PRAYER FOR THE FOLLOWING:

Our congregation Various friends, relatives and co-workers

Our military, nation and leaders Peace

THERE’S A MEETING HERE TONIGHT

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts” (Colossians 3:16).

The folk singing group, The Limeliters, sing a signature song called There’s a Meeting Here Tonight. The opening line goes like this: “Some come to dance, some come to play, some merely come to pass time away, some come to laugh their voices to ring, but as for me, I come for to sing.” We have been a nation that loves to sing. We see it in movies and musicals. If one mentions Rogers and Hammerstein and the music they wrote, we could sing a song from almost any of their musicals. South Pacific (Some Enchanted Evening), Oklahoma, the title song, and The Sound of Music are a few. Think of Disney and we can remember Wish Upon A Star, Off to Work We Go, and many more. Folk singer Peter Seeger mentioned in a PBS special that Americans use to sing all the time; in the house and at school, in groups, and during holidays, but it is dying out.

For those of us in the churches of Christ, singing is in our DNA according to Mike Cope (1). We have been opposed to the use of instrumental music in the assembly primarily because the New Testament emphasizes singing and is silent about instruments (2). Some congregations are adding instrumental music to one of their assemblies for any number of reasons. But what about a cappella music? Darryl Tippens organized a conference last year at Pepperdine University called Ascending Voices. He expected about a hundred people to show up, especially from traditions that sing a cappella such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Mennonites, and some Baptists. He was shocked that over three hundred people showed up from many groups (3). They all came to sing!

Those who come from other groups and have heard us sing have stated that we should not give up our a cappella tradition. Leonard Sweet, a Methodist who writes on the current cultural situation and Christianity, is one who has enjoyed our singing. The Christian music group who wrote and sang There’s A Stirring, was at Oklahoma Christian University several years ago. When they were asked to sing that song, they stated that their instruments were not tuned to it. The student body broke out in singing it and impressed the band. Others have said that we know how to sing. Bill Geist, in a report on the CBS Sunday Morning News, reported that there are over one thousand a cappella groups on college campuses across the country and they gather in competition once a year. One fellow wrote that he found a cappella singing “a strong, loving tradition in many ways. I’ve experienced young persons taught from childhood to listen, to blend, to attend a rhythm voice and harmony. In a society and culture that says it wants everyone to have their own voice, this is a community that has the power to literally and figuratively make that happen” (4). There is a college at Cambridge University in England called All Souls College, that has been a cappella since the 1400s.

We have something that others can find valuable. And no wonder! A cappella is a part of us. Does music have to be a wall that separates us? Can it be a bridge that draws others to us? These are important questions that some will have difficulty dealing with because of our long tradition of opposition to instrumental music. While it is important to lay a Biblical foundation, emphasizing the negative and not the positive can be detrimental to our efforts. A number of our brethren see a cappella as a weakness but those who look at us from the outside see it as a strength. One Baptist preacher stated that we should never give up a cappella. Anne Lamont, an author who grew up in a missionary family background, whose parents rebelled against that and became atheists, and raised her as an atheist, was one for most of her adult life. At age forty-six, she wandered into a Greek Orthodox church, writing that the a cappella music drew her; no one trying to perform, each servicing the other, voices melting together. That and communion turned her life around.

There are powerful memories about our singing. Just mention 728b and many of us are reminded of the song book Songs of the Church and the song Our God, He Is Alive. Many of us have favorites and know the number almost immediately because we sing them so often (5). Memories play an important role in our singing. Growing up in a Presbyterian church, occasionally we would have an evening song service. A family friend and Scotsman would often lead the singing. Once in a while he would ask the organist to not play and we would sing a cappella. One song I remember singing that way was In My Heart There Rings A Melody. Mike Cope mentions something similar about singing a song that had not be sung in a number of years at his congregation. Yet when started, almost everyone joined in because they knew the song from years ago. What song comes to mind that you haven’t heard for years yet could sing? I think of Let Us Have a Little Talk With Jesus.

Songs speak to us. They interact with our lives and bring hope and comforted in many ways. Raising voices to God is a means to encouragement and worship. Leonard Sweet states that we do not need another group doing band music; that’s been covered. What the gift of churches of Christ is, is a cappella, and you do it well (6). Singing makes a place for all and is a means of service to one another.

