More School

Psalm 33:3 says, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.”

I am in Pittsburgh at the Trinity School for Ministry at a three day intensive with Andy Piercy, a man who has spent much time both contemplating and leading sung worship.  I have not had enough time to evaluate these ideas, but they could at least start conversation.  Here are some thoughts that I am batting around from day one of this intensive:

– We don’t need more technique, but more God. – Robert Nording

– Is sung worship more of a gift to us or something we are obligated to bring to the Lord?  Is it more of a gift or a task?

– In a culture like America where one’s worth is tied to what one does, we become a culture that defines its worship by what it can bring.

– Nowhere in the Bible are we ever commanded to sing an old song.

– C. S. Lewis in his essay “On Church Music” mentions that God doesn’t care about the song itself any more than God cared about the actual meat on the altar.  He doesn’t need the meat, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

– Worship comes from words in Scripture that range from kneeling to being a servant.  (My own mental ramblings made me wonder if the satisfaction we get from worshipping is similar to a butler doing good work for his master like in Downton Abbey.)

– Each service should be approached as a fresh encounter, with the eager expectation of glimpsing the glory of God. – Church of England Commission on Church Music

– We spend much of our time stumbling around corporately (not necessarily a bad thing).

Does any of this jump out at you as being profound insights or irreconcilable heresy?  Let me know your thoughts and check out the beginnings of the music we will be singing on Sunday at restorationmusic.wordpress.com.

–       Matthew Hoppe

P.S. I’ve got to go practice a leading a couple songs so I can receive some constructive criticism from the class tomorrow.  Yay.