Why We Sing
I have been blessed in my life by growing up in a home that placed a high value on music. It is so much a part of my life that during an assessment for ministry, when I was asked to describe what I did when my mind was in neutral, without thinking I responded with, “I Sing, tap a rhythm, a bass line, a piano part, or work on a harmony.” Taking that love for music into the church gives me the chance to do what I love with a group of people who are focused on the face of Jesus.
The question then becomes how to help the average person that sits in the congregation become a participant and not a spectator. One of the things that struck me when I first discovered the Vineyard was the high value on participation. John Wimber called it “Everybody gets to play.” That value permeates everything we do from praying for the sick, serving in the food pantry to singing the worship songs in the weekend services and the small groups.
Three values of our expression of worship in song are simplicity, intimacy and accessibility. As a worship leader I want to bring the people to that place of communion with the living God, to focus on Him in wonder and awe, and to bow before Him in surrender. We do this through songs and the songs that we pick to sing on any given weekend.
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