On Friday evening Carina and I went to a gospel concert by the Collingsworths - my folks introduced me to the music of this incredible musical family a while back, and took us to see them. The event was in Kitchener and filled the 1,000-seat church auditorium to standing room only.
I felt somewhat like a fish out of water, since I'm more in the vein of Paul Baloche, Hillsong United, and Starfield, BUT tonite was a very nice change from my typical experience.
In particular it was striking to be in a room dominated by folks in their 60's, 70's and even 80's - a LARGE group of them - and to hear them SINGING hymns was like being in a REALLY GOOD time warp!
I have childhood memories of church services full of people singing loudly, passionately and WITH HARMONY the great hymns of the church, as well as the great gospel songs of the early 1900's - an entire body of songs that may go onto the endangered species list as the older generations pass on. Throughout the concert, (which was fantastic!) we had opportunity to sing as a congregation songs like "He Lives", and "Wonderful Grace of Jesus" among a host of other great gospel anthems.
For a guy who leads the under-55 crowd in worship on a weekly basis, it was refreshing and moving to step back in time for an evening and allow myself to be carried along on the worship music that has nourished our grandparents in their faith. In our contemporary worship setting, we often struggle with getting the mix and balance right, and with engaging people at a heart level so they will sing with abandon. In our (post)modern complexity we have lost the simple art of congregational singing. I wonder if we may get to a place where we need to look back and re-trace our steps to what's older, and what may initially seem outdated or irrelevant, but which still has power to resonate if you will let it.
The Collingsworth Family are the real deal - and world class musicians to boot - but their passion and love for Christ shines through every note, and it was a wonderful evening to share with Carina and my Mom and Dad, and a great way to rejoice again in the power of Good Friday.
Hey Rob:
ReplyDeleteThat's a great description of our evening together. For all those reasons, as you know, I have been and am an advocate for an on-going integration of our musical heritage from decades and even centuries past. Making it happen, however, is probably a bigger challenge than most contemporary leaders want to cope with, and brings a level of reluctance to church leaders who are guardians of their brand.
Dad