Music is Worship is Music and The Song inside the Song…
Music is vital in worship. Music IS worship! We can sometimes hear the readings, the prayers, the sermon, as words flowing in just one direction “from there to here”. I believe music, whether tied to text or not, is the vehicle that carries the message “from here to there” – so that the pathway of communication is not limited to flowing in just one direction, but rather a two-lane highway of connection and transference.
The congregational song selected and sung for The Second Sunday of Advent (December 4, 2022) at St. John’s was an excellently beautiful example of music working in synchronous lock-step and resonance with the assigned readings for the day. The hymns we sang in community that day gave voice to our individual and collective response in worship together.
You can watch the 9am service here or the 11am service here.
I love when Word and Song work in support of one another. When that happens in transcendent harmony, the whole is so much greater than the sum of the parts – going so far beyond the limits of verbal description and temporal understanding. From Prelude to Postlude and everything in between, I invite you to listen for the thread the next time you find yourself in worship at St. John’s. Listen for the song inside the song. And join in!
I don’t know exactly how all of it works. I can’t measure it, quantify or prove it scientifically. But I know it’s real. And I know that you do too. I’m so glad to play a part in all of this, along with every other person present, participating in worship together.
Chad Smith
Minister of Music
