My previous post ended with the conclusion that members of the same church may have different feelings in church, and that could be formed for a large part by their own experience.

This experience is not formed exclusively by what happens in the church (as the previous post might suggest), but includes the home as well: how parents and grand-parents speak about church music, the instruments and who played them, the tunes, and the words. And in our (Canadian Reformed) case, where we have our own Christian schools: what the teacher communicates at the school. (Communicate or does-not-communicate.)

Experience has a lot to do with one’s perception. What one perceives is a result of interplays between past experiences (church/home/school), one’s culture and the interpretation of the perceived.

• There is a saying “perception is reality”. When you have the perception that tunes are unsingable, for you that is the truth.
• Facts that contradict your perception usually do not change your perception – you perception is reality for you – unless you are really open-minded.
• Changing one’s perception depends on (at least) two things: the presentation of the facts that could change the perception, and the openness of mind of the person having the perception.

Peter wrote a while ago at Yinkadenay’s blog that he thinks that the attitude about psalm singing is directed toward the psalm tunes and not the psalms themselves. However, I know that there are Canadian Reformed people that think that not all psalms are meant to be sung! (I don’t want to discuss that here, now.) Peter’s comment about the tunes struck me, because I agree with him" it is about the attitude. And this attitude (state of mind) is directly related to one’s perception, and, in turn, their experience.

People with this attitude tend to ask the question: “Why these tunes and not other tunes instead?” (Many articles have been written about the tunes. Spindleworks provides great resources to read more about this. Despite this wealth of information, the question is still being asked). To answer a question like this, we need to know what these tunes actually are. Once we know what they are, we can evaluate and compare.

Some people are of the opinion that many Genevan tunes are broken… Others go so far as to state that don’t need fixing but complete replacement! Yet, when asked what is exactly broken, the comments relate often to their personal opinion, perception, knowlegde (or lack thereof) and experience about the singability of tunes, or the aesthetic aspect of the melodies.

How then should we deal with such reactions and comments about church music, psalms and hymns properly? I can’t give a solution that fits all circumstances, but there are a few things that we can do. Such as:

• Careful listening (make sure we do understand what the real issue that is brought forward);
• Observing (e.g. if messenger is emotionally upset or controlled and calm);
• Analyzing the message (e.g. does it make sense, are the facts true);
• Ask questions (e.g. to verify or validate what is said).

We have to be careful in making decisions about the (future of) music in the church based on opinions based on experiences, perceptions, or emotions (although song and music are often emotional themselves).

Decisions for the future of music and song in the church should be based on what is the best for the church (more details on this could include an explanation of how the Standing Committee practically fulfils their mandate). Experiences change with the generations and cultures, perceptions change due to the circumstances, and emotions of people can change by the minute. The songs of the church need to have a solid foundation and be able to bridge generations, nurture and change emotions, and provide a foundation for any circumstance in our life her on earth.

In the church on Sunday, there was a person seated in the fifth row, a little bit left from the center. I listened…

“In church I am singing psalms, because the minister selects them. When I was younger, the organist in our church played them slow, and the congregation sung them slow. I had to take a breath in between every line. At the end of every line the organist started too early and the congregation started too late. I could not think about what we were singing.”

The person continued after a moment of silence:

“Our minister at that time selected favorites and singing them became a boring routine. His favorites were not my favorites. I didn’t understand all of the words and sometimes the rhyming did not work either. I got frustrated by the ‘stanza-singing’ because when I read the entire psalm in my Bible it seemed to have a different meaning and purpose.”

“I didn’t understand why these psalms are chosen and what I was praying or saying by singing these psalms. There were violent words and phrases in the songs and I never understood how to take that. It made me upset.”

 

“I spoke with the organist, but he did not understand (or agree with) what I said. I spoke with the minister, who understood. I expected something would change, but nothing had changed. I was disappointed. I liked singing hymns from my favorite hymnal at home on Sunday nights. In this way I tried filling the hole that the psalms in the church service did leave. I tried to encourage more people to sing hymns. I wanted a change because I was unhappy. This was my worship service Sunday after Sunday, week after week, year after year. “

“To be honest, I dislike the psalms, more accurately: I dislike the tunes. The psalms in the hymnal that I sing at home are fine, but it is the tunes that we sing in church: they are the problem!“

A lot to think about, but I did not get much time. Another person was sitting in the sixth row, right from the center. Again I listened…

“I am always early in church. Often I am listening to the organist’s prelude. I noticed that he played about the first psalm on the liturgy sheet: strong and upbeat, but also had a few slow and quiet moments. I was curious and therefore I read through this psalm: the praise psalm changes its tone and changes to a prayer.

