If You're Trying to Think More Pastorally About Worship...

If you’re trying to think more pastorally about worship, then you should read this interview.  It is both a model of what pastoral thinking looks like and a display of some application of thinking pastorally in the local church context.  Bobby Gilles, over at My Song in the Night has a great set of Q & A with Bruce Benedict of Cardiphonia.  My favorite two parts of this interview:

Bobby Gilles: What do you say to a pastor or worship leader who says “Hymns won’t work in my context. People here want new music”?

Bruce Benedict: I’ve been reading through Jamie Smith’s book Desiring the Kingdom getting ready for the Calvin Worship Symposium coming up.  In the book he talks a good deal about how our world does a better job of recognizing and forming our desires than we often realize.  And how the church needs to begin to treat people as more than heads on sticks.  Our worship/music ministries really reveal this.  People want new music in church constantly because that is largely what we are used to being fed by the world.  Even my work-week is typically filled with the latest album and records coming out…

Bobby Gilles: What do you think is the relative importance or balance in the relationship between singable tunes and interesting tunes? 

Bruce Benedict: Great question! This is something I’ve been wrestling with a lot lately. Especially as I’ve realized that what will sound great on a recording isn’t always what will work well for corporate singing…and I think we have to be honest about how each approach requires a different mindset when we sit down to song write.

Because so much of what we are writing is also what we are thinking about, in terms of recording, we can get ourselves into trouble. I think this often provides much of the rub, too, between what we like to sing and what we want to write to record.  This is a tension we need to talk and think about a lot more…especially in terms of being intentional about how we write.

So much of our life is spent listening to music and we are often hard wired to think about what kind of music sounds interesting to us.  Thinking about what is singable is a lot harder.  I often chart out songs I’m working on in a notation software as part of helping me to think through ‘singability’.  I also preview a lot of new songs in monthly potlucks with my musicians where we talk through new songs.

Read the whole interview.

Worship Reading Goals for 2012

Worship leaders should be worship readers, so here’s my ambitious list for 2012 (off the heels of what I have read in 2011).  These are the books I want to focus on in the field of worship, but they won’t be the only things I read.  In fact, I want to take seriously C. S. Lewis’s admonishment to read one old book for every new one.  These are all relatively new books, and though I won’t read as many old books, I hope to read a few (Bradshaw, below, will open me up to some primary source material that will take me into the old stuff).  I also hope to read one or two works of classic literature and am open to recommendations.  Literature always stirs my soul and imagination and often helps me think about well-worn issues in new ways.

John Jefferson Davis, Worship and the Reality of God: An Evangelical Theology of Real Presence (2010)

I’ve actually read this one already, but I plan on revisiting it, outlining it, and imparting its wisdom to others.  In fact, our Worship, Music, & Arts team at Cherry Creek will be discussing it at our retreat this January.

Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology (2009)

I’m about half way through this book already, so it will likely be my first finish in 2012.  It is blowing my face off.  Its dialogue is so different from what evangelicals typically talk about, and it really lifts up a high view of gathered, corporate worship.  It is also heavily footnoted (which I love) and is therefore opening me up to a host of resources, especially to choice worship-thinkers outside of the evangelical tradition.

Jean-Jacques von Allmen, Worship: Its Theology and Practice (1965)

Both Davis and Chan (above) have cited this resource enough times that I feel it’s important enough to dig up.  It’s from a Reformed perspective, but it takes some surprising turns, I believe, such that it wouldn’t sound like the standard fare from Reformed worship writers (not that they’re bad!).

Edward Kilmartin, Christian Liturgy: Theology and Practice (1988)

A Roman Catholic liturgiologist who will especially inform me in the area of Worship and the Trinity.  Chan references this book a fair amount.

Paul Bradshaw, The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship: Sources and Methods for the Study of Early Liturgy (2002)

I’m looking forward to this book being a resource of primary material regarding early Christian worship and its roots in Jewish synagogue worship.

Hilaire Belloc, “On Song,” from On Everything (1910)

I honestly can’t remember why I’ve flagged this essay to read, except that something else I read referenced it and compelled me to check it out.  Free download from Google Books.

Paul Westermeyer, Te Deum: The Church and Music (1998)

This one won’t be read from cover to cover but will be referenced heavily, especially as it pertains to traditional worship music and liturgy.  Bruce Benedict at Cardiphonia turned me on to this resource.

John Williamson Nevin, The Mystical Presence: A Vindication of the Reformed or Calvinistic Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist (1846)

I’m interested in understanding my Presbyterian/Reformed tradition better when it comes to the theology of the Lord’s Supper, and many have said that Nevin’s work is seminal.

