Kids' Singing in the Congregation #4

At the end of March next year I will be co-presenting a workshop at the CCOWA Perth Children's Ministry Convention. The topic for the 2009 conference is "Music with Meaning" and my workshop is titled "Integrating children's music and church music".

Tuneful Tuesday's are back! I am posting my workshop draft in dribs and drabs in "Tuneful Tuesdays" and whoever wants to comment and help me improve the draft before it becomes the final version will be welcome and appreciated for their efforts. (See here for previous Tuneful Tuesday posts.)
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II. Making congregational music understandable and meaningful

1. Children can understand the words of songs when they are familiar or have been explained adequately.

A) In order to explain the words of a song, the Song Leader must first understand the words themselves!

> Song Leaders need to spend time reading the Bible for themselves and with others. The importance of this cannot be emphasised enough.

> One tool for personal Bible study is to try to summarise the passage that has just been read in a sentence of no more than 8-10 words. This skill of summarising will greatly help in explaining Christian terminology briefly – words like “faith”, “gospel”, “righteousness” and “justification”; and titles such as “Christ”, “Lord”, “Messiah” and “Saviour”.

> Song Leaders would also greatly benefit from some further study in theology itself. You could take The Framework, one of the eight Trinity@Night courses offered each year by Trinity Theological College, or you could work your way through a book on systematic theology such as Know the Truth by Bruce Milne. Ask your Pastor for more suggestions of books to read or courses you can enrol in.

> Having heard and read the words explained a few time, the Song Leader will be much better equipped to explain them clearly to others, including the children in the congregation.

B) Children, and adults, will benefit from having the words of songs explained.

> When a song is introduced, it can help if the Song Leader gives a brief, simple explanation of one important word or phrase from the lyrics. The explanation should not include more long, difficult words that also need explaining!

> The Song Leader will need to prepare this explanation ahead of time and not expect to be able to do it “off the cuff”. This is particularly important with children, who have limited attention spans especially when it comes to things they don’t immediately understand. An explanation of no more than 8-10 words, not including any words longer than two syllables (or, at the most, three) would be ideal. It would be wise for the Song Leader to check their explanation with their Pastor before presenting it to the congregation, to make sure they have it correct.

-> HAVE A GO:
Explain the following words in words suitable for primary-aged children to the person sitting next to you: glory, sin and forgiveness.
Now try hosanna, hallelujah, praise and worship.
And finally, Lamb of God.

> In order to maximise the benefits of the explanation, no more that one song should have this explanation given on any one Sunday. This helps the children as they only have one thing to learn at a time.

> Some churches would prefer to have the Pastor or Minister provide this explanation, rather than the Song Leader. In this case, the Song Leader would be wise to ask for the Pastor’s help in the matter, and make sure to include a time slot for the Pastor to speak at the appropriate time within the song schedule.

C) Careful selection of songs for each session can help children to understand the words better by providing additional explanation through lyrics of other songs.

> The Song Leader may choose several songs with a common theme, and explain the theme word at the beginning of the singing. Then, as each song is sung, the lyrics will provide a context for the children to understand the word further, as they hear the word used correctly and appropriately.

> The Song Leader can order the songs with thought to how they address this theme, with the simpler, clearer songs first and the more complicated songs later.

> It is even better if this theme can be aligned with the children’s talk and/or the Sunday School lessons as well as the Pastor’s sermon for that day. This would ensure that children get extra explanations and parents are also equipped to talk further with their children about the words of songs they have sung together with the congregation.

> Try your hardest to work closely with the other servants in your church!
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Next Tuneful Tuesday: II.2 Helping children with different backgrounds

[Image courtesy of CCOWA.]