"Jesus Loves Me, This I Know"

In about four weeks, my husband and I will become grandparents for the first time. Our son and daughter-in-law are the ones affording us the great honor. As I try to get myself ready for this momentous transition in life, my thoughts go back to the days of parenting that son, his twin sister, and his younger brother. I remember the book series we subscribed to that sent the classics of children’s literature our way – including Pigs in Hiding, The Carrot Seed, and Goodnight Moon. When I went to the Scholastic web site to see if I could subscribe to the same series for my grandchild, a new option should not have surprised me: ebooks.

            I also thought about the series of child development toys we subscribed to from Johnson & Johnson. One particularly well-used one was a yellow “dumbbell” with squeaks at each end and a bright, red tracking ball in the middle. The series offered similar toys sent once every couple of months. They were all equally bright, functional, and educational. Since all of my twentysomething children are independent and successful, I wondered if those toys had anything to do with it. Are these toys still available? Can I subscribe to the series for my grandchild? No – but I can buy used ones on ebay.

            Books and toys are important for shaping a child’s world, but so is music. The songs my children grew up hearing came from Sesame Street, including the classic “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” Raffi (“Three green and speckled frogs sat on a speckled log eating some most delicious bugs”), and Mr. Rogers. In my book, that man was a saint, along with being a Presbyterian minister. Who else but Mr. Rogers would think to write a song for children telling them “You Can Never Go Down the Drain”?

As I pondered my children’s complete musical repertoire, once again, the internet blessed my memory. A quick search reminded me of “Free to Be, You and Me” and some very timely lyrics: Parents are people; people with children. When parents were little they used to be kids, like all of you; but then they grew and now parents are grown-ups, grown-ups with children…

As I contemplate the changes my grown up kid about to become a parent will face, I wonder what kind of music will shape his child’s life? When I began to reflect last Sunday with the saints of Seneca Presbyterian Church on the power of music to shape faith, I was taken with the amazing individuality of musical options in our time. With Amazon Cloud Players, Pandora, and Sirius radio, we can easily listen to whatever we want to hear whenever we want to hear it. I wonder how this world will alter the power of music to shape a generation, because music does have the power to shape us. It teaches us what is important, where our passions should lie, what it means to be human, and for Christians, what we think it means to be children of God.

When we gather for worship this Sunday at SPC, we will consider how music teaches. How do the hymns and songs we choose to sing together shape our understanding of God, of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit, and what it means to be Christian disciples? If you are anywhere near-by, come join us! 

A More Profound Alleluia

We are beginning a new series of worship experiences at Seneca Presbyterian Church this week. Our denomination – the Presbyterian Church (USA) – is publishing a new hymnal. It is called Glory to God and we have been promised that our shipment will arrive in time for us to use it on World Communion Sunday, October 6. Let’s hope publishers and printers and shippers can uphold the promise.

In preparation for that new era, we will be celebrating the gift of congregational song when we gather for worship over the next five Sundays. Since we know our ancestors in faith have been singing about God and to God for thousands of years, we know there are many ways of praising God with music and song. I grew up singing traditional hymns in church and Sunday School. The church that nurtured me as a child had a Sunday evening service too. Hymn sings were often a part of those nighttime worship opportunities. It was there that I learned so many hymns by heart. But just as significantly, I heard what was important to the adults around me, what nurtured their faith, and what they sang with gusto.

I also learned to sing on retreats when we gathered around a campfire, particularly in high school and college. Those are the years when you want to learn something different, something the adults would not sing or even like. In my era, it was “Pass It On” and “Teach Your Children.” I wish I could remember the title of the song book we used – but it had a brown cover, contained just the lyrics, and included “Charlie on the MTA” and “Little Boxes.” Looking back, I remember thinking in that book alone was every good song ever worth singing!

But thank goodness my faith-filled music education didn’t end there. After college came seminary and life in the Church spanning four decades. I’ve been blessed to include in my repertoire Taize choruses and songs from Iona; the majestic strains of high Church tradition; the hymns and songs written in only the last few years. 

When Seneca Presbyterian called me as their pastor, I came to a congregation that offered opportunities to worship in both the traditional and contemporary styles. Traditional I knew; but contemporary was an entirely different experience for me. It threw me into one of the most divisive issues in modern church life, one where either/or usually wins out over both/and. I wish it were not so, because these past three years have deepened my musical repertoire and I am grateful.

                Our denominational church family’s songbook tries to model the diversity that God created in the world of song. For the next five Sundays, we hope to do the same. We’ll look at songs that teach, songs that draw us into God’s presence, songs that call us to action, and songs that unite us. We do so not in order to pick and choose “what I like,” but instead to sing what God likes from all the voices of God’s children. It is what Marva Dawn calls “the music of the whole Church for the sake of the whole world.” You are welcome to join us.

                I’ve already heard from the people of Seneca Presbyterian. They have shared with me their favorite hymn and why. Since we will be at this for four more weeks, there is time to hear from you.

• What is your favorite hymn and why?
• How diverse is your repertoire? Is it ok to sing and worship in only one style? What is lost when we do?
• How do different styles of music speak to you? What do you find missing from your worship experience?
• How can we sing as one Church offering praise to God in one voice?