Honorable mention (or, books on my radar that may either gain or lose traction on the journey to making the 2012 list): 

Robert W. Jenson, Systematic Theology, vol. 2, The Works of God (2001)

Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World (1997)

Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology (1966)

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Worship leaders & thinkers: What are you reading?  What will you read?  What has recently impacted your view, practice, and leadership of worship?  I'm very curious.

Great Hymns Albums Released in the Last Few Months

I swear, I’m having to write these kinds of posts more often.  The hymns/rehymn movement continues to strengthen and expand.  Here are some great new albums that I’ve been enjoying and appreciating.

Sojourn Music, A Child is Born

Some very creative rock tunes, great guitar work, unconventional and delightful production choices.  Some traditional tunes reworked, some originals.  Sojourn is always on the upper side of the art spectrum.

High Street Hymns, On Winter’s Night

A great Advent/Christmas EP from our friends out east.  They venture into new territory here, incorporating hip-hop in tracks like “Hark! A Thrilling Voice is Sounding” and “O Come, Emmanuel.”  There’s a nice re-tuning of “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” too.

Castle Island Hymns, Christmas

A very hip indie Christmas record.  Unconventional, quirky, orchestral, and ambient, in a Radiohead-meets-Sufjan kind of way.

Cardiphonia, Songs for the Supper

Evangelicals are thirsty for this, perhaps without even knowing it.  Because I am an evangelical, I’m very aware of our impoverishment of language and expression for the Lord’s Supper.  This isn’t just an album of good Communion songs; it’s a signpost pointing to brighter pastures for evangelical Eucharistic celebration.

Chicago Metro Presbytery Music, Proclaiming the Bridegroom Near

An advent album of folk and classical orientation and instrumentation with some beautiful arrangements of traditional hymn tunes.  It’s a great example of how several churches can partner on a successful project.  Check this album out for some lesser-known hymns.

Leigh Nash, Hymns and Sacred Songs

This is a great album.  The production is superb, professional, and creative (one of Matt Redman’s producers, John Hartley).  The singing is unique, original, and stylized, and the texts can’t be beat.  There are some great hymn re-tunings that worship leaders shouldn’t overlook for congregational material.

 

Zac Hicks + Cherry Creek Worship, In a Byre Near Bethlehem

Of course, I had to throw in our random single.  We didn’t write this song; we just recorded it so others could hear this great text and tune.  It’s a modern Advent/Christmas hymn from the Iona Community in Scotland.  It makes the incarnation tangible.

Shai Linne, The Attributes of God

Right, right.  It’s not a hymns album.  It’s probably better.  It has more densely-packed theological muscle in each track than Charles Finney’s entire Systematic Theology (I know…not saying much…but it was a good joke).  The rapping is stellar, not second-rate.  Very sophisticated, very poetic, very clever, very artistic.  And, the production is solid.  There are some very thoughtful beat- and color-choices.  This album rocks, er, raps, my face.    

Sovereign Grace, The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11

This really isn't a hymns album, either.  But Sovereign Grace does modern worship like no one else is--Gospel-centered, Christ-exalting, theology-rich...all combined with some nice, driving rock.

Is the Lord’s Supper a Funeral or a Feast? (Injecting Communion Repertoire with an Upbeat Song)

I’m not trying to sound crass, here, but Communion often feels like a memorial service for a deceased loved one.  I remember growing up in my (wonderful, life-giving, Christ-shaping, God-exalting) church back at home in Hawaii.  The Lord’s Supper came once a quarter, and up front would be a table covered with a large cloth.  When it came time to receive Communion, the church leaders would come forward.  I remember a lot of them wearing black suits.  Two gentlemen would ceremonially lift and fold the table’s cloth, revealing the elements beneath.  The suited men stood reverently in a line, hands folded in front, as the pastor would talk seriously and somberly about what we were about to do. 

Click to read more ...

Songs for the Supper: Great New and Old Communion Songs - FOR FREE

Cardiphonia has produced a feast for the ears to strengthen the Feast of Christ in the modern church's worship.  Not long ago, Justin Taylor, when posting about our song, "Lord, I Believe," commented: "I’m not aware of many hymns that are specifically designed for celebrating the Lord’s Supper."  This observation is typical and appropriate for those of us (myself included) reared in the modern evangelical church.  Our tradition, by and large, has downplayed Communion.  We speak of its importance.  Some of us even believe it's more than mere symbol and memorial. However, the importance of the Eucharist, for many of us, is not necessarily displayed in the frequency of our observance of it, and it is certainly not a large part of the body of literature of modern church music.  

