Father Nick on the Importance of Congregational Singing
Kate and I had a good conversation about singing in Church last week. We were considering including the words and not printing music in the bulletin. That may or may not happen, but the conversation around it has been bouncing around my head all week.
Everyone was much better at singing at one time because if you wanted to hear music, you had to sing or play an instrument. It meant that most Church-goers, even if they were not in the choir, had some idea how to read music, and there was significantly more participation. An unexpected consequence of recorded music is that people suddenly could hear flawless music whenever they turned on the radio and became shy about making mistakes. It may explain a common sight you’ve seen in Episcopal Churches, the choir belts it, while most of the congregation is shy to lift their voice and sing to God.