Have you thought much about the role of your choir beyond singing an anthem or some sort of “prepared” music on Sunday? Chances are you've helped them see the vital part they play as worship leaders, worship encouragers and worship supporters. But is there anything they're doing, or could do, beyond that? It's worth thinking about.
For quite a while, the choir in my church has taken seriously the admonition to pray, not only for those within our choir and for our ministry, but for those in our congregation and community. We get a weekly emailed reminder and report from one of our choir officers that prompts us to pray and encourages us to celebrate answered prayers. The result has been that many in our congregation now recognize this passion and commitment on the part of our singers, and they regularly ask us to pray for them or for a certain situation. The role of our choir has grown beyond that of being a singing group only.
This year, we felt compelled to take Christmas “on the road.” We've loved presenting an annual concert in our sanctuary, accompanied by an orchestra and in the midst of our families and friends. We're confident that this has been a beautiful and God-honoring endeavor, but this year something has driven us to take this message to folks who might otherwise not experience anything like this at all. The good news is that we discovered lots of opportunities to do this … more than we could actually pull off in one year. But here's the gist:
We've agreed to be the musical component for the Salvation Army's annual Angel Tree distribution and Community Carol Sing. Last year, there were over 900 involved in this and 136 people gave their life to Christ! Instead of providing a one night event for our congregation and immediate community, we're hoping (praying) to be a small part of changing someone's “forever.”
The next day, we're visiting 2 prison facilities and bringing a word of hope – as only Christmas can – to those who just may be facing what seems like an endless existence of hopelessness. Rather than trying next year to remember what it was we did this year, we're committing ourselves to being involved in something we're pretty sure we'll never forget.
Then on the Sunday of that weekend, we're planning to share some of this music with our congregation, but more importantly, some of the experiences of the preceding days. We're anticipating that this will be a huge dose of encouragement to our folks as they see and hear about the impact of being the hands, feet and voice of Jesus in a world that desperately needs this.
This year we're going outside the walls of our church. How about you?
--Click here for more practical and biblical strategies for improving my church choir from Discover Worship.
