• Worship Thoughts

    Directions for Singing – John Wesley

    From Dr. Greg Brewton at SBTS


    Worship Thought

    John and Charles Wesley made a great impact on the church in the eighteenth century.  Coming out of the Anglican church they became itinerate preachers eventually founding the Methodist Church. They also left a legacy in writing and publishing hymns for the church. Charles Wesley is credited with writing over 6000 hymn texts. Some of these hymns we still sing today: And Can It Be, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Rejoice the Lord is King and many others. John Wesley was more known for his preaching and editing new hymnals. In a hymnal edited by John Wesley (Selected Hymns, 1761) we find this admonition in the front portion of the hymnal. The language may be a little outdated but the intent of these instructions is still quite helpful to us today as we participate in corporate worship.

     

    Directions for Singing – John Wesley

    1. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.
    2. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.
    3. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.
    4. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice in strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sang the songs of Satan.
    5. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
    6. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.
    7. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strict to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.


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        1. Good Evening! As we begin to move into a semblance or normalcy at LCC, I wanted to touch base with the Worship & A/V Teams so we are all on the same page. I know over the last few months some haven't felt comfortable participating, and there for a while we had been trying to keep down how many people we had in a room while recording, etc. Now that there are more of us able to be involved, I want to again attempt the alternating teams approach we had implemented shortly before the shutdown. I know it's been a while since some have been on a team, so if you would prefer to not participate for a while yet, please respond to this email to let me know, and I will completely understand--no judgement :-). Also, if there is someone you think would fit a role where we are shorthanded, please let us know so we can see if they might be a good fit. I know the A/V guys are most often in the soundbooth every Sunday and at rehearsals, so I'm sure some knowledgable or trainable individuals would be welcomed! Flexibility is going to be our mantra as we move forward, even while realizing God is completely in control and nothing takes Him by surprise. Ideally, we will have two vocal teams that alternate. For instruments that we currently only have one person playing, they will continue to play weekly, unless unable to do so. Planning Center will be our friend throughout all of this, and I am requesting that everyone be sure to accept or decline your position each week. Please make every effort to respond to serving requests so those who are expected on a particular week show up and those who weren't scheduled actually get a "night off." :-) As we grow, this will become even more important as we incorporate more teams into PCO like hospitality, security, children's church volunteers, etc. This will enable LCC to work together in a unified way that can more seamlessly serve the Lord and our church family. We are hoping to have another PCO training session soon, especially for those who will be doing (or already are supposed to be doing...no passive agressiveness there ;-) scheduling for an area in which they have oversight. Lastly, as discussed last Wednesday at rehearsal, Worship Team rehearsals will be moving to Thursdays at 6:30PM beginning next week (8/27) in order to accommodate several WT members who would be unable to attend otherwise.  I feel so incredibly blessed to serve alongside such a tremendous group of people that I count as friends. Thank you for allowing me the joy of using music to serve our great God.  In Christian Love, Jamie

          1. Cool how the puritans also dealt with the tension between performance and worship. Heart is most important.

            1. Hi Jayson just joined faith life