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December 25, 2023 54 mins

Gather 'round the Choir Room's hearth as we kindle the spirit of Christmas with voices that echo the joy of the season. Lend your ear to an episode that promises to rekindle your love for traditional carols and the sense of unity they inspire. The hosts are joined by friends of Metromusic & Arts, we delve into beloved hymns like "What Child Is This?" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," unraveling their biblical roots and the stirring emotions they evoke. We exchange tales that underscore the importance of communal singing in nurturing our faith and togetherness during the festive period.

Fervent worship isn't scripted; it’s a candid cry of the soul, and this episode captures that sentiment in every note. We discuss the delicate dance between spontaneous and rehearsed praise with our guest Chris Monteleone and Alia Gladden, whose Broadway experience brings a compelling perspective on worship's power to connect us with the divine. As a mosaic of voices from different walks of life blend in harmony, we celebrate the church choir's diversity and its singular ability to forge bonds of shared devotion through music—a testament to the unity and emotional resonance that only a choir can provide.

In the quiet backstage of every choir's performance lies the beating heart of leadership and administration, roles we shine a light on in this episode. We explore the indispensable liaison that bridges choir directors and members, ensuring seamless communication and a supportive environment where music and soul-care intertwine. The discussion also ventures into the journey from a voiceless individual to a resonating force within a college gospel choir, emphasizing the importance of inclusivity, mentorship, and spiritual guidance. Join us as we share the stories that celebrate not only the art of choral singing but also the profound community it fosters, reminding us why lifting our voices in unison remains an enduring and vital tradition.

Perpetuating and Promoting the Christian and Positive Idea Through the Medium of Music and Other Arts.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the choir room.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Season 1, episode 31 of the Choir Room podcast.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to the choir room.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Greg Thomas, your host, and I'll soon be joined
by my co-host, dorian Johnson.
Welcome to the choir room,mieta Stanselfarer and who we
like to call the fourth wheel,coleman Smart.
This podcast is a production ofMetro Music and Arts, whose
purpose is to perpetuate andpromote the Christian and

(00:33):
positive idea through the mediumof music and other arts, and
this podcast exists to promoteand encourage two long-time
traditions in our society thatseem to be dwindling away, and
that is choir and corporatesinging.
We hope to revive theexcitement and joy experienced
with singing in a choir, as wellas inform and educate the
listener on all things singingand all things choir.

(00:56):
If you haven't done so already,be sure to subscribe so that
you can stay informed on what'shappening with the choir room
and what's happening with MetroMusic and Arts.
And, of course, you can do thatanywhere you listen to your
favorite podcast.
Leave an honest review, andthen we encourage you to join
the choir room Facebook group,where you can engage in
conversation and leaveadditional comments with your
choir room peers.

(01:18):
Christmas is here and many arestill hustling and bustling and
doing whatever it is that theydo in preparation for the
holiday.
Personally, I try to avoid themalls and the stores and all of
that stuff and really try tofocus my attention and energy on
the true reason for the season,and that is Jesus Christ.
Now, granted, part of thefestivities is connecting and

(01:39):
reconnecting with friends andfamily and a few weeks ago,
arizona phone call with a friendwho had inquired about what was
happening with Metro Music andmyself, and as I begin to share
what was happening, she went alittle silent for a second and
then she came back with thisstatement Greg, that sounds
wonderful and exciting, but Ijust want to sing.
I just want to sing and thatstuck in my ear, like like

(02:03):
tonight is for several weeks.
I shared that thought with afew friends over the next few
days, not sharing who said it,but just sharing with them how
important it was and all of thembegin to respond very
differently that I invited themall to join us today in the
podcast.
So today is a very special daywith some very special friends.
They're going to join theconversation as Mi'eta takes us

(02:25):
to our CRQ and then each of themwill share their own opinion on
the joy, the value, theexcitement of singing during the
holidays.
But before they come, dorianhas our Christmas hymn of the
week.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Thanks, greg.
Last week we looked at the hymnHark, the Herald Angels Sing
and we looked at the narrativesurrounding Jesus' birth from
Luke 2, verses 8 through 14.
This week's hymn of the weekbrings us to the response to the
news that the angels brought tothe shepherds.
The response to the news of theangels we read in Luke 2, 15

(03:02):
through 19.
When the angels went away fromthem into heaven, the shepherds
said to one another let us goover to Bethlehem and see this
thing that has happened, whichthe Lord has made known to us.
This week's hymn of the week iswhat child is this?
This mid-19th century hymn wasnot written by a pastor or

