A Singing Church: Practical Guide for Pastors, Worship Leaders, and Musicians

During your Sunday worship service, do you hear the people sing - all of them - loud and strong, from the heart?If not, you are not alone. In many churches today, the voices of the people have grown faint--drowned out by sound from the front, lost in unfamiliar songs that are hard to sing or disconnected from their experience, quieted by the subtle belief that listening is enough.But when God's people sing their faith together, it is a profoundly beautiful sound. When those who have been loved by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sustained by the Spirit lift their voices, they encourage and remind one another that the One who promised is faithful to love and care for them now and to bring them safely home. Whether it is a song of praise or lament, joy or longing, there is no sound like it on earth. Most importantly, it is a sound God himself delights to hear.Each church is different, by God's design. But the call to sing is universal. And when God's people raise their voices together, they experience a glimpse of the joy and unity that await us in eternity.This book offers a simple, hopeful path toward cultivating a culture of congregational singing--with understanding, from the heart, to the glory of God. Drawing on biblical wisdom and practical experience, it provides clear, adaptable principles to help the sojourning church be a singing church. This is God's design and desire for his people, and it will have a remarkable effect on the life of his beloved children, individually and together.