Before we started singing, I was touched by the call to worship: our dependence on Him and His grace and faithfulness toward us – concluding with a call to praise His holy Name! The organist gave a joyful introduction and the congregation bursted out in joyful praise! It went through my bones…”

Then the person continuing about the sermon…

 

“The sermon was serious, but ended with comfort and encouragement for the week ahead. The psalm that we sang as a response, I know by heart, because I just practiced it with on of our children as memory work for school. We sang it together without the psalm book!”

 

“I know many psalms by heart. When my mother was going to be with the Lord, as her children we sung her favorite psalms, and I noticed that it touched her. When my best friend passed away in a car accident, I had many questions, but I found comfort in singing the psalms that echoed my feelings, and they lead me closer to my Saviour.

When I asked about the tunes, the person replied:

“The tunes and text are such an integral part, that I can’t separate them. When I drive in my car to work, I listen to psalmsinging, because I love the psalms. They are meaningful to me and singing them makes me feel closer to God.”

Two people in the church. They each have a completely different experience with the music and singing in the church.

Which person is right and which person is wrong? Can we bring them closer together, especially being a church musician? It is important to be aware of people in church listening to us with different feelings. But we also need to be careful not to start personal initiatives to address these different feelings by e.g. a choice of music that might appeal to one or another group.

Discussions about songs and music can turn out to be fruitless and even destructive if they are based on feelings and experiences. Feelings and experiences of church members and church musicians! Sometimes we are not aware that our experience plays a role - other times we are aware, but we don’t want to admit to that.

The recording session that took place in November has resulted in a CD. Several psalms we sung by a several hundred people in our Langley church while this was recorded.

We had to make a selection out of all of the recorded material. The following psalms have been selected.

1) Psalm 100 (You lands and peoples of the earth...) *
2) Psalm 86 (Turn Thy ear, O Lord, and hear me...)
3) Psalm 91 (Those dwelling in the hiding place...)
4) Psalm 124 (Let Israel now say in thankfulness...) *
5) Psalm 26 (O vindicate me, LORD...)
6) Psalm 92 ('t Is good with jubilation...)
7) Psalm 6 (Chide me, O LORD, no longer...)
8) Psalm 89 (I will extol Thee, LORD, Thy mercies I will praise...) 
9) Psalm 32 (Blest is the man whose trespass is forgiven...)
10) Psalm 68 (God shall arise, and by His might...)
11) Psalm 20 (O may the LORD in days of trouble...) *
12) Psalm 21 (LORD, in Thy strength the king excults...)
13) Psalm 122 (How glad I was when unto me...) *
14) Psalm 72 (O God give to the king Thy justice...)

This selection is not the Canadian Reformed "top-ten" (if such would exist); rather we were aiming for a balanced selection of different types of Psalms: lament psalms, confessional psalms, psalms about God's reign, about Zion and the city of God, pilgrim songs, liturgical psalms, etc.

Some people who suggested a CD with psalm singing added that it should be the way we sing the psalms in church. I know that not every church sings the same, but we have tried to get as close as possible.

In our churches is is generally common practice to sing stanza's instead of psalms, taking fragments of psalms out of their context and making them fit for our own purpose.
All tracks with a * have been recorded in with all stanzas, so that the complete context is conveyed. Other psalms (e.g. 91, 6, 26) we had to cut some stanza's because of technical reasons, but I tried to keep the line of the message of the psalm intact. I have done that before hand with the psalms that were to long to record/sing on one CD.

The master for replication is being finalized and we expect that the CD will be available in March. I will keep you posted on this blog, through the local Church News and I will place an ad in Clarion as well.

Every day I am driving by a small church of the Seventh-days Adventists on Fraser Highway in Langley. Their billboard has often catching phrases, but for the last two weeks they are apparently looking for someone with my skills. I took this picture tonight, on my way back from work.

For musicians, the more playing they do, the better it is. As their services are on Saturdays, I would still be able to go to our own church on Sundays. However I am not sure if I would agree with their style of worship and music. Maybe I should call the number on the sign

In the last issue of the Dutch magazine “Eredienst” (means “Worship”) Dr. Jan Smelik gives an overview of Hymn singing in the protestant churches in the Netherlands following the Reformation.

Some people might remember that the Dutch Psalm books contained a small hymn section called “Enige Gezangen” (“Some Hymns”). This section was expanded by the Synod of 1933 (last year 75 years ago). On that occasion Mr. Smelik tried to give the perspective of the affaire of hymns in the churches.

