Music in Worship: Then Sings My Soul 2012–09–02

Class Introduction

Summary: The focus of the class is the ways in which music is involved in our worship and Christian life, both Sunday morning and during the week. We’ll look at different kinds of music, different ways music is used in different times and traditions, explore the ways that the text and music work together, and learn from each other about ways that music has and has not spoken to us. Neither musical talent nor musical experience are needed. Come when you can, and bring your background and perspectives. Information about what we’ve discussed (and hopefully what we plan to discuss) will be posted to this blog web site at the TSMS Blog.

Some thoughts:

Musical talent is not required. Nobody will be forced to sing :-).
We come from different backgrounds and perspectives. Let’s learn from each other. There is no one way to worship.
I expect to include examples from other religious (non-Christian) forms of worship.
We can go beyond music, to include other forms of the arts (such as poetry, visual, and movement) and the ways those forms help our soul to “sing” and enable worship. But going there may require others to lead the discussion; I’m an amateur musician and I have little background in the poetry, visual, or movement arts.
Participate.
Feel free to suggest ideas for things you want to cover and explore.
I’m exploring ways technology can augment our in-class experience. My goal is that it’s precisely that – an augmentation, and hopefully it doesn’t detract or interfere for people.
Come when you can. That’s part of why I want to use the blog, so that when people have to miss a week or six, they can see what the conversation has been and potentially participate. There are also some others who want to be in other classes, and the blog (and maybe other tools) can be ways for them to participate outside of class.
We will be studying scripture and other sacred texts as part of this class. For me, most of the scripture I have memorized is because I’ve sung it. And that will (eventually) lead to more than one session on why we use music as a part of worship.
I expect to cover some aspects of theological differences of view through music, including at least some of what it means to be a Presbyterian.
Where we find mistakes in the class information and areas where there are differences in historical interpretation, we’ll fix the mistakes and try to represent the differing points of interpretation.

Introduction – Goal of Worship

What is the goal of worship?
When and where do we worship?

From my perspective, worship is a time to renew and refresh our relationship with God, to take a closer look at ourselves and the way we have acted, and to inspire us to move closer to the model that Christ gives us for behavior. Worship is also a time for us to come together in community, to renew our bonds with each other and to remember that we walk this road both with Christ and with other people. Certainly we can worship at any time, in any place, with or without other people. Worship is hardly confined to Sunday mornings, but having that regular time of worship helps to bring us back and establish a rhythm to our week and to our lives.

Where is Music in Our Worship

Where do we use music in our worship services?

Prelude
Introit
Processional (or introductory) hymn
Kyrie (request for mercy)
Gloria Patri (thanksgiving for mercy)
Scripture (usually the Psalm)
Anthem
Offertory
Doxology
Closing (or recessional) hymn
Response (aka “Detroit”)
Postlude
Services may also include an additional hymn or a hymn version of one of the scripture passages
Communion services include the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy Lord), the Agnus Dei (Oh, Lamb of God), and the hymn(s) during communion.

That’s a lot of music and is probably at the high end of the spectrum in terms of different musical elements within a given worship service. Denominationally, Presbyterians are often recognized as a group with a lot of music in worship, though often more formal music and we tend to not be terribly emotional about it[1]. In particular, Calvinists were particularly identified with sung Psalms.

For us, worship begins and ends with music, though we sometimes use that music as background for conversation and visiting with brothers and sisters. The formal service starts with the Prelude and ends at the end of the Postlude.

Are there particular parts of these musical elements of worship that are particularly helpful for you? Why?
Are there particular parts of music in worship that are less useful for you? Why?

For me, I’ve struggled some with the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei in communion, as an example. I’ve felt that we somehow view this as part of some magical incantation needed to make communion happen and invoke the proper spells for forgiveness. I think I’m past those issues now, but that’s an example. It’s taken me a while to understand that one of the key points for the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei are the ways that they help to span time for the church.
They are ways for me to remember who and what we are and get my head and heart in the right place to accept the sacrament of Communion.