(03:25):
someone else from the clergy,but was actually written by a
businessman, and it's often sung, most likely sung in the
versions that we've heard to thefamous tune Green Sleeves.
In verse 1 of the hymn we hearthe echoes of all that was read
in verses 8 through 15 of theLuke 2 narrative and what is

(03:49):
read in verses 16 through 19,where it says and they went with
haste and found Mary and Josephand the baby lying in a manger
and when they saw it, they madeknown the saying that had been
told them concerning this child,and all who heard it wondered
at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary treasured up all thesethings, pondering them in her

(04:10):
heart.
Verse 1 says what child is this?
Who lay to rest on Mary's lap,is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems,sweet, while shepherds watch,
are keeping, bringing us to thatnight when Christ was born and
the shepherds visit.

(04:30):
Verse 2 of the hymn points tothe Isaiah 53 prophecy of the
suffering servant Dreads inverse 2 of that chapter.
For he grew up before him likea young plant and like a root
out of dry ground.
He had no form or majesty thatwe should look at him and no
beauty that we should desire him.
Verse 2 of the hymn says whylies he in such mean estate?

(04:56):
And that might ring odd to us,but in old English that mean
estate was referring to the verymodest, the almost insulting
nature of the fact that the Kingof kings and the Lord of lords,
the very Lord of glory, wouldbe born in a stable, would be

(05:20):
born where the very livestock hecreated are feeding, and he
simply did not come to liveamongst us.
Isaiah 53.4 says Surely he hasborne our griefs and carried our
sorrows, and as he is laid inthat manger.

(05:40):
The very one who came fromheaven to earth, came in order
for us to be saved.
In the end of verse 2 says GoodChristian fear.
Where sinners hear a silentword is pleading.
The word became flesh and dweltamong us and in your mind's eye

(06:06):
look upon the infant, the LordJesus Christ in his coming in
the flesh, lying there silently.
The very word of God who becameflesh, the very fulfillment of
the prophecies of the coming ofthe Messiah.
In verse 3 we're pointed to thevisit of the Magi, the wise men

(06:28):
who set off and journeyed tofind the King of the Jews.
In Matthew 10, verses 10 and 11, we read when they saw the star
, they rejoiced exceedingly withgreat joy and, going into the
house, they saw the child withMary, his mother, and they fell
down and worshiped him and,opening their treasures, they
offered him gifts gold andfrankincense and myrrh.

(06:51):
Verse 3 says so bring himincense, gold and myrrh.
Come, peasant king, to own him.
The king of kings salvationbrings, but loving hearts
enthroned him.
And the chorus chorus which issung after each of the verses

(07:11):
simply says this this is Christ,the king from shepherd's guard,
an angel saying haste, haste tobring him Lord, the babe the
son of Mary.
In this season, when weremember the incarnation, the
coming in the flesh of the LordJesus Christ, the one who is the

(07:35):
Messiah, the anointed one, weare all called to respond.
To respond to this one who cameto die for sinners, the one who
is God, a very God, and just asthe hymn says, we should haste
to bring him Lord, to bring himpraise, for, while in that time

(07:59):
he was the babe, the son of Mary, we also look forward to that
day when he will return again,not in humility, but in great
power, great joy.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
He will be clarified by the king of totals.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
He will be the son of Mary.
Since you left New York, I knowyou are a big time real estate

(09:15):
agent now.
How much singing are you doingin between selling houses?

Speaker 4 (09:22):
I am not really singing much anymore.
I've done some stuff with mysister and when I came back to
Virginia I did a show.
This musical theater is mybackground.
I actually was up in New York afew weeks ago and I did a
workshop a weekend workshop.

(09:43):
But I was there for two daysand we brought the kids.

Speaker 6 (09:46):
So there was no answer to being anyone out.

Speaker 4 (09:49):
If we had been there longer I wouldn't have totally
told people, but it was so quick.
It was a workshop with my oldvocal coach and it was kind of
cool.
It was nice to see if I caneven still do it.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
I'm sure I'm riding a bike for you.
Yeah, exactly, it turns out Ican't.
I mean it was fine.

Speaker 4 (10:13):
But yeah, so I'm not really singing much just with my
kids in the kitchen most of thetime nowadays.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Well, that's great, we're working on it, hopefully.

