13 February 2023

If you are hoping to attract people to a church service, the music on offer matters. Just ask Hillsong or Planet Shakers! Even high quality preaching and well-thought-through liturgy can be derailed by inappropriate or poorly rendered music. Different styles of music will appeal to different demographics, but one thing remains consistent across all styles: Whilst high quality music has some capacity to attract new people and certainly has capacity to retain people’s ongoing engagement, poor quality music repels rather than attracts.

Leaving aside the question of musical style (chant, polyphony, “traditional”, “contemporary”) there are, broadly speaking, two types of liturgical singing – the sort sung by the congregation, and the sort sung for or to the congregation. More often than not, parishes in a position to make a major investment in liturgical music will spend the money on the for or to rather than the by.

In several parishes in the diocese of Melbourne, periods of modest numerical growth have followed from the revival of a previously moribund choral music programme. For a financially secure parish that enjoys more traditional styles of liturgical singing – hymns, mass settings, an anthem during communion – it can be a comparatively “quick fix” to spend decent money to employ a good director of music and/or organist and some singers to turn something excruciating into something really quite fine. I have seen it done several times with outstanding results in terms of quality. This is a good news story!  Those parishes that can afford to support music in this way should definitely be encouraged to do so, and should not settle for second-best.

This good news comes, however, with several major caveats.

There is no doubt that having a really good choir can greatly enhance the beauty of worship, and that this may attract some people who might not otherwise have attended your church (‘though often people who already attend church elsewhere). More to the point, where it replaces a music programme that has gone off the rails, reviving the music with professionals can stop the haemorrhaging of the congregation, and even their complaining! Real numerical growth, however, usually follows when a focus on good choral and instrumental music is part of a broader focus on liturgical revival, and especially improving congregational singing – of which more over the next few weeks. If the focus is entirely on the “professional” music then there is a danger that the result might build a culture of “attending a free concert” rather than attending worship.

Almost inevitably, most of those who are on the “professional” side of church music are younger than the congregations that employ them, and this can make some congregations believe that their music programme “attracts young people.” Of course it does – but it attracts a particular group of young people who are happy to be paid to sing in church, and rarely has much demographic impact on the remainder of the congregation. (Which is not to say that some of those paid singers might not also be committed Christians. They often are.) Whilst having a professional choir may result in a small “bounce” in numbers and some younger people singing in the choir, more often than not it will not lead to any real increase in the number of those of a younger demographic “in the pews.”

There is also a transactional element that needs to be acknowledged here. One of the greatest dangers in having a professional choir is that it can easily become a case of “us” and “them,” especially if there is a marked demographic difference between choir and congregation. And it cuts both ways. I have encountered choirs that basically regard their congregation as little more than an audience, and the anthem as more important than the sermon. Conversely I have encountered congregations and even some clergy who treat their choir (even volunteers) as staff whose job is to provide the entertainment. I recall once attending a music fundraising event where one elderly parish stalwart verbalised “Isn’t it lovely how these young people come to sing for us.” Enough said…. It is essential that the director of music and the vicar are on the same page about both the role of music in the liturgy, and of the choir being part of, not external to, the congregation.

Finally, there is the question of cost. It is a simple fact that many parishes cannot afford to pay for an organist let alone a professional or semi-professional choir. And those with talent who are prepared to sing for love rather than proper money are increasingly hard to find. Whilst there is undoubtedly a place for cathedrals and some particular parishes to offer a well-funded professional liturgical music programme, it is always going to be the exception rather than the rule. Which begs the question: given that having good quality music matters, what is everyone else supposed to do?

Next week – Leading Congregational Singing….