This is a very relevant topic in the Netherlands because the addition of hundreds of hymns in the last ten years caused controversy and the hymn issue seems to be a moving target from Synod to Synod. I am wondering if the addition of Hymns has served and serves the church in increasing the joy of worship to the greater glorification of God, or that it took the joy away, dividing churches, creating disagreement and frustration.

THE 12 HYMNS

The Synod of Dort (Dordrecht) in 1618/1619 decided that only the 150 Psalms and these Hymns ought to be sung: The Ten Commandments, The Lord’s Prayer, The Apostles Creed, The Song of Mary, Song of Simeon, and the Song of Zachariah. Some hymns were added before publication: Credo, Morning Prayer Song, Prayer Song before supper, Song of Thanksgiving after supper, and the Evening Song. For almost two centuries these were the only hymns sung in the church.

MORE BUT NOT SCRIPTURAL

In 1806 the Regional Synods (Particuliere Synode) published a hymnal “Evangelical Hymns” (Evangelische Gezangen). This publication was not endorsed by Synod and there were concerns about the text (the influence of the Enlightenment). The hymn issue became a significant obstacle in the Secession of 1834. Reverend De Cock was against the singing of the new hymns in the church. The churches that separated published in 1882 a hymnal “for school, society, and family” that contained hymns with good, Scriptural texts. The additional hymns were not sung in the church.

A few years later the Doleantie took place, led by Abraham Kuiper. The churches of the Doleantie were not in favour of the singing of (additional) hymns in the church.

CHURCH SONGS

Synod The Hague in 1914 rejected the request of the church in Brussels to develop a bundle of “church songs” (the word “hymns” was to controversial so they used “church songs” instead). But there was some support in the churches, which let in 1915 to a committee “Kring van belangstellenden in de verrijking van ons Kerkgezang” (Group of stakeholders in the enhancement of our Church Song). This committee presented to Synod 1920 (Leeuwarden) a bundle with a majority of hymns from the hymnal “Evangelical Hymns” (Evangelische Gezangen) of 1806. Synod rejected the proposal (for the same reasons as before), but mandated their Songbook Committee to review and revise the existing hymns.

THE 29 HYMNS

Hard work, discussions, and many meetings over the next years resulted in the approval of Synod Middelburg in 1933. The hymn section was expanded from 12 to 29 hymns. All of the selected hymns were familiar amongst the church people, as they were all selected from books and bundles that were widely used in the community. There were no unfamiliar hymns in the new hymn section.

Yet, there was again controversy: Synod Amsterdam 1936 received 109 letters expressing serious concerns. Synod did not change anything, but asked to communicate and work with each other in love.

FROM 29 TO 471 ... TO 1,000?

The next time a (Liberated Reformed) Synod discussed the hymns was in 1961, resulting in hymn section revision in 1975. A total of 36 hymns were published in a “Proefbundel” (publication to try out).

In 1986 the selection was increased to 41 hymns. There was very little opposition in the churches, which had opened the door. Ten years later (1996) a decision was made to add more hymns, and today the churches can select from 471 hymns in the church services (and there are still the 150 psalms).

An important factor of the decline in opposition after the Second World War is because there was no longer a strong link with the theological principals and other developments in the church (opinions on e.g. Genesis 1). In the last half century that relationship has diminished which made it much easier to add more hymns. I am not convinced that when the theological principals do not play a huge role anymore by the selection that the singing of those hymns could not have an impact on theology in the church over time.

In June 2008 the Synod of the Gereformeerde Kerken (vrijgemaakt) decided to participate in the oecumenical hymn book project (Liedboek voor de Kerken). With a total of 800 to 1,000 hymns this hymnal is expected to be published approx. in 2012.  

We know that the Lord Jesus said that He came to bring division instead of peace (Luke 12: 51). It might look like He was thinking about the hymns in the churches. Or maybe church music in general…?

WHAT ABOUT US?

What does this mean for our Canadian Reformed churches? We are adding more hymns… We can learn from history not to make the same mistakes. We can ask the question: what is it worth? Or what are we risking?

One thing is sure: the Dutch churches have sung the same Psalms for three and a half century. The rhyming was very old. The Psalm-singing churches were busy debating the hymns, and overlooked the Psalms, taking them for granted. Today they seem to be pushed to the background. That is one mistake we clearly don’t want to repeat!

TESTING
We are still testing the hymns that the committee presented: a process that needs to be done well. After last Synod I published a CD with these hymns to facilitate the testing and evaluation.

This CD was/is sold out, but recently a box of CD’s was found somewhere and returned to me.

If you still would like a CD, please let me know! (15 dollars) (link)

By the way, an instrumental CD with these hymns was recorded later, and also still abailable!

First of all: Blessings to you for the new year!
Things have been white here the last few weeks and today again
we woke up with the white stuff coming down...