Digging in a Bit: Gloria and Doxology

The text of what we use for the Gloria Patri:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
world without end. Amen.

Play Gloria Patri Renditions from playlist
- Organ rendition from Wikimedia[2]
- Bruce Benedict rendition[3]
- Cynthia Clawson from Prayer and Plainsong [4]
- John Michael Talbot from Be Exalted/The Lord’s Supper [5]

Wikipedia has a good article about the origins of this text at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Patri.

Interestingly enough, Wikipedia defines this as the lesser doxology, distinct from the greater doxology, the Gloria in Excelsis Deo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_in_Excelsis_Deo, which we may recognize from Vivaldi’s Gloria or the more modern version of the Gloria by John Rutter. And none of these are what we often call “the doxology” and which is sometimes called the Common Doxology, and which is a much newer text. The Gloria Patri dates from the 300’s and the Common Doxology dates from 1674[6]:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Play Doxology renditions from playlist
- John Jones from 100 Sacred Hymns CD #1 [7]
- Cynthia Clawson from Prayer and Plainsong [8]

A doxology is simply a liturgical formula of praise to God. It’s another one of those words where capitalization matters. The “catholic church” uses the old meaning of catholic, meaning universal. The “Catholic Church” generally refers to the Roman Catholic Church. Likewise, a doxology is a form of praise in worship done the same way and may be chanted or sung. The Doxology is usually referring to that “Praise God” text we usually sing after the offering is collected.

What are the key points in the Gloria Patri?
Why do we use the Gloria Patri?
Where does the Gloria occur in Scripture?

Key points: Trinity, unchanging nature of God, eternal nature of the Trinity and of creation.

The Gloria, as written, does not occur in scripture. Its origins are from the early church, in and around 300 AD and is came to the forefront as part of the controversies around the nature of Christ and the Trinity, which lead to the First Council of Nicea and the Nicene Creed. These are all aspects Arian controversy and the way the early church dealt with Arianism doctrine. Briefly, Arius was a late third century Christian leader from Alexandria, Egypt who held that God the Father created God the Son and that God the Son did not always exist. This makes Jesus a subordinate deity to God the Father, which is contrary to the mainstream concept of the Trinity.

The Gloria, as written and sung, reinforces the point that God is Three and always has been Three. In the Gloria, as clearly distinct from Arian beliefs, God the Son was never separate from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

Presbyterians sometimes get nicknamed the “Frozen Chosen” for our relative lack of emotion during worship and a tie-in to the whole doctrine of predestination, which we may or may not hit in this class. ↩
OGG version posted at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gloria_Patri.ogg and converted to MP3 using http://media.io/. ↩
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1309853/Gloria%20Patri_bruce.mp3 cited from http://cardiphonia.org/2011/05/07/short-songs-in-worship-doxologies-gloria-patris-and-more/ ↩
Gloria Patri (Track 4) from Prayer and Plainsong by Cynthia Clawson. The artist’s site is http://www.cynthiaclawson.com and the specific version used is from iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/prayer-and-plainsong/id398737415. ↩
Gloria Patri (Track 19) from Be Exalted/The Lord’s Supper by John Michael Talbot http://www.johnmichaeltalbot.com/albums/be_exalted/be_exalted.php. Version used is from iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-lords-supper-be-exalted/id280586474. ↩
See http://hymntime.com/tch/bio/k/e/n/ken_t.htm as cited by Wikipedia on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxology. ↩
Doxology (track 15) from 100 Sacred Hymns, CD #1 by John Jones http://www.johnjonesministries.com/music.htm.
Actual version used was from iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/100-sacred-hymns–1/id271180847. ↩
Doxology (Track 5) from from Prayer and Plainsong by Cynthia Clawson. The artist’s site is http://www.cynthiaclawson.com and the specific version used is from iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/prayer-and-plainsong/id398737415.
Note that on the artist’s site, track 5 is Angels from the Realm, which is different from what’s on iTunes and Amazon. The site search on the artist’s site was also broken at the time these notes were prepared (September 1, 2012). ↩

Then Sings My Soul (at FPC)

Saturday, September 1, 2012