Men That Sing

I sing in church every Sunday - Do you? From Church Leaders - The Secret That Keeps Men From Singing in Worship:

It happened again yesterday. I was attending one of those hip, contemporary churches—and almost no one sang.

Worshippers stood obediently as the band rocked out, the smoke machine belched and lights flashed. Lyrics were projected on the screen, but almost no one sang them.

A few women were trying, but I saw only one male (other than the worship leader) making the attempt.

A few months ago, I blogged “Have Christians Stopped Singing?” I did some research, and learned that congregational singing has ebbed and flowed over the centuries. It reached a high tide when I was a young man—but that tide may be going out again.

And that could be bad news for men....

After a brief history of congregational singing, the article concludes:

...Men are doers, and singing was one of the things we used to do together in church. It was a chance to participate.

Now, with congregational singing going away, and communion no longer a weekly ordinance, there’s only one avenue left for men to participate in the service—the offering.

Is this really the message we want to send to men? Sit there, be quiet and enjoy the show. And don’t forget to give us money.

There’s nothing wrong with professionalism and quality in church music. The problem isn’t the rock band, or the lights, or the smoke machine.

The key is familiarity. People enjoy singing songs they know.

How do I know? When that super-hip band performed a hymn, the crowd responded with gusto. People sang.

Even the men.  

Read it all at the link.