Speaker 4 (10:21):
I'll do something soon, but still haven't found
that I, in a way, working withyou guys kind of like ruined me,
because now I go to churchesand I'm just like, oh no, like
everything feels rehearsed andit doesn't feel like about Holy
Spirit.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
And I'm like, oh, it feels like you know what's funny
, as soon as you said that fivepeople shook their heads.

Speaker 4 (10:46):
Yes, I know, I see everything shaking hard, cause
you can relate, it really didlike and I feel bad to compare,
cause you don't want to that'snot the right heart, right, and
I need to get beyond it.
But it really does.
Just worship that feels led bythe Holy Spirit feels so hard to

(11:06):
find and I don't know why thatis, but I just feel like I go in
and immediately I'm like okay,I know they're listening to a
click track, I know they'rebeing told what verse to sing, I
know they're going to thechorus and I know and I can,
like you, just know how itplayed out.
You know that they got thatlist of songs week in advance to
match the sermon and I just I,as terrifying as it was to lead

(11:29):
worship without rehearsing,there was just something so
authentic and so genuine aboutcoming to the Lord with I don't
know no, no rehearsal to back.
It was just very raw and realand I really miss that and I
have not, I will say, since Ileft here, I have not been able

(11:50):
to find that or have that samekind of feeling during worship.
And I know everyone agrees withit, because I can see it all
over your faces, because it'sthe truth and I miss it.
I do really, really miss it.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
And it seems everyone here can relate I can see a
witness here.
But for clarity's sake forthose who are not a part of the
church choir circle, it doesn'tmean that we didn't rehearse.
We did that every week, but wedid not plan what was going to
happen on Sunday.
From week to week, it wascompletely spontaneous.
Now, in light of that, I knowthat you love the Lord.

(12:24):
You love to worship.
What was your why, outside ofyour love for him?
What was your why for singing?

Speaker 4 (12:32):
That's so tough.
So for me, leading worship wasnever on my radar.
I mean, I always loved worshipin church.
So because my background was intheater, I can speak from that
experience and I don't reallyknow how to put words into it.
I just know that when I, youknow, around the age of 14, when

(12:55):
I started singing and doingmusical theater, it was kind of
like I found my saying that,like you knew God was calling
you to like okay, lord, this iswhat I'm good at, this is what
you've created me for, you wantme to use this.
And up until that point I hadnever really had anything like
that where I felt like, oh, thisis what I'm really good at, you
know.
Until it came to like singing.

(13:20):
But it wasn't just the singingFor me, it was also the telling
the story behind the song.
That was always very importantfor me and I know Chris can
probably relate to this.
But there's just something so Idon't even know how to describe
it it just you know it wasright and it wasn't the singing
alone, it was the telling thestory.
And I think when it comes tosinging in church, it's almost

(13:44):
the same thing, minus theperformance element, but it is
that telling the story of theLord's goodness, you know, and
being authentic.
Obviously we take the actingpart out of it.
But yeah, I don't know.
I don't know how to describe itother than it's just what I

(14:04):
knew was what I was supposed todo.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Right right.

Speaker 4 (14:08):
I don't know how else to describe it.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
That makes total sense.
Chris, you've been there before, you've been on Broadway as a
singer and choir person.
Tell our audience a bit of yourexperience.

Speaker 6 (14:20):
Yeah, so.
So I was on Broadway for about10 years and left the business
about 18 years ago already.
Hard to believe.
But, like Ali has said, whenyou're performing, it's you
putting all of you into thepiece and into the work.

(14:40):
And I remember, greg, when youasked me to be part of a, just a
choir, and I got up there and Iwas so out of my element
because here I was, this opera,trained, now Broadway, big voice
, with all of these people thatworshiped, and I was just in awe

(15:01):
.
And when I was given the chanceto get up and sing for the Lord,
it was not a body experienceand it changed me forever.
When you allow him to use youand use your voice, there's

(15:24):
nothing like it.
I think where I got one up toyou, it was I don't know if it
was during the, when we sang forthe Father's Day or one of the
productions I came up and I saidnothing.
What happened to me tonight?
No, I think it was Mary.
Gentlemen, I had neverexperienced the Holy Spirit

(15:46):
flying through me and I couldfeel him just going out into the
congregation.
And it wasn't performance, itwas just being mightily used and
you just letting go and lettinghim go where he wants to take
the gifts that he's given you,and it changed me forever.

