Musical Developments

We are a confessional Baptist church -- so we love good hymns; words matter to us more than musical style. But we're trying to connect everywhere we can with contemporary sounds and approach in our worship. So...

1. We sing a 20+ minute set in each service. We want an extended time for God's people to encounter the greatness of God -- to stir the heart. We are looking for a whole-souled (including emotions) response to the "wonders of grace." Long gone are the days of popcorn music -- up and down for a hymn now and then.

2. We are looking for greater measures of freedom in physical expression. Hands in the air. Clapping (though that's still being worked on by the elders).

3. Our worship is very consciously vertical. We want to sing/pray to the Lord -- not sing about him. So I don't hesitate to change words in a hymn to make them "you" oriented.

In "I will sing of my Redeemer," the last chorus becomes,

Now I sing to my Redeemer—

With your blood you purchased me,

on the Cross you sealed my pardon,

paid the debt and made me free!

For "When I survey the wondrous cross," the last lines repeat as a tag this way,

"Love so amazing, so divine,

You have my soul, my life, my all."

4. We have a "band" of sorts -- guitar, bass, djembe, synth, piano & vocals. We're not large enough to have "teams" of musicians -- so our group looks different from week to week.

5. Our sound, our "musical center," isn't real loud. We want the congregations's voice to be the sound remembered.

6. We incorporate Scripture reading and prayer in our sets (see Seedsower Music for help on this).

7. The piano no longer leads melodically. The vocals do. The piano provides the harmonic and rhythmic support. And when all the musicians are here, the piano doesn't play on every song.

8. We really want the worship to flow -- to feel seamless in moving from one song to the next. We work hard on transitions and "noodling" music underneath prayer and reading. Check out Don Chapman's worshipflow.com for help on key changes and underscores.

9. We want to sing hymns -- but we want to use a contemporary styling whenever appropriate. While style may not as important as words, it is important. I want folks who worship at Heritage BC to feel that the music connects with them right away. So we began using some resources from lifewayworship.com (Southern Baptist) to help. Gave us good ideas for singing hymns in a fresh, upbeat manner. Also helped us with the synth string part -- since none of us really have any idea how to use it well. It was wonderful this Sunday to have the synth support.

Talkback is always welcome...

David