Congregational Singing

“…he supports church musicians seeking excellence in everything they do… contemporary songs and technology that improve worship, as opposed to creating a ‘concert’ environment that separates stage performers from the congregation.” - GetReligion

“Though we often conceive of corporate worship vertically, there’s a rich horizontal dimension too.” - TGC

“Today, January 13, we remember the Hussites who, on this day in 1501, published the first hymnal in history written in the language of the common people.” - Breakpoint

“Why is this singing so heartfelt, even though the accompaniment is so simple? How did they get so many men to sing their lungs out?” - TGC

“In most churches today, the worship time has become a concert. …I visit churches pretty much for a living, and as I look around during the services, the vast numbers of the congregation are watching the stage and listening – not singing.” - Phil Cooke

“The pastor goes, ‘I preach the Word. Everybody else do the rest, and I’ll just concentrate on the sermon.’ Well, that’s, that’s stupidity. That’s not how the Bible was written. That’s not how the Church fathers behaved” - CPost

“In short order, we went from 250 songs everyone knows to more than 250,000 songs nobody knows… . The key is familiarity. People enjoy singing songs they know.” - C.Leaders

“Do they hate these songs? Are they bad singers? Am I singing out of tune? … The church was newly established and small in number, and—to put it kindly—the singing in our gatherings was uncomfortable.” - TGC

“So the question becomes – in spite of today’s worship music often being meaningful, well done and engaging, what have we lost when a few hundred members of the congregation stand there watching 5 or 6 members of the worship team do all the singing?” - Phil Cooke

“The more pronounced the division between the platform and the congregation, the weaker the singing…. The congregation should not feel like their contribution is meaningless. Just the opposite.” - C.Leaders