A little variety goes a long way. For our worship service yesterday, I had planned on chart arrangements of some pretty popular old hymns (as opposed to playing and singing them directly from the hymnal in a strict musical setting) and had planned on using both piano and keyboard/synth.1 However, our organist/keyboardist was out sick, so it was just the pianist and me. Now, I wouldn’t want to be limited to just one instrument on a regular basis, but the difference actually worked well yesterday. The variety was noticeable and offered a different flavor to the congregational singing. I do have to say, though, that our pianist is highly skilled and he’s able to fill the role of lone instrument without any hesitation whatsoever.
The challenge for me is to fight the ruts that so easily come with tasks that I carry out on a routine basis. I didn’t plan for this service to be any different than any other service. But, therein lies the problem. It helps to be reminded that subtle alterations can make worship services more meaningful from time to time.
Impacting the Kingdom through Worship,
- Our electric bass player is a college student who is home for the summer. [back]