(16:07):
I was like I don't, I don'tever wanna do what I was doing
down the street, and now I havea longing for it because I don't
have an outlet.
I'm not singing, I'm notperforming, I'm not creating
right now, but it's just atotally different feeling when
you're doing it for him and yousee how powerful he is through

(16:33):
worship.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
Yeah yeah.
Yeah Well, alia.
Chris, thanks for sharing.
In the background, you'relistening to that choir that
Chris made reference to.
Mary, gentlemen, a little over100 men of various ages and
cultures, the choir organizedand under the direction of yours
truly, a 17 piece big bandunder the direction of Professor

(16:56):
Todd Lee.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
The songs, the songs.
They come from afar.
The angels sing the king wasborn today and then we'll live
for evermore.
Because our Christmas Day,mary's born child, jesus Christ,

(17:20):
was born our Christmas Day.
Jesus Christ was born ourChristmas Day.
Christmas Day.
Christmas Day Christmas Day theangels sing.

(17:54):
The king was born today andthen we'll live for evermore.
Because our Christmas Day,mary's born child, jesus Christ,
was born our Christmas Day.
Welcome to the choir.

Speaker 8 (18:22):
Yeah, for me it was probably a little bit selfish to
be part of the choir, becausefor me it was an opportunity to
be free to worship unhindered,without interruptions.

(18:46):
No one's saying.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
Interruptions?
Are you referring to childrenand husbands and stuff like that
?

Speaker 8 (18:53):
Yeah, things like that, things like that.
But I mean honestly, I wasinspired before that.
They all came along anyway,right right.
But with life in New York,you're always busy here there
doing this and doing that, andit was just a moment to just
come and be in his presencewithout any distractions, and so

(19:16):
I looked forward to it.
And in the worship I got themessage before the preaching
came.
It was just, and then hispresence would come and it was
just worth it all.
It was worth it all and yeah,it was kind of selfish on my

(19:37):
part because I just got soblessed just to be in his
presence without anyinterruptions and to just flow
and to just sing together andafter a while you know where the
worship leader's gonna go andyou don't have to look at the
words and you just flow and itwas just wonderful.
It was wonderful and really,really was.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yeah, all the more reason why we should be finding
a place to land and be singing,especially during the holiday,
and I want to talk a little bitmore about that, but before we
do, mieta has our CRQ and I wantall of you to engage in the CRQ
.

Speaker 7 (20:13):
Mieta.
So tonight's CRQ what are somechoir leader positions and what
are their roles?
What are some choir leaderpositions and what are their
roles?
Now, greg said that there aretwo here.
I didn't get the names, but hesaid there are at least two
people here who can answer thisquestion with no problem.

Speaker 2 (20:37):
I think everybody here can answer it, but Allie
and Angel can certainly kick itoff.

Speaker 7 (20:42):
I'm going to let you go for it.

Speaker 4 (20:48):
Okay, so I know that I helped with the Youth Praise
Choir.
Basically, I was the pointperson for communicating with
that particular choir.
We were the liaison betweenGreg and the choir.
We would communicate.
We'd make sure they knew whatthe schedules were.
We would facilitate thementering into the rehearsal.

(21:09):
We were the point person.
If they had questions, I wouldmeet one-on-one with some of
them.
If they needed to voiceconcerns, or if they need to
meet with Greg directly, I wouldschedule those meetings.
What else Am I missing anything, greg?
I don't think they're doingcorrectly.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
I'm sure you did a whole lot more than that, but
that's.

Speaker 4 (21:34):
There's more.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (21:36):
For the most part, I think I was just the liaison
between the choir and Greg.

Speaker 5 (21:43):
This question doesn't have one set answer.
I think multiple choirs,different choirs, kind of
organically set themselves up inthe way that best fits them.
I know in our experience we hadthe overall leadership.
You know there's tiered systemsof leadership.
Sometimes if you have a largechoir, if your choir is a bit

(22:05):
smaller than you don'tnecessarily need that.
But when you're looking at achoir of 100 and plus people,
even having your director andyour administrator who was
handling anything that they canhandle the safeguard and keep a
buffer between everybody comingout, the director, who really
needs to be focusing on themusic and working with musicians
and bringing all the creativeforces Together.

(22:26):
So I think it's great if youhave that person or persons
underneath the director.
That kind of helps alleviate abit of taking up a lot of time
from the director who's tryingto really get us all singing,
getting the parts straight,making sure all the musicians
are working to get their musicstraight for that as well.

