas Carols have played a significant part in my personal Christmas tradition.
The first Christmas Carol is widely accepted as the angelic choral proclamation “Gloria in exelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis” at the birth of Christ as accounted for in Luke 2:14. Since the angelic host gave voice to the first Christmas tidings, Carols have undergone many evolutionary developments. For instance at one stage Carols where only sung by Catholic priests; and only ever in Latin. It was not until the 1600’s that Carols became a grouping of hymns employed only during the Christmas season. Before this, Carols were often sung during other festive times of the Christian calendar.
Perhaps this is one of the wonderful things about Christmas Carols; they are steeped in history and tradition. For instance when we sing the originally Latin, hymn of praise, O Come, All Ye Faithful, we give voice to a text possibly written in the 1300’s by John of Reading. The ever popular Hark the Herald Angels Sing (a personal favourite) was written by Charles Wesley in 1739 and is set to music composed by Mendelssohn. Even children’s carols like Jingle Bells (1857) have a history dating back beyond a century.
Allow me to be really cheeky…even Charismatics and Pentecostals sing Christmas Carols – a predominantly hymn based idiom! Why? Well the wide appeal of the Christmas Carol is so iconic in Western culture that it has yet to be usurped by a modern alternative. I know that as a Pentecostal worship pastor during the late nineties I always found myself presenting a predominantly hymn based Christmas service to a congregation which were more accustomed to the pop driven chorus. In reflection – I never received a single complaint! The fact is that people (unless they are a Christmas Grinch) love Carols – even chorus loving Pentecostals.
And so I conclude – there are many aspects of Christmas tradition that divide us: what colour theme should adorn the Christmas tree; should you address letters to Santa via the “True North Pole” or the “North Magnetic Pole”; and how much is too much pudding? Perhaps the one thing that unites us, Pentecostals and Tradionalists, Christian and non-Christian, is the humble Christmas Carol. This Christmas – sing a Christmas Carol and sing it strong.
Merry Christmas!
Building Tents
Several weeks ago we purchased a tent. We scored a real bargain on a huge family sized behemoth. Our purchase comes as we prepare to camp over the Christmas break with some close family friends – it’s going to be a great time! Actually, this will be the first lot of camping we have done since we (Jodie and I) started having children. We used to do a lot of camping with friends and family, but over the years (nearly a decade) we have sold our small tent, and most of our camping gear. We are now slowly rebuilding our camping equipment stock.
One of things I love about camping is walking through the camp site and viewing all the different ‘set-ups’ that people have. For instance, our set-up will be very family friendly with a few creature comforts such as a gas-powered ice-box and perhaps a small generator for the recharging of mobile phones etc. (not exactly roughing it!). Almost certainly at the same camp site will be the young couple with a two-man tent and very few accessories, while another group might have all the mod-cons including solar panels for electricity which in turn runs fridges, microwaves and even a TV. Essentially, everyone at the camp site will be ‘camping,’ but we’ll all do it differently according to our needs, experience and budget.
As we prepare for our big camping adventure I am conscious that in many respects, camping is not too dissimilar to worship. We all approach it differently. Personal backgrounds, experiences, personality and even education all contribute to our individual choices of worship style. Over the past decade Jodie and I, along with our young family, have had the good fortune of celebrating God’s greatness with three different churches, each with a distinct worship style and form. As I survey our short worship history, I can see that each of these church families and the construct of worship that they employ have been timely for both our spiritual formation and personal maturity. For example, when we were DINK’s (double income, no kids) our camping set-up was simple; a small tent and limited accessories. Now that we have three children ranging in ages of 9 down to 2½ we have a much larger tent, bikes, toys, swimming paraphernalia…and the list goes on! Our original set-up when compared with the set-up we will erect over Christmas was not wrong; it fittingly met our needs for the time. Likewise our previous worship environments were not wrong; God used them in order to continue His good work in us (Philippians 1:6).
