How Can I Keep From Singing?

When I was growing up in the 60s my mother believed that piano lessons were an essential part of a child’s education. My sister (4 years older) took to the lessons quite well and soon was performing honorably in recitals. During the Christmas season she was soon accompanying us from the piano as we sang Christmas carols. She also mastered “Songs of the Civil War” and a book of Stephen Foster songs. Young people may not believe it, but at family gatherings we would sit around the piano and listen to my sister play and sing songs like “Camptown Races” and “Eatin’ Goober Peas.”  My sister was a “star” at these gatherings.

By contrast, my piano lessons did not progress so smoothly. When were lived in Schweinfurt, Herr Hoffman spent most of the lessons hitting my knuckles with a ruler. When we moved by to Arlington, I struggled mightily to prepare “Animal Crackers in My Soup” for recital with meager results. Finally, Mrs. Raughtabaugh (spelling unknown) told my mother that, “maybe little Mebane (me), could find a better use of this time than taking piano lessons.” I turned my time attention towards my ChemCraft lab set and soon found that burning and blowing things up was a lot more fun than playing the scales.

If I couldn’t play the piano like my sister, at least I could contribute to church and home by singing. Nope. My father, who was well known in church for his resonant singing voice, soon ruled that I “couldn’t carry a tune in the bucket.” Through my whole educational history, I was never asked to be in a choir or singing group. Of course, I never auditioned. I sang in the car to the radio, but never where anyone could hear me. One time, I tried singing to a college girlfriend, Lucille Rita Shimerman, but the results were less than romantic. I think for the next 20 years, the only songs I sang in public were “Happy Birthday” and the “Star Spangled Banner” (at White Sox games). Since I only went to church on Christmas and Easter, I didn’t have much chance to do any hymn singing.

When I returned to my Christian faith almost 20 years ago, my life changed in many ways. What surprised me the most was that my freedom in Christ was a freedom to sing! As a renewed Christian, I picked up that hymnal and sang my heart out. I was (and remain) only semi-trained. I can barely read music. But from the start, I was loud (painfully loud to some) and I was joyful. God was doing a new thing in me. I think it was in about the second year of my renewed church life that a gentleman (the husband of the Pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, now long closed) in the pew in front of me turned to me and asked me why I was not in a choir. This was in a church too small to have a choir.

From that day on, I was looking for a church home where I could join the choir. I was soon a member of the choir at 1^st Presbyterian Church of University City. About half of the members of this choir were professional-level singers who performed with the Saint Louis Symphony. Because of my lack of skill, I struggled and I sometimes despaired, but I did not give up. Since then I have been a member of the choir at Christ Episcopal Church, a sometime member of the Evangelical Church choir, and have joined the Messiah choir and the Easter cantata choir based out of Trinity Lutheran. I took one set of voice lessons, but I am still only semi-skilled in sight-reading. I have only done 3 solos in my entire singing career. I do my best with a strong section leader, and I am a slow learner. I love to sing.

During my life in the church, the words of the hymns have taught me as much or more about God than have Sunday school and Bible study. In my experience those words really reach my mind and heart when I sing them rather than simply listen to others singing. I can sometimes listen to secular music without singing along. But whenever and wherever I hear Christian music, I want to sing.

During the almost 8 years I have been attending Evangelical Church, I have always enjoyed listening to Bev and the choir, singing in the choir, and singing along with the congregation. All aspects of the service—the responsive Psalms, the Scripture, the prayers, the Creed, the sermon, the benediction—are meaningful for me, but the singing is part of service that I fully connect with. Singing is the part of church that involves the whole person: mind, spirit, and body. It is the part of church where I can “get over myself” and give myself up to Christ.

During the second half of 2015 we have been blessed with a wonderful visitor, Annamarie Engelhard. In her gentle and quiet way, she has had a tremendous impact on our choir and congregation. With our Christmas cantata, Bev and Annamarie have shown us that we can do much more than we ever imagined. In 2016 Annamarie will be moving on to start her music therapy career. We will miss her greatly. Her brief time with us has reminded us of how important singing is to our congregation. Let’s prayerfully consider how we can move forward to continue to develop our music ministry. We can be confident that if we are obedient to God’s Will, he will send us the people we need to keep us singing.

The hymn, “How Can I Keep from Singing,” with lyrics by an unknown author, first published in 1868, says it all:   

My life flows on in endless song;

Above earth's lamentation,

I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn

That hails a new creation;

Thro' all the tumult and the strife

I hear the music ringing;

It finds an echo in my soul—

How can I keep from singing?

What tho' my joys and comforts die?

The Lord my Saviour liveth;

What tho' the darkness gather round?

Songs in the night he giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm

While to that refuge clinging;

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,

How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;

I see the blue above it;

And day by day this pathway smooths,

Since first I learned to love it,

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,

A fountain ever springing;

All things are mine since I am his—

How can I keep from singing?

