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Sing to the Lord!
Last month I was fortunate to go on the Resound Worship Songwriting Retreat at Wydale Hall in North Yorkshire. It has become a regular annual event for me and over the years, the number of people attending has grown. Some like me have been many times, for others it was their first time. Often people were meeting in person someone they had only interacted with previously online in the forum. This year there were nearly 70 songwriters gathered in person with a range of ages, experience and musicianship. Some were lyricists only, collaborating with others to produce beautifully crafted songs for their own worshipping community. We worshipped together, in glorious natural harmony. We learned together from gifted teachers. We split into smaller groups to constructively critique each other’s songs, suggest changes to words or the melody and generally encourage one another in the creative process.
The theme for the Retreat was to write songs out of, for, or relevant to your community. “Community” can be interpreted in a variety of ways. The church is a community of faith set within a wider community and, especially it seems in Yorkshire, people are precious about place. Communities can be inward looking or outward looking, welcoming or unwelcoming, supportive or destructive. Communities can be set against each other as we see all too often in the international community as nations make postures of power or attack their neighbours.
So what should I write a song about for this community of St Mary’s serving Booth, Kershaw, Luddenden, Luddenden Dene, Luddenden Foot, and Midgley?
There is something about singing corporately that can make us realise that we are part of something bigger. And John Bell writes, ‘Something extremely rare happens whenever a congregation sings to its Maker. For not only are there ten or fifty or five hundred individual voices giving their unique gift as they open their mouths and sing: there is also the unique blending of high and low voices, sharp and flat, sophisticated and rough-tongued, male and female, old and young. The chances are that never again will every one of these people be in exactly the same place singing these particular hymns and songs. So if we can sense it, every time a congregation sings, it is offering and absolutely one-time-only gift to its maker. It is important that every song sung is offered to God with that sense of uniqueness. God is worth it.’ John L Bell, The Singing Thing.
And a quote that challenges us:
“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
The path I chose to follow resulted from thinking about our link parish in Mmazami, Tanzania. Once a month we remember and focus on them on the second Sunday, and as our service times overlap, we prayer for each other, support one another and worship together despite the distance that separates us. The strap line for this link is Bega Kwa Bega – Shoulder to Shoulder and that is the title of my song and here are the words:
1. Worship under African skies Bega kwa Bega
The love of Jesus lives in your eyes Shoulder to shoulder
Worship under West Yorkshire skies Bega kwa Bega
The love of Jesus shows in our eyes Shoulder to shoulder
Refrain: Bega kwa Bega x4
2. Hands reach out across the miles Bega kwa Bega
The bond of Jesus seen in our smiles Shoulder to shoulder
Hearts reach out across the seas Bega kwa Bega
English praise feels the African breeze Shoulder to shoulder
Refrain: Bega kwa Bega x4
Bridge
Sunrise over Serengeti New Moon rising on our moors
All creation wakes in wonder When our worship leaves our doors
I will share a recording on the church Facebook page in due course. Be warned my banjo is loud!
Grace and peace and may the summer months bring refreshment.
Ian
