2024.10.27 | I Came to Magnify
Scripture reading: Psalm 34:1–8, 19–22
Good morning Beloved! My title today comes from a song by Clarence McClendon that we used to sing at First Congregational Church of Oakland. The lyrics read:
“I came to magnify the Lord,
Praise His holy name.
Lift Jesus higher, lift Jesus higher.
I just came to magnify,
I just came to glorify,
I just came to praise the Lord!”
These are my goals as a Pastor and a worship leader: to amplify the WORD, to lift up the teachings of Jesus, magnify God’s love for us and remind us that we are called to be Christ to one another.
It is always my solemn prayer for God to use me as a vessel, as a messenger, as an agent to help bolster the faith of others. I give all of myself to this undertaking because I know that God can and does take imperfect and flawed human beings like myself and cause them to be a blessing. Although I didn’t come to Eden Church expecting to serve as a music leader, when Pastor Arlene asked if I would be willing to step in and fill the gap left by Ken Rawdon’s departure, I of course said yes. In that moment we didn’t know what this new music ministry would look like or what form it would take, we just knew that music was a vital part of worship and we were committed to turning lemons into lemonade. And so I pray that the Holy Spirit will move through me and my music so that it stirs people hearts to desire to be closer to God.
Will you pray with me.....
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I’d like to talk to you about music today. I’m sure most of us probably have an idea of what church music should be. These ideas or expectations are shaped by our personal experiences. Maybe it is the sacred music we grew up with, or the music we experienced in a beloved community at one point in our lives. Perhaps we love the comfort of traditional hymns sung to a pipe organ or being immersed in the atmospheric soundscapes of the contemporary Christian songs we hear on the radio. Whichever the case, it is undeniable that music has been important to people of faith throughout history. Let’s look at some of the history of sacred music.
To begin with, we can find plenty of examples of hymns, canticles and spiritual songs within the Bible itself. In the Hebrew Bible for example, there are the 2 Songs of Moses (one in Exodus 15:1-8, one in Deuteronomy 32:1-43), the Songs of Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1-10), Isaiah (26:9- 12), Jonah (2:2-9), and Habakkuk (3:2-19).
Then there is the Book of Psalms. The Psalms are a collection of poetry and songs used for public worship and private devotion. They exhibit several song forms including repeated responsive refrains as well as antiphonal, call and response, singing between alternating performers. At least half of the Psalms are attributed to King David. Many of the Psalms tell us to “make a joyful noise” and “come into his presence with singing” or say things like “break forth into joyous song and sing praises.” (Ps 66, 95, 98, 100, 150.)
Here is a video clip of how some of their music sounded (https://youtu.be/kh2KwEwaroc?si=-TK3YO3H-2Ma_f4Y)
The religious activities of Judaism were centered in the Temple. “During the time of the Hebrew kings David and Solomon, the Temple had developed an elaborate service of worship that was under the administration of a priestly hierarchy”1 as established in 1 Chronicles 9:33 & 15:16.
In addition to singing, they used many types of instruments: lutes, lyres, harps, flutes, pipes, trumpets, coronets, other brass, frame drums, tambourines, shakers, and cymbals. In 1 Chronicles 13:8, we read that “David and all Israel were dancing before God with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.” 1 Chronicles 15:28 tells us that “all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.”
In the New Testament, we find the Nativity Canticles such as the “Song of Mary” (The Magnificat – Luke 1:46-56) and the “Song of the Angels” (Gloria in Excelsis Deo - Luke 2:14). In Matt 26:30 and Mark 14:26 we read that Jesus sang a hymn with the disciples after the last supper before leaving for the Mount of Olives. We are also told that, while they were imprisoned, Paul and Silas were “praying and singing hymns to God” just before an earthquake came. And some scholars also believe that Paul sometimes quoted songs in his letters.
After the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 CE, hymnody in the early Christian church became disconnected from its Judaic roots and began to evolve along its own. “During this period, the distinction between clergy and laity became more clearcut...(and) the clergy assumed greater responsibility for church worship, forming and shaping the liturgy and its associated music.”2
But during the first 3 centuries of the common era, Christians were persecuted and so met in secret. As a result, there isn’t much information about songs that were sung. But once Constantine converted and made Christianity the religion of the empire in 313, Christian singing began to emerge as “an organized and regulated part of worship.”3
The earliest Christian hymnbook was a collection of 42 anonymous Greek and Syrian hymns called the “Ode to Solomon” from the 3rd century. But in the 4th century, the Council of Laodicea prohibited the participation of the congregation in singing during the service. Around the same time, a Byzantine hymnody emerged in the Eastern church that was an unaccompanied, monophonic (mainly diatonic) chant. Over the next 5 centuries, Greek, Syrian and Byzantine hymn forms of troparian, kontakion and kanon developed in the East. Inspired by his exposure to Greek hymnody, Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, began writing Latin hymns that “emphasized Trinitarian doctrines to combat the Arian heresy.”4
The development of the monastic system led to the development of the canonical hours or offices. Codified in the 6th century by Benedict, Benedictine evening prayer and praise services called Vespers, Compline, Matins, and Lauds (among others) took shape. During some of the offices, all 150 Psalms would be sung in a week’s time.
Gregorian chant began to take shape in the 8th century and was so popular that it became the dominant music of the Western church beginning in the 9th century.
Modern music notation finally emerged around 1000 CE and provided a methodology for transcribing and sharing sacred music compositions.