Here a few pictures of and around our house...

The front of our house.

Our view of the backyard.

Our neighbours, The Travellers Hotel (1887) 

 
Our other neighbours, the Archibald McCrimmond Residence (1889)

Our Langley church had its share also over the holidays...
As usual we were early and I took some pictures,
while one of our members had his work cut out for him!

Pastor Bredenhof had a sermon on New Year's Eve about:
Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.
(Ecclesiastes 11: 1)

With God's blessing, we continue working in His Kingdom in 2009.

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the LORD and against his Anointed One.
(Psalm 2: 1, 2 NIV)

The nations will not accept Christ any more readily at his second coming than they did at his first. The heart of man is evil, and not until the "judgments of God are in the earth" will they "learn righteousness" (Isaiah 26: 9). Handel’s Messiah shows this. It includes the words of Psalm 2: 1 and 2.

Mary is the second to the last Scriptural figure who points us to Christ (John the Baptist being the last). After some 400 years of silence by God, He comes to Mary through the angel of the LORD to make His announcement (quoting the last prophet to speak, Micah) that through her the Light of the world would come. He would be the long awaited Messiah, Who would take away the sin of the world. Fallen creation would be redeemed from its corruption by the Last Adam brought upon it by the sin of the first. He would be the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets and save His people — and Mary will be His mother!

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.
(Song of Mary from Luke 1, NIV)

In or before this Sunday's worship services maybe you will sing Mary's song. Singing about about God’s mercy, His grace and faithfulness. But, is it possible that in singing this, the church is claiming that same promise for themselves? In praying Mary’s words we link ourselves in to that blessing which is still now-and-not-yet. Not because we “feel” blessed or see blessing in every circumstance, but because we trust that God can work through all things, that, really, “nothing is impossible with God.” (“Nothing is impossible with God” is a song that our choir sang during a Christmas program a few years ago...)

Advent is the time on the Christian calendar for expectancy. We anticipate Christmas during the season of Advent. There are many other consistent expectations. We can expect a lot of innocent but often enjoyable stuff: multi-colored and flashing lights, a bombardment of holiday sales, Santa’s in malls, radio programs going 24/7 with Christmas songs, nostalgia, cold and snowy weather—who knows how long it will last.

We can also expect the not-so-innocent: the typical discussions about politically correct phrases like “Merry Christmas or happy holidays,” the desperation of some Christian circles for the wider culture to affirm them by regretting the fact that Christmas gets less and less cultural and more government sanctioned every year. We can expect these same moral faultfinders to chastise the culture for not really celebrating the “reason for the season”…

But instead of being distracted these things, this 4^th Sunday of Advent would be better spent considering Mary’s Magnificat. The Magnificat is named from the first word in Latin: “magnifies,” or “my soul magnifies”. (Magnificat anima mea Dominum, et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salvatore meo, quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae.) Upon hearing the news that she will bear the Son of God, Mary is basically bursting with anticipation and says it all with, “As the LORD has spoken, may it be!”

If you are not singing the Magnificat (or Song of Mary) on Sunday or during this Advent season, maybe you will enjoy listening to part of Bach's version of the Song of Mary that he first wrote in 1723 for the church in Leipzig. He changed the text over the next ten years, realizing that this song has a broader reach than Christmas, performing it in its current version in the Thomaskirche in 1733. Ton Koopman directs the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.

PS I find it regrettable that we have decided to sing Christmas carols before the church services during Advent Sundays, following the malls that celebrate Christmas before Christmas day. Singing about Christmas when it is not Christmas yet makes us ignore the time of anticipation. And, singing about "certain poor shepherds" on a "cold winter's night" and about the "holy infant so tender and mild", "on Mary’s lap is sleeping...", and "Whom angels greet with anthems sweet"...(I think they mean by 'sweet anthem' the singing of "Glory to God" by "the great company of the heavenly hosts") does fit within the romantic atmosphere of the world's Christmas, but does not line up with the facts in God's Word.

The publication of the Royal Canadian College of Organists published a feature article on our new Casavant organ in Langley. Jacquelin Rochette wrote an interesting story as the organ builder and I was asked to write something about our perspective and experience. For your reading pleasure...

This concert was a success... the church was pretty much full... de Brass players and Organist were great. They were especially impressed with our singing... There was great help from the congregation in organizing this... there were a lot of people from the community... they asked some children to participate after the intermission.... for the rest - ask people that were there...

They perform these Christmas concerts in St. John's (Shaughnessy) Anglican Church in Vancouver for 27 years - without any publicity: else they would not fit the people in the cathedral...!

We hope to have them come back next year D.V.