Articles
“The Purpose of Congregational Singing”
By Steve Lorentz
Singing 'better' in worship doesn't mean that our worship is 'better'. God looks at the heart of a singer and not how gifted or how musical a singer is. That being said, God wants us to give our very best in our efforts in worship as individuals in His church. Congregational singing is an opportunity for Christians to share together spiritual topics such as hope, faith and praise among other things.
Teaching, prayer, and singing all inspire us and that strengthens the church as a whole. I am always inspired when Adam Kitt visits us because I can hear his part and feel his presence. When he sings the whole congregation sounds more complete.
On the last Wednesday in January, we will temporarily have our singing in sections.
Goals and Objectives for Sitting in Sections
To hear ourselves better and be more confident on our parts.
To listen to each other more and balance the four parts of the congregation soprano, alto (female high and low voices) tenor and bass (male high and low voices). If one section has more singers than another, they need to be aware that they are not overpowering too much. It is like talking too loud and not listening. The opposite of this is when a section has few singers, they need to sing louder and not timid so they can be heard and balanced into the group.
The balance naturally falters when everyone sings the melody and the other parts have much less singers.
To realize that certain parts at different times are carrying the melody (a pleasing series of musical notes that form the main part of a song or piece of music) and that certain sections are the accompaniment (something that is added to another thing to make it better or more appealing).
Therefore, when a section has the melody they need to sing out so it is more prominent than the accompaniment and the accompaniment needs to support the melody and not overpower.
I think that if we can begin to apply some of these ideas, our congregational singing will be engaging and more meaningful to the whole group.
