On Nov. 30, 2002, a column I had written caused a lot of buzz. It also started a rather heated two-year email debate with a gentleman who disagreed with what I had said.
Seven months ago, I was at my sister’s bedside when a group from her church came to sing. As they sang her favorite songs, she squeezed my hand and said, “Oh good. They are singing “old geezer songs!” Yet, at her funeral a month later, she had requested a few choruses to be intermingled with those old geezer tunes!
Just after Christmas, a friend shared with me her dislike of the music services at her church. She used words like, “dull,” “boring,” “mono-tone” and “meaningless.” The very next day, another friend shared with me his dislike of any music that was not in his hymn book.
E.E. Ryden wrote a forward to a book called “The Story of Christian Hymnody.” I’ll paraphrase his rather flowery language. He said it would be difficult to estimate fully the role that Christian hymns have played in Christian growth and in the spread of the Gospel. He said that in every great spiritual movement in the history of the church, music has played a part with an outburst of a “fresh kind of song.” He noted his belief that all the current hymns in the hymn books were of literary excellence, enough so that he expressed a concern about the “weak, florid and sentimental tunes of other generations” are making their way into congregational singing making for a loss of “dignity, virile compositions and a lack of reverence” resulting in sentimental tunes in worship.
Hmmm … sound familiar? I have actually heard people say things like this about the music in their church: “I wish we could get the musicians to sing the kind of songs we want to hear. These younger people had better understand that it is the older generation that pays the bills and keeps the church running, so they’d better sing the kinds of songs we like or we will stop putting our money in the offering plate.”
I wonder if Mr. Ryden thought those things when he wrote his little piece about music. But wait! When did Mr. Ryden write those words? 1959! As in half a century ago! That generation that he was so critical of was my sister’s generation … the one who enjoys what our children’s generation refers to as “old geezer songs.”
Music in worship has only one purpose. It is not meant to entertain us, tickle our ears, please our personal music taste, showcase the talents of the musicians and soloists, placating one generation to the exclusion of all other generations. Music in worship is not about pianos, organs, guitars, drums, professional music tracks, lyrics on a screen, what hymn book we use, or any other musical paraphernalia.
Music in worship is about God. Period. It’s about praising and honoring and glorifying and testifying and raising our voices in worship of our God.
Verna Davis, speaker and writer, maybe reached at VrdSpeaks@yahoo.com.
Religion
VERNA DAVIS: Music in worship has only one purpose: It’s about God
- Religion
-
-
Cross Lane Church accepting shoe donations
Terre Haute residents are invited to donate their shoes to help millions of peopleworldwide with a shoe drive at Cross Lane Community Church on June 2.
- Church briefs: May 18, 2013
-
The Joy Lady: A good morning: everything that rises must converge
Last Monday, I had a good morning.
-
Unity Presbyterian plans retirement open house
The congregation of Unity Presbyterian Church will stage a retirement celebration open house to honor the church’s pastor, Linda Jo Peters, from 2 to 4 p.m. on May 19 at 1207 E. Springhill Drive.
-
Organist will be the featured guest at church
Organist Benjamin Kolodziej will be the featured guest at an organ recital at 4 p.m. on May 19 at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, 645 Poplar St.
-
THE JOY LADY: Call your mom; tell her you love her, that you miss her
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution proclaiming “the second Sunday in May to be hereafter known as ‘Mother’s Day.’”
- CHURCH BRIEFS: May 11, 2013
-
Celebrate the women in your life with The Living Rosary
On Friday, May 10, join the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods for The Living Rosary and experience the grace and power many people have discovered by “praying by hand.”
-
THE JOY LADY: When awe leaves us, we leave room for doubt
In any given gathering of grade-schoolers or even a gaggle of teenagers, in all likelihood, you will hear certain words over and over:
- CHURCH BRIEFS: May 4, 2013
- RELIGION BRIEFS: May 4, 2013
-
Good Friday service today at St. George Orthodox
St. George Orthodox Church at 1900 S. Fourth St., Terre Haute, will celebrate its Good Friday service at 7 p.m. today (May 3) and its Easter service at 9 p.m. Saturday. The Agape (Love) service will be conducted at noon on Sunday.
-
Organist’s concert May 5
Organist Jonathan Rudy will be in concert performing works from the 1600’s to the present day at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Central Presbyterian Church, 125 N. Seventh St.
The concert is free and open to the public. -
THE JOY LADY: Christ is coming again. Are you ready for that?
An older couple had a grandfather clock that announced each hour with the ringing of chimes.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: April 27, 2013
-
THE JOY LADY: Let us pray that our hearts be blessed by God
Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my uncle and his family in Florida.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: April 20, 2013
- CHURCH BRIEFS: April 13, 2013
-
THE JOY LADY: You can learn a lot from a box of crayons
Denis Omar is a handsome third-grader in Ocotillo, Honduras. The last time I was in his home, his colored chalk drawings decorated the concrete block walls. His mother said when she got tired of one drawing, she’d wash the wall and have Denis draw another.
- RELIGION BRIEFS: April 13, 2013
-
BBQ fundraiser April 13 at Allen Chapel
Historic Allen Chapel’s annual barbecue dinner fundraiser is Saturday, April 13, in the Chapel at Third and Crawford streets. Serving will be from noon to 6 p.m. with a full-line of dinner, sandwiches, sides and desserts available. Chef Stephen Miller, formerly owner of the Black Skillet and now a caterer in Cincinnati, will again prepare the barbecue.
-
THE JOY LADY: Most complaints tend to be pretty selfish
Complainers never think they are in the wrong. How could they be when they know everyone else is so wrong?
-
Church briefs: April 6, 2013
What's going on this week at area churches.
-
THE JOY LADY: Our attendance in worship services encourages other worshippers
There are all kinds of church attendees. Some attend church services once or twice a month, some once or twice a year. Some attend only Sunday morning worship.
-
African children’s choir to perform at Mount Pleasant
The Watoto Children’s Choir, traveling from Africa, began its five-month eastern U.S. tour in Oak Bluffs, Mass., on Oct. 6 and are continuing the tour through Terre Haute, Lebanon, Indianapolis, Peru, Bloomington, Columbus, Evansville and Vevay, from April 16 to May 1. All performances are free and open to the public.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: March 30, 2013
- Religion briefs: March 30, 2013
-
THE JOY LADY: Is it time to change your habits, attitudes?
I’m usually introduced to people as “the preacher’s wife.” No name, just “the preacher’s wife.” But I’d prefer being known by what I call my “I am” statements. For instance, I am a wife. I am a speaker, I am a writer. I am a mother, I am a mother-in-law, I am a grandmother.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: March 23, 2013
-
Public invited to explore Guerin’s connection to nature
The Sisters of Providence invite the public to St. Mary-of-the-Woods on April 6 to explore Saint Mother Theodore Guerin and her connection to nature.
- More Religion Headlines
-
Cross Lane Church accepting shoe donations




