Convocation's Feast of Music
by Aaron
Most Lutheran congregations, though they mean well, do not sing as well or as loudly as their music directors and pastors would like. Maybe on Easter Sunday the packed house will punch out a rousing chorus of Alleluias or Christmas Eve they'll yodel the Glorias from Angels We Have Heard on High. And maybe, just maybe, if you have a congregation really into their Lutheranism, they'll trumpet out A Mighty Fortress is Our God on Reformation Sunday. The rest of the year, however, the choir, the music director, a few past choir members and the pastor carry the house.
This is the singing to which I am accustomed. I am used to being the strongest voice in the vicinity of my pew. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I gathered with 500 other Lutheran pastors (mostly men) at the 2007 Mid-Winter Convocation.
Here was the biggest gathering of baritones I'd ever witnessed, all these good ol' boys raised in the church, raised strong and burly on meat and potatoes choruses, their paunches thickened on the home-cooked Lutheran hymnody, standing up for the biggest choral feast my ears have ever tasted. I couldn't hear my own voice the singing was so rich and wonderfully full. For years I had been drinking melodic skim but now vocal cream overflowed from the cup of Luther's chapel. The room was so alive with the sound of singing the sanctuary rang when we stopped.
The volume itself was a blessing. How can one sing of the glories of God timidly? Can joy in the Lord's presence forever be quiet? A laugh and a wail ring purest and most true to their maker's emotion when they are loud and not stifled. Is a refrain any different? When the heart swells so should the voice.
If you ever get a chance to attend Mid-Winter Convocation, certainly slake your hunger for theology and learning at the buffet of classes and workshops offered. Do not miss, however, the sweet desert of praising God with 500 other folks singing their hearts out to the tune of a Lutheran hymn. It is one of the finest melodic meals at which I have ever supped.
This is the singing to which I am accustomed. I am used to being the strongest voice in the vicinity of my pew. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I gathered with 500 other Lutheran pastors (mostly men) at the 2007 Mid-Winter Convocation.
Here was the biggest gathering of baritones I'd ever witnessed, all these good ol' boys raised in the church, raised strong and burly on meat and potatoes choruses, their paunches thickened on the home-cooked Lutheran hymnody, standing up for the biggest choral feast my ears have ever tasted. I couldn't hear my own voice the singing was so rich and wonderfully full. For years I had been drinking melodic skim but now vocal cream overflowed from the cup of Luther's chapel. The room was so alive with the sound of singing the sanctuary rang when we stopped.
The volume itself was a blessing. How can one sing of the glories of God timidly? Can joy in the Lord's presence forever be quiet? A laugh and a wail ring purest and most true to their maker's emotion when they are loud and not stifled. Is a refrain any different? When the heart swells so should the voice.
If you ever get a chance to attend Mid-Winter Convocation, certainly slake your hunger for theology and learning at the buffet of classes and workshops offered. Do not miss, however, the sweet desert of praising God with 500 other folks singing their hearts out to the tune of a Lutheran hymn. It is one of the finest melodic meals at which I have ever supped.
posted by Aaron at 7:35 PM
1 Comments:
You want to be part of a congregation that sings like that every Sunday? There's one right here in the Twin Cities, you know. There congregation really knows they are a choir singing to the glory of God! Check out the 10:45 a.m. service at Mount Olive, on Chicago and 31st in Minneapolis.
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