How can singing foster our relationships with strangers? And how can singing not just foster relationships, but be a powerful means of hospitality? Dr. Helen Phelan draws on her ethnographic work with a Congolese-Irish choir to show the potential of “sonic hospitality” through singing together.
I’ve been holding out on this post because…it seems obvious? Like making a hymn set should be really straight-forward, and why didn’t I try it sooner? But maybe you’re like me just a few months ago: I thought creating hymn sets – also know as medleys and song sets – would be tricky. And I …
An Easy Way to Create Hymn Sets (plus 10 Sets to Get Started) Read More »
Every Sunday morning when the sermon begins, I duck out of the sanctuary, walk down the hall to the nursery, and start singing.
Do you wish you prayed every morning? Or most mornings? Or at least, some mornings? For a long time, I didn’t pray in the morning. But then I realized I could sing prayers and everything clicked!
You don’t have to sing out loud in order to sing. You can sing silently. I call it “inner singing,” just like we have the terms “inner speech” or “inner monologue” to describe the silent but very real flow of words in our heads.
Since giving birth a few months ago, I’ve had a wealth of quiet hours to ponder the prickly questions niggling at the back of my mind, at least once I was sleeping enough. One night back in June, I lay awake thinking about old voices, about how a certain timbre makes a person sound old. …
Are older people welcome in your choir? They should be. Read More »
It’s not a coincidence that this winter season is full of scripture readings about light. These are dark, cold weeks, and I, along with many other people, am finding them heavy and full of what Jesus called “wars and rumors of wars.”
Rise and Follow Me: I’ll Make You Worthy Next Sunday’s Gospel reading comes from Matthew—Jesus begins his ministry and calls several fishermen away from their work, saying, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Such a simple but radically life-altering command.
I sing to my infant son whenever we’re in the car together, and since singing whatever comes to mind usually means “Come Thou Found” on repeat, I try to sing songs according to the liturgical year(ish).* *haters gonna hate, but there was a lot of Christmas music happening during Advent—sorrynotsorry y’all!