The Roman Mass, with its scripture readings and sung responses, developed over several centuries and finally reached its standard form in the 11th century.
Between the 9th and 12th centuries another song form call the sequence developed in France at Nortre Dame Cathedral and in Switzerland. These forms continued through the middle ages.
Martin Luther and the Lutheran Chorale brought congregational singing back into favor. As the Protestant Reformation expanded, so too did the practice of congregational singing. Thus the roots of congregational singing in the United Church of Christ can be traced back to Martin Luther.
The next 5 centuries, would see the development of Psalters in New England, the chorales of JS Bach, the hymns of John and Charles Wesley, denominational hymnodies, the development of Spirituals, etc. Gospel music emerged in the 1940s, Christian folk music in the 1970s and Christian Contemporary music in the 1980s.
In some settings, instruments were welcomed while they were banned in others. The pipe organ, invented in the 3rd century BC, did not begin to be adopted in Christian churches until the 3rd century CE. Stringed instruments fell out of favor by the middle ages. Drums would be accepted in some settings but not in others. The piano was invented in the 18th century and was quickly accepted into sacred settings.
This does not take into account the history of Global Hymnodies or the effect that hundreds of diverse cultures have had on Sacred Music.
All of this history demonstrates that the forms of music in worship has continually varied and changed over the centuries. Each generation has found new ways to praise to GOD through their unique music. And every culture brings their own cultural heritage and context to bear. It seems God is always doing a new thing through HER composers!
What is my story? What past experiences do I bring to bear here at Eden?
I have been a lifelong musician. I started playing drums when I was just 3 1⁄2 years old. Because I was dedicated and had talent, my uncle gave me his profession Ludwig drumset for my 5th birthday and I played into my college years. I picked up the guitar in middle school because I wanted to write my own songs. It became my primary instrument when I began my undergraduate studies at Berklee College of Music. Initially I studied Jazz Harmony and Composition but, once I became engaged to be married, I changed my major to Music Production and Engineering and went on to have a 25 year career as an engineer and record producer for 25 years. During that time, I continued to be an active musician playing in many different contexts both as a bandleader and hired lead guitarist/vocalist.
I first came to sacred music in 1999. After coming back to Christianity, I began to feel a call to create a music ministry. After following and discerning that call, I used all of my industry and recording knowledge to launch the Transcendence Gospel Choir in March 2001. I then immersed myself in performing sacred music. For over a decade I performed as a guitarist and vocalist in 3 worship services every single Sunday across a variety of UCC, Lutheran, UU, and community churches. Additionally, the Transcendence Gospel Choir performed at churches across the state and around the country. In 2011, I was hired by CCSM to lead music for an experimental, “emergent” worship service. And in 2012 I became the Music Minister at the First Congregational Church of Oakland and served in that role for 11 years (though we never quite recovered from the pandemic).
In that last context, services typically ran 2 1⁄2 hours. The Praise and Worship portion of their service was a high priority where the band and choir usually performed for about a half hour at the beginning of the service. In that church’s culture, there was an expectation that the entire congregation would sing along and people were usually on their feet as they did so. Additionally, fluidity in vocal phrasing and improvisation from song leaders was highly valued. Just like the worshipers described in 1 Chronicles, the music was meant to raise your heartbeat, and get you to feel passionate about praising God. It was loud and joyous. (At least until the pandemic.)
So, when Ken Rawdon asked me to substitute for him for a couple of weeks over the summer, I was anxious and apprehensive. The music program the he led here at Eden was excellent; but it was a very different style of sacred music than I was used to leading. I replied that I would willing be his substitute as long as I could bring my own skills and sensibilities so that it would be authentic and have integrity. He and Arlene agreed. Of course, me being me and wanting to include others, I reached out and invited David, Dawn and Charlie to join me.
Fast forward 3 months...Ken has left Eden and I am now serving as your interim music director. It is an unexpected pleasure and an honor to do so! But it is still a work in progress. I am discerning. I am still trying to figure out how to balance all of the other duties I have with the demands of this new role. I am still considering what new and exciting things we might do in the future. But here's what is clear to me so far. I want to help Eden live into its stated Strategic goals, including:
• To incorporate music that expresses our progressive theology and draws and inspires new participants,
• Offer worship experiences that encourage being present and that nurture a sense of belonging,
• Perform music in worship that expresses our desire to become an increasingly multicultural, intergenerational congregation
• Continue to offer hybrid worship experiences that support in-person and distance worship venues.
I want to create ways for people to get involved! Are you someone who likes to sing? Do you play an instrument? I invite you to get involved. Do you have talents that people don’t know about or that you’ve been wanting to share with the congregation? Do you have some ideas for worship? Let’s talk about it.
Bring me your feedback! Let me know what you liked or didn’t. What roused your spirits? What fell flat. I want to hear from you. That is how we live into our Strategic goals together.
I said I came to magnify the Lord and I will endeavor to amplify the goals of our community.
Amen.
1 Music, David W and Price, Milburn, A Survey of Christian Hymnody, Hope Publishing Company, Illinois, 2010, p1
2 Music, David W and Price, Milburn, A Survey of Christian Hymnody, Hope Publishing Company, Illinois, 2010, p5 3 Music, David W and Price, Milburn, A Survey of Christian Hymnody, Hope Publishing Company, Illinois, 2010, p5 4 Music, David W and Price, Milburn, A Survey of Christian Hymnody, Hope Publishing Company, Illinois, 2010, p11