Scorecard — Encouraging the church to sing

I read this blog yesterday when it came out, and thought it was good enough to share, but I didn’t want to just reblog it. So instead, follow the link above, and then follow my comments below on the 13 steps.

One of the reasons I enjoy attending Avondale United Methodist Church is because it is a church that sings. Sometimes I wish the congregation would sing out more, but it is a place where they do sing. So I am going to look at these 13 steps and give my quick evaluation on each:

1. Teach why we sing as a church. I’m not sure I’ve seen this one outside the choir, so I’d give us a little credit, but not enough to count this one.
2. Dust off the organ console. Our organ never got dusty — in fact in has been used enough that it needs continual repairs and maintenance. But this point is more than that. This means the organ is being used to support the congregation in its singing, not just as a performance piece. If the organ shows off too much, it isn’t doing its part to help the congregation sing. So I will give us a point for this one — though I think with our recent organists being all graduate-level organ majors we do get more showing off during the congregational singing sometimes than we need.
3. Bring the choir back. Okay, our never went away. And we remind the choir that they are there to lead and encourage congregational singing, not just present an anthem. So point for this one.
4. Make it obvious that your congregational singing isn’t supposed to be a performance. Point given.
5. Get rid of the lead soloist, if possible. Point given. What we probably do need is someone to be more of a song leader as described in this point — someone who can model a warm, pure, neutral tone, without affected vocals or ad-libbing.
6. Don’t sing so much. Point given. We don’t have long song-service sections to the worship service, but interspersed where it fits liturgically.
7. Sing all the time. Point given, qualified. We sing in service, at men’s club, in Sunday School, to bless meals. We could sing more. We should sing more in our homes, in the car, etc.
8. Build a resonant sanctuary. Point given. The acoustics of the sanctuary are very live. They let you hear yourself and the congregation around you.
9. Encourage and support the arts in the community. Point given. The concerts and groups that AUMC has promoted over the years, and that its members do individually, says we are a musical church.
10. Bring the kids back into corporate worship. Point given, with qualification. We have the kids in worship, we need to do more with them musically (I know, that takes a lot of effort). I’m pleased with the youth chime choir we got started recently. It isn’t singing, but it is music, and that has the same impact overall with involvement and music.
11. Use hymnals. We have them in the pews to use, so we might get partial credit, but we don’t really use them, so I won’t score us for this one. People can look for them and use them, but broadcasting the words on the screen takes away from the musical literacy and makes us lazy as a literate congregation.
12. Make the music worth singing. I’ll give this point to us, but with a caveat.  I think music is chosen to fit the message and tone of the service. But sometimes I think it is tailored too much, edited too much instead of letting the music say what it was originally meant to say, as uncomfortable as that sometimes might have been.
13. Stop doing the same songs over and over and over. Point given.  We never did do the same songs over and over. We have gone to using the same introit and call to prayer for a month, but that is a short time, and only once per service, not perpetual repetition in the same service.

So, in making us a congregation that sings, I give our church 11 out of 13 points (some qualified). So I think we are in good shape, but could always do better.

What do you think? About AUMC if you go there, your own church if you don’t. I’m curious about people’s perspectives. As the blogger for Ponder Anew notes in his other posts, we shouldn’t be doing music for music’s sake, but for the purpose of supporting worship and the life of the congregation. This is a sensitive subject for many, but one me must be willing to talk about and stand up for what is needed.