On the March…

In talking with men and women who are more experienced than me in singing the hymns of the faith in the context of a covenant renewal worship service, you hear the term “warfare” and “militant” arise in the conversation. The Church is, of course, the Lord’s Army and whether we fully understand it or not, we gather each Lord’s day to gather in the Lord’s presence and renew our commitment and vigor for kingdom work and service. We proclaim his praise, confess our sin, hear His Word preached to us and then are fed at his table. This army ritual is being fleshed out in my mind gradually as I learn more and more.

So, of course, music should be warlike in some ways or battle tune-esque. Our Hymns and Psalms should be our war tunes that we sing to honor our King and call each other to renewed service in the week after we worship. So, we must rethink the tradition of playing the piano/organ and singing in the style of ragtime, durge, liberace or any other style that would detract from this genre of worship as warfare.

So, we need to think more “March” when we play or sing through hymns. Is this too slow for a march? Is this too fast? Is this too soft and timid for a march to war? Is it too weak? These are things that we need to rethink as we mature in our understanding of worship and worship music. This can and is done well. It just doesn’t happen on accident. It also doesn’t happen in a year either. It has to be a goal. As a musician, who plays and accompanies for worship sometimes, this “on the march” is what I try to call to mind just before I downbeat the hymn or the song.