Congregational singing is central to the liturgy at St. Gregory’s.
All of our services include copious amounts of communal singing,
joyfully rendered without accompaniment. The vested party at each
of our four weekly services includes a cantor, who establishes
pitch and tempo by singing the first phrase and who, if necessary,
explains the manner in which the following musical selection will
be sung. This may include singing the entire short piece at the
Tuesday Taizé service, previewing the call-and-response
at the 5 P.M. Saturday liturgy, or lining out the Psalm tone on
Sunday morning at 8 A.M.
As cantor at the 10 A.M. service I have the delightful responsibility
of starting the liturgy off with a ten-minute “rehearsal.”
This crucial invitation to our newcomers —and injection
of energy, which will be felt throughout the morning—happens
after the clergy and deacons have entered, and the Presider has
commenced the service with a hearty “Christ is risen!”
to which we respond, “He is risen indeed.” This rehearsal
is therefore not something that happens before the service begins
but is part of the liturgy itself.
After the congregation has responded to the Presider, I take
center stage and with much enthusiasm shout, “Let’s
sing,” launching the assembly into a trisagion. Then, as
I survey the room, looking directly into the eyes of as many newcomers
as I can find, I say something like this:
“Good morning, and welcome to St. Gregory’s. I would
like to make a special welcome to those of you who are here for
the first time. We are especially pleased that you are here because
YOU will be helping us to create the liturgy. We sing throughout
the service, and I encourage you, at every step of the way, to
be brave and jump right in, joining everyone around you who will
be singing. In order to facilitate this, we’ll look at the
some of the music right now, so that it is more familiar when
we get there later in the service. Let’s begin with today’s
hymns…”
This speech has been honed over many years. We’ve made
revisions to remove unnecessary or misleading wording as well
as to heighten the invitation and welcome. The simple act of establishing
a direct connection between the church’s musical leader
and the newcomers is radical, yet makes great practical sense.
If we want our congregations to participate, in particular to
sing, then we must give them the means to do this. This includes
providing the complete musical scores, the explicit invitation,
and the chance to discover that unaccompanied congregational singing
works well.
We have found that the absence of a keyboard or other instrumental
“help” actually increases the ease and likelihood
of participation. It is easier to get a starting pitch from another
voice, as opposed to the organ, because the overtones are the
same. And, if there are strong singers surrounding everyone, it
makes it easier for the less experienced singers to follow along.
Our little trick is to scatter members of the well-rehearsed choir
among the congregation. What a difference this makes! Why segregate
your best singers when they can be enlisted to help lead the congregational
participation?
Everyone, even people who consider themselves “nonsingers,”
loves to sing. Creating an environment that promotes every parishioner’s
participation can transform congregational life. I hope that our
experiences and practices at St. Gregory’s might help you
accomplish this in your church.