(22:49):
But then sometimes you needanother layer of leadership.
I know we had section leadersand that can be broken down
based on soprano, alto, tenor.
You know you can break themdown as as you need them.
You may have multiple persection.
You may divvy them out based onwho you think is going to have

(23:14):
a good rapport, mentoring andacquire that spirit lead, and
you're really.
It's more than just aboutsinging.
You want to make sure thatyou're not just coming here
singing but you have people whohave real issues, real struggles
, real needs that we need to beaddressed.
Having someone that they a safeplace, a trusted person, who

(23:37):
can be discreet, who can keepconfidence is, who can become a
prayer warrior, who can rallythe troops if they're necessary.
If you got someone who's in abind because you become a family
and they may not havedependable family, they may not
have family at all in the areaand so you become more than just

(23:59):
the musical group.
So having someone who can bethat go to person to kind of
filter those needs and push themup the chain if necessary, and
also kind of help, because withhumans in general, you can send
out an email, you can send outthe message all you want, but
you need reminders.

(24:19):
We all are inundated day in andday out with tons of text
messages and emails.
So having the ability to havesomeone to reiterate the message
that the administrator has sentout, just to make sure
everybody's on the same page andgets to where you need to be,
when you need to be there withwhat they need to have and
prepare.
It's a lot, so I think there'sno one set up, but you can have

(24:42):
as many as you need.
If you've got talented group ofpeople, you can even have
leaders that strictly work ontechnical vocal training or any
additional needs, or leaders forsection parts so that you can
have groups break outindividually so someone who may
not be as musically gifted canhandle administrative needs and

(25:06):
you may have someone else whocomes from a musical background.
They can at least pick partsout on the keyboard and you can
send groups off together so thatyou save time collectively when
you come together.
That's just my thoughts on it.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
Well, as I expected, two good answers.
Question answered.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 7 (25:27):
That question was answered.
I don't know if any questionhas ever been answered so
perfectly.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
And she used the word context, which is in Coleman's
absence.
That's our word of the year.
But let me add a couplethoughts to both answers and
then pose another question Interms of context.
Not every choir, obviously, isgoing to be 150, 175, 200 voices
, and so you're not going tohave an organization or ministry

(25:55):
that always has a personnel orstaff to support that larger
group.
However, regardless of the sizeof your choir, when you don't
have organization andcooperation and a level of of
processes, it creates chaos anddisorganization and that has a

(26:15):
direct effect on the choir'sability to be a choir and to be
a cohesive unit and to be acommunity or family or in the
context of church.
It makes it very difficult toworship freely when you have
chaos on every level.
It happens before service, itcan happen during rehearsals,
and so the need to haveleadership and some level of

(26:37):
administration is necessary,regardless of the size of your
choir, because you need theright people in the right
position to handle some of theright choir business.
So, again, when you don't havethese levels of leadership and
administration, you riskintroducing needless, avoidable
levels of chaos and confusionbecause you don't have

(27:00):
organization.
So, regardless of the size ofyour choir.
You need leadership and youneed administration, and
sometime that person is the sameperson.
Now, having said that, I haveseen choirs have officers,
presidents, vice presidents,secretaries, treasurers and even
chaplains, and that's on top ofhaving section leaders and, in

(27:22):
some cases, multiple sectionleaders, and again, that will
depend on the size of the choirand the needs of the people in
the choir.
Now I've seen some of thosepositions filled by the choir
director asking people to serve.
In some cases they wereappointed to serve and then in
other cases I've seen choirorganizations vote people in
like they were running forCongress and you know, when it

(27:47):
becomes political it can becomepretty messy, and that's in and
outside of the church and so,and again, it doesn't mean you
can't vote, but but you do runthe risk of people voting for
their peers who are friends andnot necessarily because they are
fit for the position, and soyou can indeed have the wrong
people and areas of leadershipand that will have a direct

(28:08):
effect on the cohesiveness andthe community and the family of
choir.
Anybody want to speak to that?

Speaker 9 (28:17):
Well, yeah, I mean, I don't know that I just came
from New Zealand and so I hadtwo weeks with this group of
seven young people.
They range in age from 19 to 23and we also had three members
of this production company thatwas coming out of Malaysia and I

(28:39):
was also part of that team tohelp train these people for on
camera work and they're doingthe new alpha youth series.
I don't know if you're familiarwith that, but it's a video
series that encouragesconversations about God in the
Bible and Christianity, and sowe were there for two weeks to

(29:03):
kind of like a off the grid bootcamp.
So it was very physical, veryspiritual form, spiritual,
foundational type type work.
And then there was thepractical work that I was a part
of also and just with scriptsand production and that kind of
thing on camera work.

