You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2009.
This morning we had a joyous service at church, celebrating our 199th Anniversary. There is always lots of congregational singing throughout worship and it has been really great to hear the congregational choir’s voice growing in sound and confidence since I began my ministry at The Park almost a year and half ago.
As is the norm, I work with the pastor to select service music, get those selections into the order of worship and then prepare the hymns and responses on the organ, piano or sometimes with percussion, as we regularly draw music from the world church. Many factors go into selecting music for a service: connection to the scripture texts and preaching focus, familiarity to the congregation, or occasionally a desire to expand our repertoire and introduce a wonderful new text or tune. This week I was also highly aware of the time constraints of worship, with a special luncheon and other events afterward. So, I selected a rousing closing hymn that the congregation really loves, In the Midst of New Dimensions, which appears in both of the hymnals our congregation sings out of, the New Century Hymnal and the Chalice Hymnal. A confession: the other hymns in the service were longish (a five-verse opener and a four-verse middle hymn) so I selected the version out of the Chalice Hymnal, as it’s one verse shorter. But what I didn’t realize is that the tune has some rhythmic variants and the refrain is lacking a repetition that is in the New Century Version.
So we got to the end of a wonderful, uplifting service and I launched into the hymn (playing out of the New Century Hymnal because the harmonization is better) with a nice full registration. Halfway through I noticed that the congregation and choir were off by a few beats and when we sang the refrain, I was still playing while everyone had stopped. In a moment of panic, I realized that there were two versions of the hymn, so I came to the final cadence, turned around and announced, “I apologize. I made a mistake.” There was a ripple of relieved laughter from the congregation. Then I directed folks to the number in the New Century Hymnal and off we went through a verse together.
About that point I wanted to crawl into a cave and not come out. It was an embarrassing moment, especially as I’m a person who cares a lot about getting things right. I’ve typed the wrong hymn number into the bulletin before (and the secretary usually gets those mistakes) but I felt that I should have looked at the version I selected more carefully and noticed the differences. I am a trained musician after all! But strangely, as I spoke with people after the service they said that they really appreciated the honesty of that moment. Instead of carrying on as if nothing had happened, I acknowledged that something was wrong and we started over. One visitor even said that the mistake made her feel that this is the kind of congregation that she would be comfortable in – where there is a space for imperfection.
And I suppose that’s the take away from this morning. As much as folks in the church (and outside the church) like to project an image of having it together, of confidence and skill, we are human. We make mistakes, we forget important details, the flowers are a little crooked, the paraments are a bit wrinkled, words get misspelled or mispronounced, a singer in the choir misses a cut-off. Thankfully church isn’t about getting it right but it’s a place where we can be ourselves, where there is the grace to start over again if we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot, where we can celebrate that we are fully-loved, imperfectly beautiful people. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t strive for our best or be sloppy (you can believe that I’ll be examining every hymn closely over the next months!) but that when mistakes and imperfections do happen, we can approach them in a spirit of grace and love, with a relieved laugh, and thank God that we’re not perfect and neither is anyone else. Thanks be to God!
I was at a meeting with a group of folks from Park Avenue Christian Church and our interfaith partner, Congregation Da’at Elohim, tonight and heard about Joshua Nelson, a Jewish Gospel singer. Check out his website.
There is something fascinating to me about folks who integrate what appear to be disparate styles, ideas or even spiritual traditions. After listening to some Youtube clips, I’m not sure exactly how I feel about his music (whether it rings with a sort of deep authenticity) but I love the way he challenges my preconceived notions about who sings what kind of music. It’s great to know that Gospel music (or any other style of music, for that matter) can become a medium for communication in different spiritual traditions.
Take a listen and let me know what you think.