Blessings,

Pastor Dan

 

Pastor’s 2014 Annual Report

When I reflect on the past year, I realized that there are ways in which each year in the life of the congregation is the same as every year, and that is a good thing. The year of 2014 was another wonderful year at the Evangelical Church. We baptized babies, served communion, buried the dead, and visited the sick and disabled. We collected groceries for FISH, rolled dumplings, held meetings, played games, hosted the Teen Challenge Choir, and served the Safe House banquet. We made apple butter and celebrated our 120^th anniversary as a congregation. We cut wood at Shannondale and signed cards for veterans. We did church.

At the same time, however, I know that every year in the life of a congregation is unique. Every worship service, every baptism, every funeral, every communion is a unique event, because it is a human event. Because a church is about people and relationships, our relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ and with one another, the church changes as we change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, but we are like fading flowers, here today and gone tomorrow. As people come and go in the life of a congregation and as people grow old, the congregation changes, sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly.

For me, 2014 was a year in which I continued to grow in my commitment to the Evangelical and Reformed faith. I spent a good bit of thought, study, and prayer on what it means to be Evangelical and Reformed. To me, an Evangelical and Reformed Church strives to stay true to the fundamental insights of the original reformers (Calvin and Luther), while following the call of the Holy Spirit in the present moment. Unfortunately, the Evangelical and Reformed dominations have been absorbed into theological liberalism and they no longer adhere to the foundational confessions of the reformation. However, there is a movement among conservative theologians to revive the Evangelical and Reformed movement, developing a Bible-centered theology that combines the insights of the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions. This group publishes an excellent magazine, “Modern Reformation” and its members have published many outstanding popular and scholarly books and articles. It has been a comfort to me to know that I am not alone in believing that the E&R tradition is not dead and that a renewal of the Church can only come from going back to the Bible and the roots of the reformation.

A major change for me in 2014 was that I was called by God to step forward and provide leadership to two organizations that were in crisis, the Jamaican Christian Medical Mission (JCMM) and Love In the Name of Christ of Southeast Missouri (Love INC). In prior years, I had been an active member, but not a leader, of both organizations. When these organizations experienced crises and were both about to close down, I felt called to take a leadership role. In both cases, I believed that the organizations had potential to continue, if they made a fresh start. I believed that if they were to close down, it should be in a careful and deliberate way. Both organizations were working in the Name of Christ, and I felt that it was ultimately up to Christ whether they would continue.

They are currently both continuing with some changes in leadership and strategy. Love INC has a new clearinghouse coordinator and is experimenting with a new model based on collaboration with other non-profits through the United Way’s One-Stop help center. JCMM was unable to go to Jamaica in 2015 due to the lack of a clinic medical director. Instead, we are bringing the Pastor Carlene Walford and some of the Carron Hall Elders to Cape Girardeau in April to help us strengthen our relationship and rebuild the mission. Both organizations (like all human endeavors) face an uncertain future, but I am confident that they have still some good works to perform in Jesus Name.

In 2014, I also worked with the Council to lay the groundwork for some significant changes coming in 2015. We will soon have a high quality church flagpole. We will be visibly identifying ourselves as Christians that love our nation and pray for its deliverance. We also purchased new wireless microphones in order to make sure everyone can hear all parts of the worship service. Moreover, these microphones will help us make better audio recordings of our services. We will soon begin broadcasting a half-hour version of our Sunday service on KMHM 104.1 FM Gospel Radio.

I cannot claim any credit for what I see as the biggest change in our congregation during 2014. However, I welcome this change with open arms. This change comes from consistently having more children in church. Because of the children, something has changed in the atmosphere of our worship service. Thanks to Pastor Dave, we have a children’s message every Sunday. Our kid’s artwork often decorates the back cover of the bulletin. Our children sing more often in worship, not just on Easter and Christmas. There is a new liveliness and lightness at our church that only babies and children can bring.

As we look forward to 2015, let us make it a “year of the child.” Let us all work together in making this congregation even more child friendly. Let us start thinking about how we can use our resources to make our congregation a fun and faithful place for our children. Let us spend some money and take some time to have more special events and programs for our kids. Maybe it is time to renovate and update the education building with new floors, ceilings, lighting, and paint. Maybe it is time to revisit Vacation Bible School. Maybe the Apple Butter Festival needs to become a Fall Kid’s Fair, with a miniature train and a bouncy house. Being child-focused will give us all a chance to be more creative and have some fun.

We have been given this congregation by our ancestors in faith. Our job is to be good stewards in nurturing and strengthening this congregation so that we can pass on something of value to our children. To me this means staying focused on what really matters and staying true to who we really are. I think that God has sent us these children to give us new life and keep us faithful to his call. For this call was not just for us, but also for our children.

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts2:38-40)

God bless you every day of this year!

Pastor Dan