There is the old story of Isaac Watts complaining to his father about the quality of songs and singing in the church of his day. Watts' father, growing tired of listening to his son's whining challenged him to do something about it.
We have the blessing today of celebrating with the scores of generations before us great songs of faith that have inspired through the centuries, but what about today's struggles and victories? Who is writing those songs? Who is writing those songs in the vernacular of the church of our Lord in 2014?
We have a number of talented musicians in our church with varying degrees of musicality. As a music educator, I thought if I can get them all in the same room together, cast a vision with a timeline and a destination, we could do some great things together. I could help with some music fundamentals and pairing the lyricists with the tune writers. We have a few experienced songwriters, and we have several working on their first songs. We are a little ways into our journey, and it's been fascinating. Here are a few comments from some of our musicians regarding this process:
"It's good for a church to sing songs that are being written within the church, while having a universal application it has a certain resonance in the local congregation"
"We are the new generation; we are adding to the collective history of the saints"
"I have learned organizational skills, how my thoughts work and about the process to create something new"
"After I pray, I feel like God is speaking back to me, I write the words down and then comes the difficult part of finding the right music"
"It is a process, a long process with many layers, the words, the music, the arrangement, the instruments, the recording"
"I felt like a had a gift and now I have a purpose to use it for God's glory"
We'll keep you posted about our continuing journey, and eventually some new songs!
Editors note: Expect a follow up article on this hymn project in the next edition of Best Practices for Adventist Worship.