The irony of all of this is that many of our (Protestant) forefathers and mothers just a handful of generations ago were committed to writing songs for the Lord's Supper.  Cardiphonia has unearthed many of these old hymns and has encouraged new ones to be written.  This is Cardiphonia's most robust, most polished project to date: Songs for the Supper. And, as always, this record is FREE.  But, if you do contribute something to the project, all the proceeds go to Stop Hunger Now.  In celebrating the Meal, let's give others a meal.

Some notable artists on this record: The Welcome Wagon, the old Red Mountain Music gang (Brian T. Murphy, Clint Wells), and The Ironsides (Matt Boswell's outfit).  The songs by these folks are great, but they are by no means the only good tracks.  (I especially love the first track by Bobby Krier and Justin Ruddy.)  With this being the third "flash recording project" of Cardiphonia, we're watching each of these artists improve in their songwriting and production.  There are many great, great songs on this album.

I had the privilege of contributing a few songs to the record: (1) a folky remix of "Bread of the World in Mercy Broken," from our album The Glad Sound; (2) a new tune for a forgotten hymn by Charles Wesley, entitled, "All Glory and Praise."  I'll post my musings on this second song in a few days.

So go get this free record!

Ten New Albums Indicative of Positive Shifts in Modern Worship

When I began cataloguing the growth of the hymns movement several years ago, I had no idea that its growth would be this rapid.  Even using just one metric for growth and expansion—the production of albums—the number of artists and churches setting old hymn-texts to new music is much greater than it was five years ago. 

Click to read more ...

Pentecost Songs: The Way Forward Continues to be the Way Back

The rootlessness of contemporary Christianity is starved for remembrance, but the vacuum of historical connectivity has finally turned on.  And the sucking sound is getting louder and louder.

For years now, Cardiphonia has been on the leading edge of liturgical renewal in evangelicalism.  Before it was "cool" to talk about liturgy and historic practices in Christian worship, Cardiphonia was carving its path in this direction on the world wide web.  Its mastermind, Bruce Benedict, I have watched from afar in the past, and now I consider him a friend, liturgical mentor, and kindred spirit in worship-thought.  Bruce has many unique gifts, rarely packaged in a single person.  He is an artsy musician and an academician.  He listens widely and reads widely.  He plans and leads worship from the point of biblical values and ideals, not trends and polls.  But perhaps Bruce's most outstanding trait is his ability to network widely, inspire artists, and galvanize efforts for the sake of the broader Church. 

The latest masterpiece of Cardiphonia is the robust, twenty-three tracked compilation album, Pentecost Songs, gathering the efforts of twenty-one different artists (listed below) from across the country (and one in Singapore!).  The musical style straddles everything from folk, to ambient, to electronica, to rock, to pop-orchestral.  The importance of this project in the development of church music history is immense.  Contributor and Music Associate at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Greg Scheer, said it best in recent email correspondence:

It's really a monumental project. Who knows? Maybe 100 years from now, this will be in Hymnary.org alongside the Foundling Hospital Collection or Southern Harmony! In the more immediate future, I hope the collection benefits the church.

In other words, this project is significant because it seeks to carry on the church music tradition of creating compilations of congregational music which pull from the past and push toward the future.  Pentecost Songs contains old hymns to new music, a re-harmonized chant, and brand new textual and musical creations.  Equally wonderful is the fact that the careful listener will hear, even amidst the clever and artsy production, that the songs have a simple integrity which makes them VERY suitable for congregational singing--simple, singable melodies, combined with accessible chord-structures and accompaniment options. 

Pentecost Songs is available for FREE on bandcamp, with an option to support the project financially.  The Pentecost Songs Songbook is also available for free!  The season of Pentecost begins this Sunday.  Don't miss this opportunity to listen and sing your way through the Spirit's season.  Read about the project in its entirety at Cardiphonia.

I've reproduced Cardiphonia's list of contributors here, so that you can see the diversity and breadth of expression represented.  I was blessed to be one of the songwriters on the project, but it's not at all pretense when I say that I am among the "least of these." 

