psallam spiritu at mente (3)

or maybe I should call this Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi... (as the Church prays, so the Church believes, or literally, the law of prayer is the law of belief.)
"What on earth are you talking about?" I hear you cry. Simply, I think we remember what we pray and sing - much more than we remember sermons or Bible Studies. This emphasizes the importance of what we put in our songs. If it's shallow, that will begin to influence the depth of our theology. So you can understand how I feel about a repertoire that never addresses some issues; those issues fall away from our residual theology, so that we don't know good doctrine in those areas.

we remember what we pray and sing

Not only that, but the musical landscape we use doesn't have the variety or range to portray the majesty, glory and holiness of God, either.
Love songs to Jesus are fine in their place. Trouble is, we don't need a diet of love songs - we need a fully rounded expression of who God is and what God has done, and the musical vocabulary of today's church can't cut it. The best comparison might be with the musical vocabulary of the cinema. Can you think of any limits on the pallet used in film music?

Can you think of any limits on the pallet used in film music?

Any producer or composer limiting his musical expression to the forces we use in church would rapidly fade into obscurity. Of course, we tend to limit our music to whatever can be played 'live' in our churches, and for some congregations that resource is very limited. But I still don't think we should let that parameter limit our imagination - my theory is that it actually limits our theology. We need to have our mind's eye opened, not constrained; and the uses of music in society are so much wider and more effective than what we do in church, it's obvious that we need to think outside the box.
To be clear - I think we need some songs with deeper meanings (as well as some that are light, or just fun) - and I also think we need to broaden the range of sounds and musical forms because the 'art-vocabulary' surrounding our conversation with God is a reflection of how we think about Him.

psallam spiritu et mente... (2)

As creative artists we thrive on encouragement, challenge and discussion; other writers and theologians taking our work seriously and recognizing the qualities of our work.
Some people put this down to the perennial problem of the artist's ego. I, personally, think it's an aspect of our relational nature. We were made in the image and likeness of God, and He set the pattern of ultimate Creator - to 'walk in the garden, in the cool of the day' and talk with us about the things he had made. We who are His 'creations who create' can hardly think of anything better.

So, yes, I like to listen to people's songs and discuss them. And to have people respond to my songs with comments and criticisms. It's all the more beneficial and therapeutic if we agree on standards, aims and purposes that fulfil our calling within the kingdom.
We need a Covenant song and hymnwriters group; we need to exchange materials, agree on topics and encourage one another to write and publish. We need grace and mercy, to be able to speak the truth in love.

much of the available contemporary repertoire is unbalanced...

It's true that much of the available contemporary repertoire is unbalanced. This is for a multitude of reasons, including the doctrinal background from which it comes, the acceptability or fashionable nature of the doctrines celebrated and the simple whims of the publishers.

Try this simple test; glance through the Covenant Affirmations, and try to think of songs that celebrate them. You'll find many areas that are under-emphasized, or just missing from, the current song and hymn repertoire. Examples might include the Incarnation, Repentance, Lament for injustice (I don't just mean songs that talk about CMJ, I mean material that identifies with those who suffer, and cries out to God on their behalf) and many more. It's not unnatural to find gaps like these - after all, we want our worship to be attractive, celebratory, joyful, winsome and uplifting - that's only natural. Much of the music mankind creates will be the natural expression of our lives. (Did I say natural enough?)
But in worship we are called to follow God's agenda; we need to be honest as well as happy, conscientious as well as contemporary.
You can be too honest. An old UK friend, Ian Traynor, told me they once wrote a song in his church that went "O God, I want to praise you but I feel rotten" and the third week they gave up singing it because it was such a downer. He reckoned it became a negative prophecy.
So let's be positive. Let's encourage one another - but let's also find ways in which we can build a holistic, contemporary and truthful expression of praise, worship and prayer for today's Covenant church.

psallam spiritu et mente...

Psallam spiritu et mente - "I will sing with the Spirit, and also with the understanding".

I've recently been reading some material that stirs my spirit, suggested by my good friend Warren Lindstrom. First was an article by Phillip J. Anderson in the Evangelical Covenant Quarterly, Nov 2007. I understand that he's a history Prof at North Park. I think he's also one of those wonderful talking heads on the Covenant Affirmations DVD. The article's called "The mystic chords of memory" and focuses on Covenant Church music and communication, past and present. Professor Anderson writes about the history of borrowed and self-made vocabulary in our denomination, and then invites a discussion on "What's the Covenant singing today?"
Second was an open letter, in response to the above article, sent by Andrew Thompson to Covenant leaders. It furthers the discussion and makes some constructive and practical suggestions about encouraging songwriting within the denomination.
Third was an article by Glen V. Wiberg in Pietisten (not sure of the publication date) which mentions the Anderson and Thompson pieces, plus Royce Eckhardt's studies in the direction the Covenant is taking in worship music and liturgy.
My response is one of warm resonance. I've been involved in leading and teaching worship, music, theology and related issues for years; but only recently arrived 'home' in the Covenant. I say I've come home because that's how it feels, although I was brought up in the evangelical wing of the Church of England, and just came from 14 years in the Ev Free. I belong in the UK school of song and hymnwriters, to the Jubilate Publishing Group, and am closely associated with the London School of Theology.
At this point, I simply want to underline and reinforce some of the suggestions made in the above-mentioned articles.
1) We need to encourage songwriting, and songwriters, in the Covenant.
2) We need to teach and discuss our musical and doctrinal vocabulary.
3) We need to establish criteria and encourage higher standards in our music and liturgy.

I'll address each of these issues in subsequent blogs.

time away - but time well spent.

sorry for the intermission. Hope all is well? In the meantime, we bought the house and started a massive renovation project, and I wrote my ministry license paper, profile, etc. This week, I'll be back to the issues at hand.