(29:23):
But what, what we did there?
Anytime you have a community,there's potential for politics.
Politics is just a way for away for communication away, for
things to happen.
Politics in and of itself isnot a bad thing, so I don't
think it.
I don't think we need to lookat politics as a bad thing.

(29:45):
People are.
God calls people to go intopolitics to help be a voice for
their constituents and for thevoiceless and that kind of thing
.
What was so beautiful about theexperience of the last of those
two weeks with with this group?
Everybody had such an attitudeof humility and teachability and

(30:11):
respect for each other thosewho were in positions of
authority, but also the theresponsibility that those who
are in leadership to really loveand nurture and help and teach
and train and and all of thosethings.
And so when you have that goingon, holy Spirit led.

(30:34):
It's so next level, like theworship is next level, and
there's the worship that is donethrough music, but then there's
the worship of living lifetogether, how we live life
together, and I look at that asalso a form of worship, how we
worship the Lord with inwhatever context, and obviously

(30:58):
specifically here we're talkingabout music, but I look at it
and in different contexts, touse that word here again and we
are all of the same heart, heartposition and mind and mind and
spirit, body position to, youknow, to the Lord, vertically

(31:22):
first, vertically, always to theLord, and we're all doing that
individually and thuscollectively.
The power of that is is justincredible, the joy of that is
just incredible, it'soverwhelming, and I just came
back from this trip soincredibly encouraged.
So I'm excited that we'rehaving this conversation that

(31:46):
we're talking about in thecontext of choir and music, and
I think that's one of the thingsthat I miss the most.
And this goes back to the firstquestion that you asked to me,
when I, when I, first got savedat age 16.
My voice was stuck.
I you know as culturally and asa family we say we sing a lot,

(32:13):
but I felt like my voice wasstuck.
But when I got saved, I waslike Lord, my heart's cry was
Lord, I just, I really want toworship you with my voice and I
want you to answer.
It feels like I stuck here.
I want you to open it up,please open it up.
And the expression of that wasthrough gospel music.

(32:36):
Like I love gospel music andwhen I was in college we had a
gospel choir, so I auditioned, Igot in.
I was one of two Asians in thegroup.
I was so grateful to be able tobe a part of that group, to be

(32:57):
included, to be accepted intothat group.
But that was my initialformation and always my
intention was to worship theLord.
So when you asked that question, greg, and you've said that
before.
You've asked that questionbefore and talked about it.
You know, in choir rehearsalsand stuff, when we were all

(33:18):
together and I always saidthat's such a weird question To
me.
It seems like such a weirdquestion because for me it has
always single-mindedly single.
It's always been to worship theLord.
So I'm like, why would you doit?
Why would you do it for anyother reason but to worship the

(33:39):
Lord?
And that's what I miss so much.
And you know, we all have avoice, we all can sing on our
own.
But the thing that I miss themost can I get emotional here?
The thing that I miss the mostis the other voices, all of us

(34:06):
collectively coming together tohave that harmony.
You know, for me it's like,yeah, okay, I can sing on my own
, but to hear us all blendingtogether, that's what I miss the
most.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
Thanks, peggy.
I think that good choirleadership and good choir
administration lends to thefamily, the community, the
cohesiveness coming together ofchoir.
It makes for a healthy choir.
And so I think Peggy's responseto the question comes from a
totally different angle.
It is beyond our naturalability to just be cohesive.

(34:44):
Every heart has to want thatand has to pursue that, has to
acknowledge that without theSpirit of Christ we can't do
this on our own.
But when you do have it, youwant more of it Concentrate,
keep going.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Before you go, and you are expected to bring you
three voices.
No care for the bed.
The little Lord Jesus made downhis sweet head.
The stars in the sky look downwhere he made and the little

(35:46):
Lord Jesus has sleep on theground.
Gloria in excelsis Deo Inecstasy's test.

(36:17):
Gloria, gloria, gloria.
The cattle are lovin' the babyaway.

(36:46):
The little Lord Jesus, no cryhe makes.
I love the Lord Jesus, lookdown from the sky and stay by my

(37:08):
cradle till morning.
Gloria, gloria In ecstasy's day, gloria, gloria In ecstasy's

(37:38):
day, gloria, gloria, gloria,gloria, gloria, gloria.

Speaker 2 (38:08):
Gloria, gloria, gloria, gloria.

(38:29):
We're gonna get back into ourconversation.
Angel has a thought.

