This past weekend, it occurred to me one thing that I enjoy about church. It’s a community singing together.
At my friend Kevin’s funeral, there were at least congregational songs, one of which is the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” You should have heard the singing from that audience. It’s a testament to Kevin and the relationships he built over the years.
Obviously, his choir and the Huntsville Master Chorale were great to listen to, but I was just as impressed as the congregation. This was an audience that was comprised of a lot of professionally trained voices. They knew how to sing well and strong. That was probably as beautiful of a rendition of the old sainted hymn as I’ve ever heard.
And it got me to thinking about the things I really enjoy, and that’s to hear a crowd singing at the top of their lungs. True, most congregations won’t sound like that. Very few if any churches would ever have that many great voices in the audience.
But even with that, hearing a crowd singing a familiar hymn or song together is something magical, in my opinion.
Now, I’m not here to start a debate about whether churches need to be singing out of the hymnal or going with a more modern worship music style. I see good in both styles.
The beauty of this kind of community-style signing is that it can happen in either setting. Perhaps, they are singing a song they know so well that the audience drowns out the choir or band on stage.
I’ve even seen this at some popular concerts where the audience can overpower the audience on stage. You can’t tell me that everyone in a Garth Brooks concert can’t sing “Friends in Low Places” and drown out the music on stage. I’ve seen the YouTube videos of them.
We’ve also seen singing during peaceful demonstrations down through the years.
There’s just something magical that happens when you get a group of folks singing together. Whatever differences that we have get forgotten, and it doesn’t matter how well you sing. It’s one of the few things left in our society that can unite us all together.
Brent Maze is the publisher of the Appeal. Contact Brent at bmaze@newtoncountyappeal.com.
