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.