Speaker 5 (38:39):
I can bear witness to that.
I have been part of theministry that has kind of had
several leaders come and go andin the interim what I'll say is
God is good and he still showsup in the spite of us because he

(39:05):
cares about his house, hispeople.
But I know what that battlefeels like.
I know what it looks like whenyou have cable and talented
people coming together but youdon't have the leadership to
kind of bring people together.

(39:25):
And so you can.
You can keep things floating,you can get it done, and most
people would not even have aclue, except for those who are
stepping up to do battle.
And you know that feeling thatyou have before you even leave
your home.
You know that feeling you getwhen you get there that morning

(39:47):
and you began to rehearse andbegan to pray and you know that
we're always crying out for Godto show up.
But that prayer and that cryhas a whole lot more gusto when
that unity, that cohesivenessbecause, especially for someone

(40:12):
who has been in an environmentwhere, when the Holy Spirit is
flowing through and you guys arejust so connected, you don't
even have to look at each otheryou can hear in their voice when
something's shifting.
You can hear when the song isabout to change, you can know
when to pull back because a newsong is being birthed.

(40:33):
And then, when you don't havethat, you don't know and there's
really no room for it becauseyou don't know.
So the best you can do is stickwith the program that you kind
of set forth to hold on to, Kindof like Ally was mentioning
before.
You know you could tell whenthey've got their list of songs,

(40:54):
the click track and everything.
Because when you don't have aleader who has been shepherding
the group or a leader who hasbeen creating that foundational
base and the atmosphere to keepus all together, then it's hard
work and there's always a fearof showing up, trusting in your

(41:19):
own strengths, Because you knowyou can come into an atmosphere
and you feel the difference.
People in the room feel thedifference and it's a scary
place to be in.

Speaker 6 (41:34):
I feel like I had to share it like as an outsider,
because I wasn't involved in agospel choir except being kind
of grafted in for specials.
You know, I sang in a lot ofchoirs when I studied opera and
some was.
We had a men's Glee Club, wehad 20.
And it was intense and it wasone of the best choir

(41:59):
experiences I've ever hadbecause of that unity and I do.
I miss that, hearing all thevoices around and just
connecting chord by chord andjust all of the emotion in it.
But as an observer of watchinga choir where everybody is
united and everything thatyou've said, what gets me very

(42:23):
emotional to my older age iswhen you see the unity of the
Holy Spirit while you'reworshiping and it's not going
this way.
You have an entire choir whereit's just going this way and
that's what gets thecongregation, because they're

(42:44):
witnessing worship and they'rebeing pulled in.
And that's what's missing fromso many churches now, because
next verse, here's the next song.
Put the click track in, becausethey're not trusting the Holy
Spirit.
That's why I love acapellasinging, because there's nothing
that's just voices and a melodyand a heart, and that's what's

(43:08):
missing from so many churchesnow.
There's so much power, so muchpower in that unity as a choir.

Speaker 2 (43:16):
Yeah, and Chris, that's the purpose of this
podcast.
It was created to encourage andenhance and I use the word
perpetuate a lot because wedon't want it to just be an
event of singing, we want it tocontinue and that the joy and
the lasting effect of singingtogether affects your generation

(43:37):
and the next generation and thenext generation, because it
does affect us spiritually,emotionally, physically, you
know, in other cases financiallyand relationally, and so we
want that to be perpetuatedthrough these relationships.
And so I think we have aresponsibility as directors, as

(43:59):
administrators, as choir people,as leaders whether you're
pastors or conductors to fosteran environment that is not just
musical and enjoyable, but onethat encourages us to be a part
of something that's bigger thanourselves, where we are

(44:19):
discerning the needs of the body, and if one of us is hurting,
then the rest of us run to theplace that hurts the most.
It's just like the blood inyour body, the shed blood of
Christ, the love of Christ, andso that cooperation, that
collaboration, that familyenvironment really starts at the
head and it works through thoselayers of leadership, through

(44:42):
those layers of responsibility,and that is what helps create a
healthy choir environment thatpeople don't want to leave, and
when they don't have it, theymiss it.
But they also know what to lookfor when they go to the next
place.

