And here’s the good (of obvious) news: where’s a natural and great place for kids to practice music together? Church! But outside of Christmas pageants (and “identified” youth services, how deliberate are we being about giving our youth room to demonstrate and practice their music skills? Are we recruiting youth into our choirs (even if it means we have to adjust the anthems a little bit?) Are we choosing hymns and music that appeal to our youth? Are we being sure to seek out the musical talent in our pews, and asking if they’d like to perform during service – even if it means a squeaky violin performance of Ode to Joy? What about reaching out to the community and offering up the church as a natural place to foster the communal enjoyment of music: At St. John’s, we have sponsored a highly successful community children’s choir which just performed to a packed crowd in the church on the weekend, and raised hundreds of dollars towards a new women’s medical clinic at the local homeless shelter.
All you need to do is pluck an earphone out of a teen’s ear, to know how important music is. Now research confirms, what the church has always known: making music together also helps make us better people.
To learn more about what the Eastern Synod is saying about the importance of Music Ministry check out Debbie Lou Ludolf’s blog at: http://easternsynod.org/ministries/worship/