What other benefits come from a cappella singing? We need to connect our singing to the heart and spirit of who we are. Words and notes on a page are just that; they do not sing. When we add our voices, and our hearts, that changes things. Paul said to “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19) as we are filled with the Holy Spirit (verse 18). Jesus said to love the Lord our God with all of our mind, strength, soul and heart. We have been good at mind and strength but not with soul and heart. A fear of emotionalism has lead us to a fear of any emotions. We have become serious, stoic, and afraid of anything that changes in our assemblies, no matter how small and insignificant. Then we sing that way as well, rather than making it a part of who we are, moved by the Spirit and a variety of songs to the heart. Some sing to fulfill a command but there hearts are not in it; singing to move on to the next “act” of worship rather than reflect on the meaning and “throwing” one’s whole being into singing.

T.S. Eliot said, “The last temptation is the greatest treason is to do the right deed for the wrong reason.” Having we been singing a cappella but for the wrong reasons? Why is a cappella music spiritually powerful? Another emphasis that we should have is on congregational singing. At the Ascending Voice conference, Darryl Tippens notes that what he heard was that congregational singing is dying in many denominations because of instrumental music. I had an experience in this however briefly. I went to a Methodist church to here a famous author speak about his new book. The youth minister led the group that was in the auditorium in singing with simply a guitar. Now the auditorium was big and there were only a few hundred people there, but it seemed strained as they sung a couple of songs. I realize that this is antidotal but still it is an indication of the problem. We might think that this is no problem for us, but Brother Tippens thinks differently. His concern for us is the use of technology such as microphones and sound systems that can drown out the singing, either by a praise team or by a loud song leader (7). Again, I experienced this at Pepperdine in the main lectures in the field house. The praise team was excellent but the congregational singing was somewhat weak, considering the place was full. One could barely hear people sing with the loudness of the praise team (8). Brother Tippens was told by a fellow who was an architect that if he was serious about singing that he should do two things. Teach your children to sing and change the auditorium. Modern architecture is destructive to congregational singing because everything is focused on the front (9). That needs to change.

Our singing should be part of our light to the world in the presentation of the good news. Our love is seen in how we treat one another (see John 13:34-35). When the singing dies, it affects who we are. It takes away from the message we proclaim.

Singing is a means to the experiencing of God. Singing has always been a part of addressing God and of worship. There are a number of songs in scripture from Miriam to Mary. The song book of both the Jews and the early church was the Psalms. Many consider Philippians 2:6-11 one of several early Christian hymns that Paul references. We experience the presence of God in our assembly, in the Lord’s Supper, and even in baptism. Singing is another way of experiencing the presence of God, the power of a song leading us into His presence. It is also a means of encouragement, a major reason for the assembly. One writer stated that we taste and touch God as we sing. Both Ephesians 5:18-20 and Colossians 3:16 connect singing with the Holy Spirit. Here is a question: has our view of the Holy Spirit affected the way we sing? That is, have those who see the Holy Spirit as living in us through the word only, or downplay His role in our lives, been singing half-heartedly because of this (10)?

In Psalm 84:2, the Psalmist states that “my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God” (NRSV). Singing involves our bodies. Think about what we use to sing physically. The lungs, tongue, teeth, air ways, throat and larynx are all used. Brother Tippens calls this God’s supreme instrument. Technology’s a threat to singing if we do not put our entire self into it, using what God has blessed us with.

Singing is a form of spiritual therapy. It is a means to healing and hope. Just consider the Psalms. Look at David’s desire for God to “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). These can be multiplied over and over in praise and in lament. Consider Jeremiah’s lament and the hope that is found right in the middle (Lamentations 3:22-24). We sing it as

“Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise” (James 5:14). Singing can change our attitude and our hearts. Brother Tippens mentions a fellow who has studied the effects of music on a child, especially in the womb. We have heard how the mother’s voice can affect a baby in the womb. If she is angry, the child reacts one way and if she is happy another. I remember going to a comic opera called The Pirates of Penzance when Yevette was eight months pregnant with Jolene. We sat in the third row center. In one song, the bass drum was particularly loud and Jolene was moving all over the place because of it. The infant, according to this author, prefers vocal music over instrumental music. A mother singing softly can comfort a baby. We all know that. In some cultures chants and songs are part of the healing process. In the health section of the L.A. Times, it was found that singing helped even those in nursing homes because those that sung had less use for drugs.