Speaker 3 (44:55):
Dorian.
Yeah, I was going to say Greg,I mean what you're saying.
As soon as you talk aboutfamily it's.
We look around this Zoom roomand we see all of these
different colors and differentbackgrounds and what is it that
makes us family?
It's the blood of Christ, andso the role of any leader and a

(45:17):
choir has to be one that seestheir primary responsibility of
being one of pointing peopleback to the gospel and pointing
people back to the reason thatthey're singing.
And so often what has happenedis that there has been this
focus on just the music makingsure the music sounds right,

(45:38):
making sure that the music getspeople jumping and clapping or
crying or whatever, and all ofthat happens.
But at the same time, if it'stotally without the foundation,
which is what Christ has done,what God has done for us in

(45:59):
Christ, then it's going to dieout, it's going to be totally
empty.
And so all of the leaders,whether they are the director,
the administrator, the sectionleaders, they have to be people
of the word.
Yeah, because they're.

(46:20):
This choir thing isn't justgoing to be about singing.
It is going to be about sittingdown and praying with folks
when they're going throughstruggles.
It's going to be about callingpeople on the carpet when
they're out there not livingwhat they're singing and not
living what they say theybelieve it's going to be.
All of these things, becauseall of those things affect who

(46:43):
we are in terms of ourrelationship with God, but it
also affects our relationship toone another as well, and so
it's vital that any kind ofleadership role in a choir they
see themselves as being someone,that it's a spiritual leader.
It's not just music, but butyou have to know that this is

(47:05):
far more than putting notestogether and making sure that
harmony sound right.

Speaker 8 (47:18):
You know how the saying goes the family that
prays together stays together.
And one of the biggest thing, Ithink, was our times of prayer,
whether it was on the platformbefore rehearsal, before we did
anything.
The foundation of prayer, Ithink, is what knitted our
hearts together, even more sothan just sitting next to each

(47:43):
other, because, I tell you, Iwould get on that platform and
once the worship started Icouldn't remember who was next
to me because I was just worship.
You know what I mean.
But the fact that we have hadthose times of prayer, I think
was pivotal and I think itreally really did knit our
hearts together and made us feellike a family, because it's in

(48:06):
the presence of the Lord, whenyou're in prayer, that you're
vulnerable, that we are who weare and we see each other for
who we are and still rallyaround and still love and still
support and still encourage.
And that's what built thefamily, you know, and we really

(48:30):
were.
We were a choir family and Imiss my choir family.
I really really do.
There are very, very few placeswhere I have gone, where I have
felt safe, where the worshipstarts and you can raise your
hands and not just stand thererepenting because God, what are
they doing?

(48:51):
Why don't they be quiet?
Stop?
What is this?
That doesn't make any sense.
What are these lyrics?
I say repenting Sunday morningsor all the things I'm trying
worship because I just it's hard, I just don't feel safe.
You know there's.
I went to a couple of churches.

(49:11):
I went to one in Florida,little old church, but from the
parking lot I was in worship.
I was like you know, it was alittle church, a very small
party, like 30 people in thecongregation, but they worship
and it was safe and I was ableto enter in with no problem.

(49:31):
It's not easy in many, manyplaces it's not yeah.
So I yeah, we needed to be, wewere a family, yeah indeed,
indeed.

Speaker 2 (49:43):
Well, I think the CRQ has been answered, but we are
moving on into more of ourdiscussion with regards to the
joy, the excitement and even theneed for Corporate singing and
choir and everything that comeswith that.
Before we go back into it,we're gonna get into some music.
At the moment, it's Christmasall around the world and so we
want to get into some Christmasmusic and then come back with

(50:04):
our guests to finish ourdiscussion on the joy, the
Excitement and the need to besinging, particularly during
this holiday.
West and jelly most proclaimChrist is born in Bethlehem.

Speaker 1 (50:47):
Heart the herald angels sing Glory to the newborn
King.
Oh, the herald angels singGlory to the newborn King.

(51:15):
Born earth and mercy, vileBlood and sinners red the sign.
Join full on the nation's rise,join the triumph of the sky
West and jelly most proclaimChrist is born in Bethlehem

(51:42):
Heart.
The herald angels sing Glory tothe newborn King.
Glory, glory, glory to thenewborn King, glory, glory,

(52:20):
glory, glory to the newborn King.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
High, high, highest heaven on earth.
Christ, the everlasting Lord,may in time behold Him come all
swing of the burdens.
Melt in flesh the Godhead seeMelt in kindness the atee.

(53:03):
Make a man with men.
To dwell Jesus, our EmmanuelHeart.
The herald angels sing.
Glory to the newborn King.

(53:23):
Glory to the newborn King.
Glory to the newborn King.

(53:52):
Glory to the newborn King.

(54:15):
Glory to the newborn King.
Glory to the newborn King.
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