A New CD of Psalms & Hymns

Have you ever experienced a “corporate” worship service that in actuality wasn’t? It is no surprise that the individualism that permeates our culture has become increasingly evident in the worship of the Church. Even those who have seen the value of turning again to the rich heritage the body of Christ enjoys have been affected. I am, of course, referring to the recent trend of writing new tunes to old hymn texts. This is a great concept, but in my travels over the last several years, I have been a part of many congregations who are attempting to sing modern worship songs and hymn rewrites with little to no success. So many of the modern melodic efforts bring congregations to muttered, unmusical confusion.

To be fair, a small handful of churches have stepped into the modern stream and found a stride, but most of the time only a select portion of the congregation can find a voice, while the rest are left to get with the program, or accept that the program has left them behind. Incidentally, those who do find a voice are often the ones up front. After experiencing this in numerous and sundry churches, I have formed a theory on why this is: individualism leads to performance driven music. The tunes are meant to highlight any given vocalist’s style as opposed to the text itself or, heaven forbid, congregational unanimity. This does not mean that those doing the writing are devious and intend to promote individualism. Nor does it mean that performance and presentation is bad. Practically all of my own music is in fact intended for presentation, not corporate singing. However, I am simply making the point that the music we write is often a product of what we listen to, how we think, or worse, what the market will bear. Just because we say something is for corporate worship, and it is marketed as such, does not at all mean that it truly suited for that use, or even that it works, to put it pragmatically.

So, it is with much excitement that I write about an upcoming CD being produced by John Duncan and Ligonier Ministries featuring the compositions of Greg Wilbur, the Chief Musician at Parish Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee. I was recently in Franklin, TN to record this CD at Michael Card’s studio with several great musicians. The vocal line up will be Greg Wilbur, Michael Card, Wes King, Katy Snow, Steve Green, and then little old me…. Plus, there will be a men’s choir, and several background vocalists. The main instrumentalists include Viola: Henry Haffner, Drums & Percussion: Andy Hubbard, Upright Bass: Danny O’Lannerghty, Acoustic Guitar: Nathan Clark George, and Piano: Greg Wilbur.

More important than who is on the project (and all involved seem to feel this way) is the nature of and philosophy behind the music. It is Greg’s desire that the music highlight and lift up the text, which in turn lifts up Christ. This music brings beauty and thoughtfulness to corporate worship, and I find it to be musically suited for it. I think a number of these upcoming songs will present something timeless, not only because of the great hymn texts and melodies, but also because half of them are Psalm texts. Oh that the church would sing the Psalms once again! This CD is a “must have.”