Those of you who know me well can attest that I have not always had the maturity to review my spiritual journey with such pragmatism and grace. I’m learning and growing. I think Jesus’ friend Peter was on a similar journey of growth when he suggested some camping. Matthew records the Transfiguration of Jesus in the following passage,
[17:1] And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. [2] And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. [3] And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. [4] And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (Matthew 17:1-4; ESV)
Why not? It seems like a good idea to build some tents and prolong the experience. But Peter, in his zeal to honour Jesus, Moses and Elijah by building tents, also reveals his “weakness and ignorance” (Henry, 1871, p. 243). Simply, no man-made tent could house Moses and Elijah who had both passed through to eternity, and Jesus was keen for the three friends (Peter, James and John) not to tell anyone of the occurrence until he had risen from the dead (Matthew 17:9). I think we all fall into the same trap of Peter’s enthusiasm when we experience God’s tangible presence in our corporate meetings. I am confident that each worship style, whether new or old, contemporary or traditional, can point to a time when God’s presence was experienced in a tangible way by His people. I know that I have personally felt God in a range of worship constructs. The temptation is to then erect a tent in order to capture the moment. God will not be housed by man’s constructs whether it is the Anglican prayer book or a Pentecostal church’s week of ‘prayer and fasting.’
Another interesting point to be considered is Jesus never returns with the three disciples to the same place; possibly Mount Hermon (Green, 2000, p. 185). In fact the next time we see Jesus inviting his three closest disciples to join him in prayer like this is in the Garden of Gethsemane – a place of sorrow and trouble. Ultimately, Jesus requires us to leave the ‘worship moment’ and re-engage with our society. Tents are temporary structures. With time and exposure to the elements, any tent will eventually wear and tear exposing its inhabitant’s to the buffeting of life’s general concerns.
As we prepare for our Christmas camping trip I am starting to see where I have built many tents over the years to house God’s glory. Our current worship experience is not, and never can be, designed to be complete and perfect. That experience is reserved for another time and another place.
References
Green, M. (2000). The message of matthew: The kingdom of heaven (Vol. 2). Leicester, UK: Inter-Vasity Press.
Henry, M. (1871). Matthew henry’s commentary on the whole bible (Revised ed. Vol. 5). McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Company.
Singing with one Voice
A couple of weeks ago I had the great experience of being swept up into the singing at church. “What?” I hear you ask. “You don’t get ‘swept up’ every Sunday?” Well…no. To be perfectly honest I don’t!
Now for some of you this will come as a shock – and for a few of you I will go down a couple of notches on your ‘spiritual gauge’; but ultimately I have become quite settled with the fact that not every Sunday service is a ‘heaven touching earth’ experience. In fact I have come to understand that the times that I do feel God in a tangible way are the exception, and not the rule – more on this in my next post!
On the Sunday that I refer to it wasn’t even that I was getting goose bumps, or seeing tongues of fire on my fellow worshipper’s heads. What lifted me to a heightened sense of God’s presence was hearing my voice join with those around me as we sung about God’s majesty and awesome power. In this single moment I was also aware that our voices, only about 50 in total, had joined with the heavenly hosts in the continual declaration of God’s greatness (Rev. 5).
Sadly, I don’t always recall the corporate aspect of our worship. I, like many western Christians, have been lulled into a desensitised state that all too often alienates me from the very community to which I have been accepted. Constance M. Cherry (2010) in her recent book The Worship Architect furthers this thought when she writes,
“We have been indoctrinated to think that we are individual worshipers who happen to form the constituency of a local congregation. We have mistakenly viewed our weekly worship as an opportunity for each person to pray individually to God, to hear the word individually, and to respond individually” (p. 13).
Guilty as charged.
This is the wonderful thing about singing in church. We do it together – at the same time. The act of singing in church is unlike any other activity of our corporate worship. Even when we pray in our services, one person speaks and the rest listen, whereas with our singing we participate simultaneously. What a magnificent gift God has given us. Bob Rognlien (2005) suggests “There is nothing that quite compares with singing a meaningful worship song to God” (p. 133). Moreover, there is nothing that quite compares to singing a meaningful worship song to God together!
I would love to hear about your experiences. Leave a comment about the times when you have become aware of your voice joining with the congregational voice to declare God’s goodness.
References
Cherry, C. M. (2010). The worship architect: A blueprint for designing culturally relevant and biblically faithful services. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Rognlien, B. (2005). Experiential worship: Encountering God with heart, soul, mind & strength. Canada: NavPress.
Voice in Worship 