Hiram Ring – Come, Holy Spirit, Come
Musician with Pageant Music and Doctoral Student in Linguistic in Singapore.
www.hiramring.com

Nathan Partain – Come, Holy Spirit, God and Lord
Music Arts Director at Redeemer Presbyterian, Indianapolis
www.wordsandmusic.wordpress.com

Wen Reagan – Almighty Comforter
Musician and Doctoral Student in American Studies at Duke.
 www.wenreagan.com

Bruce Benedict – Come, Holy Ghost & Come, Thou Everlasting Spirit
Music Director at Christ the King, Raleigh
www.cardiphonia.org

Jered McKenna – Almighty Comforter
Musician and Worship Leader for Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church
www.mckenna.webs.com/churchmusic.htm

Matt Boswell – God the Spirit
Worship Pastor at Fellowship of the Parks, Fort Worth, TX
www.livingworship.com

Zac Hicks – Away With Our Fears
Associate Pastor of Worship & Liturgy at Cherry Creek Pres, CO
www.zachicks.com

Brian T Murphy – Did I Not Plead Above
NYC, NY – www.redmountainmusic.com
Red Mountain Music and New York Hymns

Melanie Penn & Steve Elliot – Holy Ghost, By Him Bestowed
Brooklyn, NC – www.melaniepenn.com / www.cdbaby.com/cd/parkslope
Musicians at Park Slope Pres

Clint Wells – No Longer Visible
Nashville, TN – www.clintwellshymns.wordpress.com/
Musician and Red Mountain Music

Karl Digerness – Spirit of God
San Francisco, CA – www.cityhymns.com
Music Director at City Church, SF

Michael Van Patter – Breathe on Me & Great Comforter, Descend
Greensboro, NC – www.hymnsoftheweak.com
Director of worship-arts at Hope Chapel

Anne-Marie Strohman – Holy Spirit, Light Divine
Musician – Palo Alto, Ca

Luke Brodine – Come Down O Love Divine
Palo Alto, CA – www.raresunshine.blogspot.com
Pastor and musician at Grace Pres.

Cameron Gray – Breathe on Me
San Diego, CA – www.soundandshape.com
Chad Gray works as a designer and musics at Harbor Pres.

Greg Scheer – Glossolalia & O Holy Spirit, Come!
Grand Rapids, MI – www.gregscheer.com
Minister of Worship at Church of the Servant in Grand Rapids and Music Associate at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

Rick Jensen – Spirit I Wish I Knew Your Name
St. Louis, MO – www.liturgyfellowship.org
Musician and Liturgy Fellowship Dir.

Gina Tuck – Hymn to the Holy Spirit
St. Louis – www.centralpres.com/liturgicalarts
Director of Liturgical Arts at Central Pres

Luke Morton – Come, Holy Spirit, Come
Issaquah, WA – No More Fear
Assistant Pastor at Cov. Pres. Church.

Wendell Kimbrough – Holy Spirit, Come
Washington, DC – churchmusicblog.wordpress.com
Musician at Church of the Advent (DC)

Holy Week: What Happened, and Resources for the Journey

What happened on each day of holy week?  Though we can't know with solid precision, we can get awfully close.  Justin Taylor has put together a nice, clean, harmonized, and biblically-centered approach to making this week meaningful for reflection (so click on each day for a more full account).

Sunday
Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-15
Jesus, at the Mount of Olives, sends two disciples to secure a donkey and a cold; makes his "triumphal entry into Jerusalem; weeps over Jerusalem.

Monday
Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46
Jesus enters Jerusalem and clears the temple; they go to Bethany.

Tuesday
Matthew 24:1-25:46; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-36
Jesus delivers the Olivet Discourse on their return to Bethany from Jerusalem.

Wednesday
Luke 21:37-38; Matthew 26:14-16; Mark 14:10-11; Luke 22:3-6
Jesus continues daily teaching in the temple; Satan enters Judas.

Thursday (Maundy Thursday)
Matthew 26:20-29; Mark 14:17-23; Luke 22:14-30; John 13:1-17:26
Jesus eats the Passover meal with the Twelve in the evening, instituting the Lord's Supper; He washes their feet and teaches them (the Upper Room discourse).

Friday (Good Friday)
Matthew 27:27-54; Mark 15:16-39; Luke 23:26-49; John 19:16-37
Jesus is crucified.

Saturday
The world waits.

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There are some great free resources out there for making Holy Week meaningful: hymns, hymn-reflections, devotional guides, art, etc.  The blog I always go to first, and the blog I recommend to you is Cardiphonia.  They do a masterful job of distilling information and making accessible with one or two clicks.  It's the best site I know of for giving people without much liturgical/historical backround in Christian worship a gateway to enter into this world in a meaningful way.  Here is one great post with tons of resources.

Resources and Songs for Holy Week - Hymns, Recordings, Devotionals, etc.

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Also, check out this project that Cardiphonia pointed me to.  Redeemer Church of Knoxville, TN, is releasing a new song for each day of Holy Week, in preparation for the full release of their album Rise, O Buried Lord.  It's a musical journey through Holy Week, courtesy of another player in the hymns movement.

Rise, O Buried Lord - Hymns for Holy Week