Singing is a means to ethical behavior and spiritual formation. Again, the texts in Ephesians and Colossians are found in the context of how to live our lives or ethical behavior, and not in the theological or doctrinal sections. Why? Is something more going on here? Contrast Ephesians 5:18 with verse 19. See also the context of Colossians 3:16 with verse 15. Should we not connect our singing with how we are to live and treat one another? The early church fathers did this in their commentaries. God is creating music in us to develop self-sacrifice or service, in how we treat others. Our hands are in harmony with the words that we sing. Everyone is an instrument but what kind will we be? “If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1). Our words and our actions should match. Remember in the prophets, God was fed up with Israel’s sacrifices because their hearts were not right. One major complaint was that they abused and mistreated people (11). Love seeks what is best for another, or as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, is not self-seeking. We have often connected our preaching of the word and how we live, our worship and how we live, and now we need to connect our singing and how we live.

For us, singing should be a bridge to others, not a barrier. If we are truly a cappella, then we are true instrumentalists, that is, using our whole being as an instrument to God and His glory. Something that we need to realize is that there is a amazing amount of songs out there beyond what we find in our song books. Mennonites and Greek Orthodox are just two traditions that we can learn from and expand our view of songs. Don’t be upset about this. Many of the familiar songs we often sing come from Baptist, Presbyterians and Anglicans, as well as others. It can be an exciting journey into this expansive world of a cappella music. One of the speakers at the Pepperdine Lectures was a Mennonite song leader. Sitting in his class, he would teach us to sing songs unfamiliar to us. Some just had the melody. We would sing and then he would say, just add the harmony, that is, make it sound good in your ears. I think there is a place for that and makes it exciting, especially for one who does not sing well.

Let me conclude with a personal experience. You have probably had a similar experience. Amazing Grace is one of my favorite songs for a number of reasons. I have heard it sung to different tunes, such an amazing song it is. For instance, it can be sung to the tunes of I Like to Teach the World to Sing, the theme from Gilligan’s Island, and Ghost Riders in the Sky. A fellow wrote a book on this song and found that it can be sung to some twenty to thirty tunes in our song book. But I remember two times hearing this song in unusual circumstances. The first was the a cappella version sung by folk singer Judy Collins. I was sitting in a chow hall in Misawa, Japan when this came over the radio. The second was an instrumental version done in 1972 by the Royal Dragoon Guards bagpipes and band. It is a beautiful rendition and was the number one song in England on several charts including rock and roll for about three weeks. Since then, I have heard it sung in the same way as played; a solo on the first verse followed by adding parts on the next verses with everyone singing the last verse. Then a return to a solo. It is a beautiful rendition. I think there is a yearning for meaningful music and I believe that the a cappella tradition can reach that yearning. It is something to think about, isn’t it.

George B. Mearns

(1) Mike Cope and Darryl Tippens, Singing In A New Key, Pepperdine University Lectureship, 2008.

(2) There is much more to this of course, and how we have looked at the New Testament and the Old needs to be considered. Many have called the use of instruments sinful in the New but not the Old. I think we need to be careful with such ideas though we certainly can violate someone’s conscience if we are not careful.

(3) Cope and Tippens, ibid.

(4) ibid.

(5) We are not alone in this. In the introduction to the new Baptist Hymnal, one person remembers the numbers from a song book he grew up with.

(6) Cope and Tippens. ibid.

(7) ibid.

(8) Jack Boyd stated in the same lectures in his class that he knows of no congregation in the last few years who have developed a praise team, which may mean it is a passing fad ( in Having a Bad Hymn Day).

(9) Keep in mind that the design of church buildings have been basically the same since about the 1400s.

(10) As I have stated before, how we see God is very important in how we live and how we worship. Is it time to take another look at the role of the Holy Spirit and to move away from some of the thinking we have had in the past?

(11) See Isaiah 1, Amos 5 and others.