a fun time in York PA

One of the things I'm really enjoying about the Covenant is the 'collegiality' of my fellow enthusiasts for Christ. Last week gave me more shining examples; people who are - well, just lovely individuals, trying to follow the savior, recognizing their own weakness and finding His strength.
Each (in their own way) trying to make the most of the talents we've been given, seeking to encourage one another and give all the credit to God. These are the ones I enjoy meeting; we derive great joy in collaboration and wish we could work and play together a little more often...
but then it's back to the several places God has put us. I remember seeing my children (years ago, now) worn out after playing with cousins or other friends from afar; wishing these people were around more, but exhausted from having so much fun. That's me right now - and to those who were involved in the AGM experience last week: Thanks. It was really a fun time!
We may be discovering more about why God invented church...

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.

So where are the discussions of music?

Music is not all of worship, “worship” doesn’t just mean music. Many people recognize that, although we keep falling into the trap of describing music as worship…
So where (at Connection 09) are the discussions of music? I don’t just mean repertoire; I mean, where’s a workshop
a) discussing the current fashions/trends in songwriting and whether they’re healthy.
b) teaching a high standard of lyrical writing and theological integrity?
c) the ‘great old’ items of covenant musical and liturgical history
d) how to develop musical authenticity in missional or multiculturalchurch planting (heaven knows we don’t want them all adopting an American musical vernacular!)
Maybe they’ll be happening at Midwinter proper?

Oh, I met Matt Lundgren. A really good guy, by all accounts. For me, he was the same off-stage as on, very humble and helpful.