Congregational Singing

“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

“Then again, I’m cool with singing ‘Hark! the Herald Angels Sing’ instead of ‘Hark How All the Welkin Rings’ this Christmas Eve, so…” - Aigner

“Music moves our emotions as well as our intellect, serving to motivate us to put into action what we have been convinced of as true. This is persuasion at its best and most legitimate.” - Olinger

“The argument that worship, especially music in worship, is just a matter of taste is spurious, and it needs to be retired, just like the pop worship trend.” - Patheos

“A senior medical adviser at Public Health England (PHE), Dr Simon Tanner, said on Tuesday that his organisation was leading a small study with adult male choir-singers from Salisbury Cathedral, and some adult volunteers, to gain a better understanding of transmission.” - Church Times