Pastor’s Corner: I Believe in Singing

January 19, 2022

I believe in singing.

Unfortunately, I also have to acknowledge that singing in groups these days is too risky.

But I believe in singing.

The authors of the Scriptures endorsed singing over and over again. Moses sang. Miriam sang. Deborah sang. David sang. It’s even recorded that one of the last things Jesus did before his arrest in the garden was to sing: “When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Mark 14:26). I sometimes wonder what “the hymn” was.

That’s why we began the Community Sing a few years ago. It’s never become a big event, but to gather a few of us in the sanctuary for an hour, to sing familiar songs together, made for a good end to the week. Making music lifted the spirit, sometimes with laughter around the absurd lyrics to “On Top of Spaghetti,” sometimes with the soul-deep comfort of “Amazing Grace.”

That’s why I’ve kept singing during this pandemic. In worship, we’ve worked to maintain safe distances and we’ve sung wearing masks – not the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but not the easiest either.

And it’s why you can find singing on our website every week. Each Wednesday at 11 AM, there’s a song performed live. On the second and fourth Fridays at 6 PM, the Community Sing is a live streamed Community Concert, an hour of music that’s intended for people to sing along at home.

I hope that’s not news to you, but I suspect it may be for some. One of the nice things about the Internet is that things get recorded. If those times don’t work for you – Wednesdays at 11 and roughly every other Friday at 6 – you can watch and sing along any time that’s good.

I believe in singing. I believe in sustaining the spirit in song.

With aloha,

Pastor Eric

Photo of a Community Concert setup by Eric Anderson.